Booking a mystery break in Portugal

Stretching over 2,000 acres (you need a car or cabs to get around), it’s known for its golf courses, as well as the multi-million-pound Campus sports centre, where top-flight athletes train.

The Ria Formosa natural park is on the doorstep, plus there’s a private beach, a lake with watersports, 15 bars and restaurants and a choice of accommodation, including the Magnolia Hotel and Quinta do Lago’s luxury villas. All in all, the holiday planners aren’t short of options to choose from.

Before the trip, my daughter and I filled out a questionnaire with our likes and dislikes, and received a packing list of essentials in return. But as the trip approached, I wasn’t sure whether to feel excited or nervous. Would I arrive to discover the perfect few days mapped out for me… or discover my holiday time was filled with activities I’d hate?

Opening the itinerary, I’m not sure I’ve ever speed read something quite so fast before. But it seemed like they’d judged us perfectly — plenty of fun activities on the list, but also some time to chill out.

Many were options I’d have chosen myself, or which sounded intriguing, and it had even been scheduled so that my daughter’s only solo activity was taking place at the same time and location as one of mine.

Appropriately for the Algarve, we started off with a round of golf; happily mini golf rather than the real thing, as I barely know a birdie from an eagle, although this set of nine holes was based on championship golf courses from around the world. Rory McIlroy has nothing to fear though — we spent half our time laughing as the ball rolled inexorably into the imitation water hazard.

With the final score tied and the holiday starting with a smile, it was time for our second activity of the trip, Movies in the Park.

During the summer, late-night movies show outdoors on selected dates — some you can watch from the pool at the Magnolia hotel, projected onto the hotel wall, with others are on the huge outdoor screen by the golf course.

With a picnic rug and blankets included, along with more popcorn than two people could hope to eat, I ordered a glass of vinho verde, we picked up some food and settled back to enjoy the live music before the film started.

Would I have chosen to watch The Super Mario Bros Movie otherwise? I’ll admit it wasn’t top of my watch list, but I snuggled up with my daughter, making a serious dent in the popcorn mountain, and it was a lovely experience.

Next morning, it was time to swap land for water, at Quinta do Lago’s lake, where you can sail, take out one of the animal-themed pedalos (including a flamingo and a unicorn), try your hand at stand-up paddleboarding or cruise around on a kayak. I decided the latter sounded the most relaxed way to explore, with only a few birds for company.

Having paddled our way around, eyeing up the various expansive houses and villas and trying to decide which one we liked most (answer: any would be fine, thanks), our watersports session involved a pair of sunloungers under an parasol, where I happily lounged until my daughter persuaded me to try one final lake activity. The water obstacle course.

The string of slippery inflatables includes slides and slopes, trampolines and other floating pads that seemed designed to fling me into the water every five minutes. As I had a lifejacket and the water was deliciously cool in the Portuguese sun, there were definitely worse fates.

Swapping the lake for a lake view from the terrace of Casa do Lago restaurant — along with fabulous fresh fish and another chilled glass of Portuguese wine — was an even better result though.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, our free afternoon included more relaxing, this time around the pool of the Magnolia Hotel, with its retro Fifties vibe. With only 74 rooms, the hotel isn’t huge but if you want even more privacy, the surprise holiday package is also available for stays at the resort’s villa rentals, which range from three-bed townhouses to larger villas, all with private pools.

So far, all the kind of surprises you hope for on a holiday. But dragging ourselves away from the pool for the last activity of the day, we had our first unwelcome revelation.

Turning up at the Campus, where my daughter was booked in for a junior tennis session, and I had a Deep Stretch & Decompress class, we discovered there’d been a mix-up and her tennis class was too advanced for her.

Despite everyone’s best efforts, there wasn’t really a solution, except for her to sit at the back of my class, entertaining herself on my phone as I stretched out a few of the muscles I’d exercised on the water obstacle course, before sharing plates at dinner at Casa Velha restaurant, including some very moreish tuna toast, salads and olive tapenade.

Fortunately, our return to the Campus the following day was far more successful, with a beginner’s Padel lesson. A cross between tennis and squash, it’s quick to pick up — especially with our great coach, who was ever patient, tailoring the lesson to keep us both entertained.

Invented in Mexico in the Sixties, Padel is most popular in Spain but Portugal isn’t far behind. The court is similar to a tennis one, but smaller, with glass and wire mesh walls around the sides, with rules about when the ball can hit them.

The racquet is smaller and the ball is bouncier than in tennis, so more than one hurtled out of the court into the palm trees, but as a relatively unsporty person, I quickly decided that Padel was a lot more fun than anything I’d tried in PE.

If you are someone who fancies filling their holiday with classes and sports sessions, the list is endless. Bouncing off the court to a burrata bowl salad lunch at Dano’s, that just left time to discover a more tranquil side to the Algarve, with a walk through the Ria Formosa.

Running for about 40 miles along the Algarve coast, the protected area stretches for around 18,000 hectares, with barrier islands in the lagoon, and small waterways through the marshes making it a haven for birdlife.

Not far from Quinta do Lago’s beach, you can stroll along the boardwalk path whenever you fancy. But our trip included a guided walk with Ricardo from Vita Nativa, whose sharp eyes, encyclopaedic knowledge and high-resolution telephoto lens meant we saw — and learned — far more than we could have hoped to on our own.

After stopping to try one of the edible plants lining the path and discovering that the area is unexpectedly also home to chameleons, we settled into one of the bird hides to spy some of the 200 plus species observed in the park, including a beautiful kingfisher. Even trickier than finding birds camouflaged in the reeds, Ricardo also managed to get my 11-year-old engaged in our quest.

Fill in the questionnaire differently, and your surprise package itinerary could include a boat trip through the Ria Formosa, a cooking workshop, even a visit to nearby Loule, along with other activities at Quinta do Lago.

But the biggest surprise of the trip? That this particular control freak, who normally likes to handle every last detail of travel, would consider letting someone else plan her break again in future.

Left to my own devices, I doubt I’d have realised about the open-air movies, or arranged a Padel lesson, but they ended up being two highlights of our stay — and who doesn’t want to come home feeling pleasantly surprised?

Getting There

The surprise holiday package costs from £435 for three nights in a standard double room at The Magnolia Hotel, plus around £950 for activities. A three-night stay in a three-bedroom townhouse costs from around £725, excluding activities.

Various airlines fly to Faro including easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air, with return fares from around £40 from London airports, and around £100 from Manchester.