Algarve Portugal - Is it worth living in SILVES?

[@chrisshepherd828]

Lived in the Silves area for 4 years. In the countryside just 5 minutes by car to Silves. It’s a beautiful town with friendly people. Silves puts on several events during the year. A beer festival with free entry, bands and DJ’s. Fun for all the family, great atmosphere. Children’s day with free activities, Xmas with free activities for families including ice skating, shows, free Father Xmas grotto with photo for the child. The Mediaeval Fair + more. There is a swimming pool and if you move here with children there is a football club, gym club, karate club and much more. We have a train station just outside of the town and a bus service. It’s a wonderful town to be part of. We feel blessed to live here!

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thanks for sharing 👍🏼

[@beekeeper63]

I will be visiting next year with my wife. This will be our first time to the area (we've visited the north). Silves, from researching online, seems to check so many boxes. We can't wait to see it in person!

[@jimedwards8958]

Very accurate account of Silves. Lived there for seven years and loved every minute.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thank you Jim, I try my best 😊

[@marktemple6024]

The Museo Arqueológico is an excellent little museum, in fact a highlight of the town that merits more attention.

[@joseluizserra9974]

BEEN THERE, LOVED THE CITY AND SURROUNDING AREAS...

[@andyanderson3628]

I took some good photos there in February. Love the city. And pretty quiet in the off season.

[@catherinefriederich]

Thank you Nick! Another very close look that you do so well! I truly appreciate your videos.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thank you Catherine.

[@pbohearn]

Great overview on Silves! I’ve heard a lot of good things about it ; now I really want to visit!

[@AlgarveAddicts]

It's a cool spot. Nice and relaxed.

[@lesleysmith8300]

Brilliant video and lots of info. It's been a few years since l visited this beautiful place. I think it has more to offer than l recall. Thanks for sharing. 😊

[@AlgarveAddicts]

You're welcome Lesley.

[@aureliosamandakufundala6991]

Thank you Nick about this video it was good for me because I'll be in Silves this year for to study in Jean Piaget polytechnic institute of Silves, so i'll subscribe on your channel to follow you every day.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Good luck 👍🏼

[@kirstencook3272]

The alignment of menhirs is in Vale Fuzeiros, great hike. The lynx center is not open to the public, because they want to limit human interaction. But there is a great exhibit about the center at the castle, in the underground water storage space. There is nothing above ground telling visitors about it though!

[@lucchese20]

Thanks for the info on the Lynx Center. Had no idea these animals even existing in PT. A few years ago I wanted to visit a Cheetah Rehab Center in Namibia. Our tour guide discouraged us from doing so probably out of respect to the animals but that’s only a guess on my part.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thanks Kirsten

[@marcvsmusic746]

Hi Nick, thank you for your well presented video. Easy to follow and packed with information.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Cheers Marcus 👍🏼

[@skurinski]

For any english speaker who is struggling, the pronunciation of Silves is "seelvsh"

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Good one - I revert to "Seelvs" sometimes - oops.

[@jennybertenshaw7694]

Hi Nick... We love Silves especially It's history under the Moors , is so interesting,. It was considered a seat of learning, culture and art. until our marauding king Richard the Lionheart did the bidding of the Bishop of Braga, and detoured on his crusade to the Holy land, to sack the town. reducing it to rubble ..I met up with Richard Dougherty some years ago A journalist and author of the fascinating book 'Atlantis and the Silver City' all about his hugely researched apothoisis, that Silves was the ancient capital of Atlantis!!! .. Its very convincing ..How romantic if it was..(He along with Len Port started the Algarve Resident newspaper) Unfortunately he had to return to the Uk for family reasons.So we have never heard anything more. It was hoped that some archeological investigation could be made of the 'shelf' that fellloff the Algarve in the earthquake of 9BC... Thats now the flat sea bed stretching do several hundred miles out to sea...Paul Allen was going to be approaches about his submarine ...until sadly he died of cancer.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Interesting, thanks for sharing Jenny.

[@joaoanjinho8135]

Thanks Nick, as always very informative and interisting.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

You're welcome João 👍🏼

[@carloscarvalho202]

What an awesome and detailed video Nick!!

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Glad you liked it!

[@gary22223]

Great stuff, thanks Nick Silves is a lovely spot, love visiting there for the famous chicken restaurant and taking our daughter to the playground nearby

[@luisdasilva9025]

Valdemar on the main road next to the river,by the market, is the best chicken restaurant in the Algarve very cheap 8 € it was, all in, drink and desert,the ownwer Carlos is a very special person they have been going for 45 years,next to the Castle there is Casa Inglesa who bakes the best cakes and serves great food too.Silves is quiet but close to Portimão and ALbufeira,with some nice golf and the best oranges you can have,olives figs ..................

