Free Wifi Access in Tavira

In Tavira, the council have a wifi hotspot with free access at:

Câmara Municipal de Tavira - Tavira

Morada Praça da República

Cód. Postal 8800-951

Tavira

Telefone 281320500
Available: 9:00 às 18:00

Free Wifi Access in Lagos

The only place I know for sure you can do this in the area (because I've used it) is at the Centro Cultural de Lagos, in downtown Lagos. The Building & Cafe has free wifi access.

Centro Cultural de Lagos

Morada: Rua Lançarote de Freitas
8600-605 Lagos
Telefones: 282 770 450

Lisbon hotels

I would recommend the Ibis Hotel Malhoa which is situated about 400 metres from Sete Rios Bus Station, from where the bus to Seville departs.(All down hill).

see: http://www.ibishotel.com/ibis/fichehotel/gb/ibi/1668/fiche_hotel.shtml

You would have to take a taxi anyway from the airport as there is no metro nor convenient bus service from the airport serving budget hotels.

Lisbon -Seville/Sevilla - Lisbon Bus Services

The following are the current (July, 2008) bus/coach timetables for the service Lisbon - Seville - Lisbon operated by www.alsa.es. (Click on images to enlarge)

Seville - Lisbon



Lisbon - Seville

Vilamoura to Fatima

The most direct route from Vilamoura to Fatima by public transport is by bus from Quarteira, the town right next to Vilamoura.

Bus operator Rede Expressos offer several services daily via Lisbon Sete Rios Bus Station.

The following is an extract from there current schedule:(Double Click on the + sign below to enlarge )



By train, you would have to get a service from Loulé Station, 6km from Vilamoura to Lisbon Gare Oriente.

See the second part of this post on my blog for more details:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/algarve-albufeira-fatima.html

Early Morning transfer from Albufeira to Lisbon airport

Unless you go up to Lisbon the day before, the only way to do this is by bus:

Rede expressos have a departure from Albufeira Main Bus Station at 02:20hrs. arriving Lisbon Sete Rios Bus Station at 05:30.(Current Price - 18 Euros) You would then need to take a taxi to the Airport.

Renex have a departure from Albufeira Main Bus Station at 01:55hrs. arriving Lisbon Gare Oriente Bus Station at 05:00. You would then need to take a taxi to the Airport.

You can find a link to timetables on my blog here:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right hand side panel till you come to:

»» Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

»» Continue scrolling down in this section till you come to the timetable you want.

Please note that the trains do not offer a suitably timed service.

Train or drive from Lisbon to Lagos?

Remember, you are from Texas!

Although you guys think the price of petrol is high stateside right now, it is currently around the equivalent of US$ 10.70 a gallon here in Portugal. A small car will use about 3 to 4 gallons for the Lisbon to Lagos run depending on loading. Add the tolls and you are looking at a minimum of about US$ 55.00 if you take the motorway.

Also as you are from the otherside of the pond, remember that most vehicles this side are manual shift. If you need an automatic, remember to specify this when booking and be aware that you will pay a premium for an automatic vehicle.

Train tickets are about € 20.00, not US$ 20.00

You will need a car in the Algarve so better to hire when you arrive the Algarve.

As regards train stations, your best bet is to take a taxi from Lisbon Airport to Gare Oriente Station. (About 5 minute drive.)

From there you can get either a long distance RENEX Coach to Lagos or the train, changing at Tunes.

For direct links to timetables, see my blog at

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right hand side panel till you come to:

»» Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

»» Continue scrolling down in this section till you come

Portuguese Railways - 2008 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

or

RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Algarve timetable

Click on these to download the timetables from the respective sites.

Faro to Evora/Viana do Alentejo

To get from Faro to Viana de Alentejo is not that easy.

You cannot book through tickets.

The Sector Evora - Viana de Alentejo is operated by a local bus company and according to the local Council, buses only run on this route Mondays to Fridays.

See:
http://www.cm-vianadoalentejo.pt/pt/conteudos/informacoes+uteis/transportes/

Operated by Rodoviária do Alentejo - Line 8146

Departures from Évora: 07h15 - 17h30 - 19h15
Departures from Viana: 06h49 - 08h10 - 19h55

Services depart from Evora Bus Station

For the sector Faro to Evora one has two options:

1) Bus:

Service operated by Rede Expressos - http://www.rede-expressos.pt/0010.asp

Current Timetable as follows:



2) Train

Portuguese Railways www.cp.pt operate two services a day between Faro and Evora with changes in Funcheira and Beja.

