When I was given the opportunity to try our Family Portugal Adventure with my 12 year old son, I was absolutely delighted, I was beginning to despair about how to keep him entertained during the seemingly interminable school holidays while we were working, without resorting to abandoning him to the lure of the computer screen. I imagined him emerging back into the new school year, like a blinking, pale, Gollum-like creature and with all social skills forgotten due to my neglectful parenting.

I was aware of this KE family trip to the Algarve and knew it always received great reviews and included lots of activities but once I read through the itinerary properly I was really excited, for all of us. I vaguely wondered how we would cope in Portugal in August as pale Northerners, mostly used to and perfectly content with a 10 degree cloudy climate but was obviously very willing to give it a go!

We arrived in Faro and met our group at the designated spot and set off to the beautiful villa. Once we arrived one of the first things we learned in the briefing from our amiable hosts – Jon and Violeta, was the fact that the wifi only worked in the communal area of the villa, not in the guest accommodation and also that phones were actively discouraged – they could be used before breakfast and after the activities and before dinner. I could feel the bristling of my son’s indignation at this unimaginable horror without even looking at him!

It was very quickly clear though that we would be kept busy and Jon was right – the kids would not have time to miss their screens. Every day had a very well planned activity-packed morning/early afternoon which even my often reluctant and not particularly sporty almost-teen joined in on with surprisingly great gusto – a 6km hike to the beach and a few hours body-boarding in the lively Atlantic waves, rock climbing (on real rocks with glorious far-stretching views, a world away from the usual sanitised indoor climbing wall experiences), a morning of cycling 16km on quiet paths through eucalyptus, pine and cork trees, again to the beach for more body boarding, a surf lesson (Jon had warned us that the older you get the more difficult it was to surf – in my case he wasn’t wrong although many of my fellow parents were impressively determined to stand up and succeeded in doing so, the kids were just light and springy and managed to make it look easy - it really wasn’t!).

We had a free day with an exhilaratingly fast boat trip along the coves and coastline near Sagres and jumped off the boat into the turquoise water for a swim in the sea caves. On our final day we kayaked down a river to another achingly beautiful beach where we had lunch and a wander and then kayaked back, with a vigorous water fight just to make sure we were all thoroughly drenched. Everything was very safe, equipment was thoroughly checked, there were back up options and Jon and his team were fantastic at coaching, encouraging and helping us all to achieve things we never thought we would. Activities often ended at a beach and with a much appreciated ice cream. The weather was wonderful – hot but with a sea breeze so it felt very pleasant. We usually had lunch on the go and returned to the villa for snacks (our hosts definitely understood children and their insatiable appetites!) The villa is set in 150 acres of cork forest and is peppered with hammocks, swings and places to hide and read – who needs wifi?

There were other activities for the kids to keep them entertained, organised and run by Jon and Violeta’s son Dillon and a couple of young adult helpers - a special shout out to Alex who had started coming to the villa on holiday with her family years ago and loved it so much she now worked there for the season. There was a treasure hunt and marshmallow toasting round the fire, table tennis, a movie night, a session on the climbing wall at the villa (practice for our rock climbing day), t-shirt or bag painting (present for grandma sorted!) and a couple of supervised trips on the giant swing – the adults tried it too, for quality control of course. The friendly villa dogs got a lot of attention and happily followed the children around, even accompanying us on some walks and trips. There was a huge selection of board games available and evenings were very sociably spent on the veranda, playing Exploding Kittens, Uno, Catan and the very simple and traditional game of Spillikins, which became something of a surprising favourite. You could say we were easily entertained and we absolutely were – there was something very refreshing about being away from the never-ending domestic tasks we have at home and the screens we are probably all guilty of spending too much time on. Here we properly relaxed – we chatted, laughed and got rather competitive with our games whilst sipping on a glass or two of vinho verde or beer, bought from the honesty bar, and phones were far from the minds of both kids and adults.

Have I mentioned the food yet? It was incredible. Vio and her helpers conjured up the most incredible feasts with most of the salads and vegetables grown in the grounds of their idyllic eco-lodge. Breakfasts included a platter of delicious fruit as well as eggs, ham, cheese, cereal, pastries, lunch was on the go but our hosts had taken the time to find out everyone’s likes and dislikes so they could provide us with sandwiches. Dinners were different every night – salmon, burgers (proper homemade quality ones) and spaghetti bolognese with the tastiest salads, veg and desserts. Friday was our last night and was pizza party night. The pizza oven was fired up and orders were taken for our favourite flavours. It was one of the tastiest pizzas I’ve ever had. There was music, dancing and party games and the sound of laughter echoed around the villa grounds, ending our Algarve adventure holiday on a real high.

We left the next day, exhausted from all the activities and fresh air but in a very good way. We’d acquired a few more freckles and the odd bit of sunburn/tan, some muscle aches from the rigours of surfing etc, we’d unintentionally taken home some red sand from our many beach days and had new skills and memories for life. I’ve had to buy some of the board games for home. Once back my son quickly rediscovered his phone (now with the screensaver of the villa dogs he adored) but he had barely thought about it for the whole week. The children had been children – outdoorsy, energetic, having lots of fun and making new friends. We’d been able to let him run around the villa, knowing he was safe, happy and having the best time, taking part in all the activities and being a 12 year old. And that to me was the absolute best thing about this holiday. I would not hesitate to recommend it.