[@lucchese20]

@@luisdasilva9025 Sounds nice. Thank you.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Cheers guys!👍🏼

[@skurinski]

ah, the first capital of the Algarve: Xelb, as the moors called it. Actually, after Silves, the next capital of Algarve during the exploration years was Lagos. Faro is far more recent, since the 18th century after the Lisbon earthquake that wrecked Lagos. It's a gorgeous city. I heard they are finally gonna recover the once super visited cork museum in the "Fábrica do Inglês" quarter which unfortunately has been closed for about 10 years now. In 2001 it was consired the best factory museum in Europe. Hopefully it will be successful again, along with the recovered plaza and spa hotel.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thanks for sharing! 👍🏼

[@Gasskane]

Great and very informative video. Thanks Nick

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Hey Amadou 👋🏼 Nice to hear from you again.

[@jedw9983]

We live here and we love it. 💛

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Awesome, it's a great place to visit, although sadly a little far for me to come over often :(

[@jedw9983]

@@AlgarveAddicts come and visit us at our farm, Quinta Da Figueirinha (web search will pick it up), as we have live music and great food every weekend afternoons. We'd love to host you.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thanks Jed, I'd love to come over again.

[@JasonJFlippingLife]

Jed I'm thinking about buying a property there. Is there much of a nightlife?

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Hi Jason, not much nightlife in Silves, that happens down in Praia da Rocha near Portimão.

[@MrRocksFox]

Another great, detailed and informative video Nick. It looks stunning 👍

[@AlgarveAddicts]

It's a great town. 👍🏼

[@walpt]

The best hint its to apreciate the mood and oranges with an intropecting mind. Good for our soul.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Cheers for that 👍🏼

[@lolabfree]

There is also the Menir dos Gregórios, near Messines.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thanks Karen 👍🏼

[@afrobian1]

I just finished an Arabic series about moors in Portugal during Medieval times. and one of my fav characters was born in Silves. i cant believe i missed. this town. i stayed in Lagos, Portimao and Faro. now i have to go back one day and visit that castle

[@AlgarveAddicts]

I'd love to learn more about your Arabic series? It was a fascinating time in Portuguese history which I know nothing about.

[@afrobian1]

@@AlgarveAddicts After 713, when the Moors invaded Iberia, Silves became part of the Umayyad Emirate of Córdoba under the Arabic name of Shilb (شلب). In the 10th century it was one of the most important towns in western Al-Andalus. Silves became an independent taifa in 1027 under the rule of Ibn Mozaine and his son, who was dethroned in 1051 by al-Mu'tadid, the governor of Seville. al-Mu'tamid ibn 'Abbad, the son of al-Mu'tadid and a famous poet, ruled the taifa of Silves until 1091. After the Almoravid conquest the town became Almohad in 1156.

[@afrobian1]

@@AlgarveAddicts this short video talks about it. hope it helps and meet at the moor castle in Silves some day :). kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2jEnY2waMZof5I

[@conceicao4468]

My family lives in Silves, my grandfather is buried there, Im in holland. Silves is such a beautifull historic place with allot of storks ;-) Not sure you mentioned it but between silves and estombar you have the natural springs Fontes. As I remember it was a great spot in nature to swim

[@AlgarveAddicts]

You're right Estombar is a wonderful place and I've been to quite a few open air concerts there. Cool spot, thanks for sharing 👍🏼

[@cleaningtime8156]

Wow Nick such a beautiful place.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Not too shabby 😂

[@pmpractas]

TOP the work !

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Cheers Toni 👍🏼

[@TheTiagoMoutinho]

great video!!

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thanks Tiago 👍🏼

[@ogator8642]

First, thanks for the pronunciation tip. I have been "Sil-veshing" the place all over the world and no one has corrected me. I noticed that even the tour guy got it wrong. Maybe you can help him out. Second, I have actually been to Silves. It was maybe three years ago in the winter and it was just one time for half a day. But I would say that Silves, in my very limited experience, is quite different from almost everywhere else in the Algarve. If I had to compare it to anywhere, I would say it feels a bit like Estoi to me. By that I mean, I heard more Portuguese and less English in Silves than almost anywhere else in the Algarve. Thanks for the video. I love them all.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

You're welcome Ogator. Did you used to hang out on www.albufeira.com ? The nickne rings a bell.

[@fernandogarciasantos6821]

Thank you for your information Nice way

[@AlgarveAddicts]

You're welcome, thanks for watching 👍🏼

[@sc3639]

As a stonemason, I would love to visit portugal and EU in general to see some of the sites that have stood the test of time.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Go for it, Seth.

[@kevingallen1678]

Another great video Nick,you mentioned dams near Silves,how bad is the drought?

[@AlgarveAddicts]

It's pretty bad, but no restrictions yet.

