ALGARVE SPRING RUNNING CAMP, FALESIA, PORTUGAL 

HOTEL & LOCATION

Our base at the Victoria Beach and Sport Resort is the perfect place for a training camp. The running track we use for many of the afternoon sessions is a private facility in the garden of the hotel. On the opposite side of the hotel is a cross country course that has hosted a number of world class events and doubles as the course for interval or hill sessions. The beach, which extends three miles down to the port of Vilamoura, is a five-minute walk from the hotel as are the rolling cliff tops that we use for some of the morning runs. Head off in the opposite direction and you pass by the honey farm and lines of orange groves that mark the entrance to another early morning running circuit. In fact there are potential running routes in every possible direction offering a mix of everything from road, hard packed trails, grass and beach.

During both weeks we will have the majority of the rooms in the hotel, although there are often other sports teams or athletes staying there, attracted by its facilities, which in addition to the track, include a fully equipped gym, tennis courts and a leisure pool. Buffet breakfast is included with all our bookings but you can upgrade to fully inclusive, which covers lunch, dinner and all your drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. 

The hotel rooms are all apartments which have a bedroom, bathroom, living room and full equipped kitchen and balcony, which makes it easy for those clients who prefer a self catering option to buy food at any of the local supermarkets. There are also a range of cafes and restaurants  within walking distance of the hotel. The atmosphere in this modern hotel is relaxed and easy going, sports attire is the norm and no one will look at you strangely if you stroll into breakfast straight after your early morning run because most of the other guests will be doing the same. 

If you want to venture further afield, the Algarve area, which boasts 300 days of sunshine a year, is an excellent place to relax with its magnificent beaches and historic towns. There are plenty of places to visit: Vilamoura is the closest resort to Falesia and has a Marina surrounded by up-market hotels and a wide selection of shops, cafes, restaurants and bars, and there is also an open-air market just along the coast at Quateira.

In the hills above Quateira you’ll find the ancient city of Loule with its medieval castle walls, while back on the coast you have the regional capital Faro, an ancient city which was destroyed by earthquake and is now very much an industrial area albeit retaining an interesting central market square. Further west, the market town of Tavira is the gateway to the sand spit island of IIha de Tavira, a popular tourist spot with magnificent beaches. Then on the Spanish border you’ll find Vila Real de Sto. Antonio, with its medieval castle and long sandy beach at Monte Gordo. It is possible to continue into Spain with Seville can about 3hrs from the border by motorway. 

Back at Falesia, going west for a mile you’ll come to Acoteias, where there are a number of restaurants and gift shops opposite the Sheraton/Pine Cliffs golf course and further on you’ll come to the tourist conurbation of Albuferia, which now spreads over several miles of hotels and apartments. There are a number of little bays on the road to Albufeira. The closest to Falesia is Olhos de Agua which has a number of pleasant bay-front restaurants. Inland from Albufeira the fortress town of Silves will take you into the hills and has an interesting Moorish Castle to discover, and further into the mountains you’ll find the Spa town of Monchique, where there are some interesting forest walks. Back along the coast the seaport of Portimao has good shopping as well as the famous sandstone rock formations of Praia da Rocha. The Moorish town of Lagos has become a bustling market town but owes its history to the slave trade with a 17^th Century fortress as evidence. And finally, at the tip of the Algarve is Cape St. Vincent. As we said there are no shortages of places to visit when you aren't running or relaxing at the beach.