Algarve Astronomy & Les Grange: has anyone been there?

[Rosanella]

I'm seriously considering taking a coach that will drive me wherever, and get away for a short while to re-energize , and remind myself that there are such things as regular warm sunny :sunny: days, a clear sky with lots of little bright things we call stars, planets and galaxies :stars: , and that great landscapes do exist other than on Youtube.

So, as I was reading Sky @ Night, the Stargazing Hostpots page caught my attention with two adverts of the COAA in Algarve (Algarve Astronomy) and Les Granges, in Provence (I especially liked that sunny Provence, as it reads on the advert.)

Has anyone been there, and if you have how easy or difficult was to get there, and how accessible (I'm disabled, on sticks and wheelchair).

Thank you :-)

[scotastro]

I can certainly recommend COAA, run by Bev and Jan - very friendly people, good equipment, good starry skies and sunnt weather. Went 3 years running from 2001.

Breakfast outdoors and picking figs and grapes straight off the vine is something else.

Bev is great at helping with imaging through the 8", 12" or 20" scopes.

They have a ground floor room so you should be ok, but please check with them on wheelchair access, etc.

I went with friends and we hired a car at the airport for the week as it is very out of the way, it is several miles to the nearest town and places to go sightseeing. The landscape is ever changing - from the sea to the mountains.

Have not visited Les Granges. Hope you have a good trip to which ever one you visit.

Mike

GAC

Galloway Astronomy Centre

[Rosanella]

Hello Mike :-)

Thank you for the information.

Picking figs and grapes straight off the vine takes me back to my childhood, when we used to go and pick up grapes from the hill, in northern Italy. Sweet memories :-)

[scotastro]

Sounds like your childhood was fun. You don't find vines in South Wales where I grew up, but it was still good.

I assume you still live in Italy which would make a coach trip to Algarve possible.

Mike

[NickH]

Mulling COAA for later this year... heard good things

[EA2007]

Hey kids,

I have been to the south of Portugal for the past two years now and having done both astronomical observations and astrophotography on both occasions I can safely say...be prepared for light pollution.

I say this because the latest visit (May 2008) showed a massive contrast to May 2007. In just a year the amount of building development around Faro, Tavira, Olhao has increased substantially and I assume that this streches along the entire bredth of the Algarve. Last year we visited a very remote dark site, thie year the same location was subject to light pollution and required a longer journey further away from the coastal resorts.

Having said this, I have not visited the COAA location so therefore do not know its precise location and the quality of the skies, but if its near Portimao, then I can assume its going to be partially flooded with light.

The trouble in Portugal is that around the coast its pretty flat and light doesn't get stuck behind anything so your never in really dark skies (well not this year anyway), also lighting regulations aren't exactly brilliant....

However, if you do go, be sure to visit the ice cream parlour in Tavira's main square (its just before the bridge on the western side of the river) it sells about 40 different types of ice-cream from Kinder egg, ferrero-roche and toffee to mouthwash and kiwi!! Also try the Citrus Super-Bok and Sagres beer...yum!

[Rosanella]

I assume you still live in Italy which would make a coach trip to Algarve possible.

Mike

Not quite :-) England has been my 2nd home for quite sometime, save for a nearly 7 years gap spent in New York city. I've been living in London for the past 22 years.

...

However, if you do go, be sure to visit the ice cream parlour in Tavira's main square (its just before the bridge on the western side of the river) it sells about 40 different types of ice-cream from Kinder egg, ferrero-roche and toffee to mouthwash and kiwi!! Also try the Citrus Super-Bok and Sagres beer...yum!

Sounds yummy! If there's one thing I really miss about a warm country, in term of food, are the variety of grapes, their sweetness, the really sweet watermelons, peaches, apricots, black & yellow figs, black & yellow plums, the whole host of fruits that one could just live on.

I was looking at http://www.coaa.co.uk/ Faro is the nearest airport, about 50 minutes from the observatory. Taxi and a car hire are a must. I wonder if a coach would take me there and how long would take to get there?!? It might be a bit of a long trek on the Pyrenees, and it might feel like I'm on a boat

[scotastro]

Could I suggest e-mailing Bev at COAA. He is a nice guy and would probably be best able to answer your travel questions.

Sad regarding the light pollution. There was a lot of building on my last visit, but it had limited effect on the sky.

Mike

(a little red faced)

[NickH]

Our Chairman said the Algarve was "a light pollution nightmare" when I asked him (he went recently)... and stated that our dark site in Wiltshire was better..

:-(

[RobH]

Olly Penrice, who owns and runs Les Granges, along with his wife, is pretty active on UKAI, and reports from folk who've sayed there are very positive....3 scopes including a 20 inch dob plus pitch black skies and fine food

Cheers

Rob

[NickH]

Excellent

I know Tavira etc are a real light pollution nightmare, so good to see COAA is still avoiding this.