Current Timetable as follows:

Dept. Arr.
Faro 9h05 Evora 14h24
Faro 13h08 Evora 17h41

taxi or bus from Istanilla to Faro

Get the hire car company to drop you in Ayamonte.

Islantilla is about 30km from Ayamonte by road. 20km as the fly crows.

Alternatively, Damas, the regional bus service operate a service four times a day on weekdays from Islantilla to Ayamonte at the following times Weekends about 1 service a day.:

08:30
09:30
14:30
18:30

There are buses departing from Ayamonte to Faro.

Check Cubsur's site at www.algarvebus.info for the times.

Portalegre to Lisbon/Faro

According to the CP (Portuguese Railway), http://www.cp.pt, there are two trains daily running from Elvas through Portalegre to Entroncamento with onwards connections to Lisbon Gare Oriente where you can connect to trains to Faro.

Trains leave Portalegre:

Dept Portalegre: 06.19 Arr. Lisbon Gare Oriente 10:02
Dept: Lisbon Gare Oriente 10:20 Arr. Faro 14:20

Dept Portalegre: 15.24 Arr. Lisbon Gare Oriente 19:02
Dept: Lisbon Gare Oriente 19:20 Arr. Faro 23:20 (Only operates Fridays year round and 1st June throughh 31st August.)

The line through Portalegre runs in an east - west direction and only has a link to Faro via Lisbon. The station is situated 12km from the town in a southerly direction. The Council website indicates that there are local buses serving the station.

See this link (in Portuguese) from the council website here:

http://www.cm-portalegre.pt/page.php?page=622

Note that the daily Lisbon - Madrid Express train that used to pass through nearby Castelo de Vide no longer operates that route. It currently runs via Vilar Formoso near Guarda

Train between Evora and Merida

There is no train service between Evora in Portugal and Merida in Spain.

However, there is a bus service operated by www.alsa.es that serves this route.

Current Timetable as follows. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Albufeira - Winter

Like any resort of the Mediterranean type, most businesses in the Algarve operate reduced services in Winter.

Have a look at this link:

http://www.weather2travel.com/climate-guides/index.php?destination=albufeira

You will see that in December, average temperatures range between 9ºC and 16ºC. Weather can be clear but parky. The Algarve coast faces the Atlantic not the Med and so is open to Atlantic vagaries.

Flying into Lisbon will require a taxi to Gare Oriente train/coach station (ten minutes ride) and then either a train to Albufeira Station (actually 8kms from Albufeira) or a Renex Coach to Albufeira center.
You should allow at least five hours for this transit.

For links for timetables Have a look at the section entitled "Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links" in right hand panel of my blog at

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

(Note winter timetables for trains and buses are not out till the end of September.)

As regards flights into Faro being expensive, it is likely that all flights to most European destinations will see price increases this winter as we see both Ryanair and Air Berlin announcing they are parking up planes over the season. Expect similar announcements shortly from Easyjet and others following the recent oil prices rises.

Lisbon - Madeira - Easyjet

According to this article in Portguese, we now have confirmation of Easyjet's new twice daily Lisbon - Funchal return service.

http://www.lowcostportugal.net/aeroportos/lisboa-funchal-em-easyjetcom/2008/07/

Apparently, tickets are not yet on sale.

Caldas da Rainha to Faro by Train

Portuguese Railways has a good site in english complete with timetables here:

http://www.cp.pt/cp/displayPage.do?vgnextoid=87cbd5abe2a74010VgnVCM1000007b01a8c0RCRD&lang=en

If you go my blog here

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/caldas-da-rainha-to-faro-by-train.html

I have posted below a selection of four through routes from Caldas to Faro. (Click on image to enlarge)




Kindly note that there are no through services from Caldas da Rainha to Faro and it may require at least 1 and possibly two changes en route.

The timetables I have posted do not refer to the high-speed Alfa-Pendular trains that run from Lisbon Entrecampos to Faro. This is because they are not shown as relevant on the Portuguese Railway timetable. I suspect through booking from Caldas via Cacem and Entrecampos is not available.

Peniche/Lourinha to Povoa da Varzim

There is no easy combination by train/bus between the above centres.

If you go to my blog at:

I have posted extracts from the timetable of rede-expressos, a national bus company..

This company offers a through booking service from both Lourinha and Peniche to Povoa da Varzim, daily except Sundays and Public Holidays, although you will have to route via Lisbon and Porto.