[@qtadosol]

Nicely done, this general overview of Silves. A few "technical errors": Silves is located north east of Portimão, not "north", the menirs are from the Neolithical period, not "Paleolithic" (Paleolíthic from 2,6 millions of years ago untiil 10.000 b.C. Mesolíthic between 3.000 b.C. and 9000 b.C. Neolíthical between 10.000 b.C. and 3000 b.C.). See also that "today" the "capital of the Algarve", or the capital of the Algarve province is actually Faro, not Silves! I didn't have time to find the other glitches in the information, but pverall and as I said, a nice overview of Silves, covering a few areas...I would also mention a bit more about the agricultural side of the municipality, the services it provides, like accounting companies, the courses provided by the Institut Piaget (phisiotherapy, nursing, psichology, etc), etc, etc... That's all, for now, take care...

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thanks for sharing. I think if you look back at the video you'll see that Silves used to be the capital of the Algarve back in the Moorish days. Not now.

[@lucchese20]

Fascinating video and town! Nick-I appreciate your overview, facts, photography, background music (I recognized the national anthem by watching football matches 😀 ⚽️) for locations I know absolutely nothing about. 👍🏻 Is Silves (I’ll have to work on the pronunciation) hilly? While the castle is certainly on a hill; I wasn’t sure of the rest of the city was hilly not. Love your effort and creations. 🤍 Thank you so much. Always looking forward to your work.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Thanks so much. 👍🏼

[@gary22223]

Generally Silves is hilly from the bottom to the top. If you wanted to stay on level ground, the bottom of the town has all you need and flat if you stay there by the river

[@ogator8642]

@@gary22223 Actually, I meant to comment on the hills. The approach to the town is up a somewhat steep hill. If you are a person who is trying to fake it with a manual transmission, be forewarned.

[@lucchese20]

@@ogator8642 Thanks.

[@lucchese20]

@@gary22223 Thanks for your input.

[@surffear3737]

Hey mate, we are going to Alvor this weekend untill the 10th of March to check schools, talk with advisors for our financials and my business as well as a rental we have an option on.....for the next school year....just wondering what your opinion is on Alvor/Portimao to live for 2 "young" 🤪 adults with 2 kids of 8-14...? also maybe cool we buy you lunch when we are there to hear your stories :-) happy to pay your rate obviously

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Sounds great and yes Alvor is a great place. I recommend it to people.

[@surffear3737]

@@AlgarveAddicts thanks, what's the best way to get in touch?

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Hi, www.algarveaddicts.com/contact

[@africandreamchild]

I set the alarm off in those new apartments in Silves. Door was open but evidently not in invitation . Lol

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Hahaha, they look pretty funky! Good funky.

[@MrDpof]

If we want to be precise at 2:40 it's enxerim 😅👌🏽👍🏽

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Or Encherim if you want to be super precise 😊

[@walpt]

Silves was upon a time the capital of Portugal.

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Correct! 👏🏼😎

[@leos.8310]

you mentioned temperature but I was told that silves have a lot of storms and was generally very windy particularly in winter? Is that true? Thanks

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Hi Leo, yes we have storms in the Algarve in winter. Silves isnt special in that regard although there was a mini freak tornado there a few years ago. That also happened in Tavira once but it's very rare. Generally we get more wind across the Algarve in summer.

[@chrisshepherd828]

having lives close to Lagos, and now Silves. I really don’t think it’s true that Silves is more windy or has more storms. I actually found living closer to the coast was more stormy. I think Silves has more protection by being inland and surrounded by the hills.

[@jennybertenshaw7694]

Oops sorry that should read Peter Dougherty...

[@irenebrito7143]

I live in the UK i am from algarve loule

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Great stuff Irene, do you miss the Algarve?

[@irenebrito7143]

@@AlgarveAddicts yes i miss Algarve

[@oijadsl]

Hope to see you SUP'IN ARADE AND FUNCHO !

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Hey Ruben, I didn't know you were doing it again. Good news.

[@raymarch3027]

Would like to see more affordable country places just outside the western cities where one can grow food.. for sustainability & for possible partial support. Interested in what orchard trees or food crops one may grow & use or sell. Examples: Avocados, citrus, nuts, figs, grapes, stone fruits, apples, ornamental plants. What agricultural resources are availiable like extention offices from universities we have in US. Is such small scale food growing supported in the area or is there limited water in Southern Portugal? What alternative residences is one able to build or have constructed rather than redo ruins that appear way beyond repair with little hope of modern dry and well heated and cooled building. i.e. What are affordable alternatives like modular well designed homes?? Thanks! Never see gay people on all the youtube videos. Are serious gay expats able to live peacefully in Portugal other than Lisbon /Porto cities?

[@AlgarveAddicts]

Hey Ray, it appears you have quite a few questions. You're welcome to book a paid call with me if you like: www algarveaddicts.com/chat

[@QueenBee-mk8xm]

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