Click on the Image to enlarge:



It appears reasonably cheap and at least you don't have to worry about changing between rail and bus stations.

Bus Company site:

http://www.rede-expressos.pt/0010.asp

Portuguese Railways English Website

If you go to the www.cp.pt website you will find in the top right hand corner a small icon made from the UK flag.

Click on it and it will take you to the English language site.

If this does not work you will have to go to Albufeira Station, which is at Ferreiras, 8km from Albufeira and book the day before.

To get from Entrecampos to the Hotel, you can either take the Metro in the direction of Odivelas (Linha Amarela) and descend at Campo Grande and walk to the SAS Radisson (3 minutes) or (probably better) grab a cab if you don't have to many bags. Cabs are not that expensive in Lisbon.

Lisbon to Viana do Alentejo via Evora

There are two means by which you can get from Lisbon to Evora:

1) Train (as already mentioned)

Departs: Lisbon Gare Oriente: 08:10
Departs: Lisbon Entrecampos: 08:21
Arr: Evora 10:07

Departs: Lisbon Gare Oriente: 14:10
Departs: Lisbon Entrecampos: 14:21
Arr: Evora 16:05

Departs: Lisbon Gare Oriente: 18:10
Departs: Lisbon Entrecampos: 18:21
Arr: Evora 20:14

These refer to the summer 2008 timetables.

Tickets can be booked online (sometimes) at www.cp.pt.

The only problem with the train is that you will then have to find your way from Evora Station to Evora Bus Station which is a bit of a hoof.

2) Bus

Rede Expressos - http://www.rede-expressos.pt/0010.asp - operate regularly between Lisbon Sete Rios Bus Station and Evora.

There are departures regularly throughout the day every 60 to 90 minutes between 07:00 and 22:00. Transit time is about 105 minutes.

You cannot book these online.

Evora to Viana de Alentejo

According to the local Council, buses only run on this route Mondays to Fridays.

See:
http://www.cm-vianadoalentejo.pt/pt/conteudos/informacoes+uteis/transportes/

Operated by Rodoviária do Alentejo - Line 8146

Departures from Évora: 07h15 - 17h30 - 19h15
Departures from Viana: 06h49 - 08h10 - 19h55

Services depart from Evora Bus Station

Marvão to Caceres

Since the rerouting of the Lusitania comboio Hotel Lisbon to Madrid service, there have been questions about how to get from Marvão in the Alentejo to Caceres in Spain.

I have made contact with the tourist posts in each centre and can confirm as follows:

1) There is currently no bus/train link between Marvão and Spain.

2) From Marvão one can get a taxi to Valencia de Alcántara, 24km away in Spain.

2) From Valencia de Alcántara there are buses to Caceres as follows:

Monday to Friday - Dept: 7:30H, 10:00h and 15:30

Sat. 7:30H

Sun. 17:15h

Details correct at time of writing.

Obidos to Nazare - public transport

Public transport between Obidos and Nazare is difficult particularly on weekends when there are no buses between Obidos and Caldas da Rainha.

Trains are a difficult option as Obidos/Nazare stations are not well located close the centres.

On weekdays there is a Rodatejo bus service between Obidos and Caldas da Rainha as follows:

Obidos Caldas da Rainha
08:02 08:12 Weekdays Only
11:20 11:30 Weekdays Only
12:42 12:58 Weekdays Only
16:45 17:01 School Term Only

There are then frequent buses between Caldas and Nazare.

I have published a copy of this reply and the timetable on my blog here.

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/obidos-to-nazare-public-transport.html

Lisbon - Tavira

You can hire a car at Lisbon Airport and drop off in Tavira.

Suggest you look at Auto Jardim - see

http://www.carhireyes.com/autojardim/

If you are from across the Pond, I suggest that you specify if you require automatic shift as most cars in Europe are manual shift.

There is public transport available from Lisbon to Tavira.

You would have to take a taxi from the Airport to Gare Oriente Rail/Bus Station from where you could get bus or train.

For timetables, go to my blog at

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right hand side panel till you come to:

»» Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

»» Continue scrolling down in this section till you come

Portuguese Railways - 2008 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

or

RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Algarve timetable

An alternative bus service also exists from Lisbon Sete Rios Bus Station operated by Rede-Expressos.

There is a link on my blog as well but be warned the site is only on Portuguese.

Cascais to Portimão

There is no direct route from Cascais to Portimão.

Your best bet will be to take the train from Cascais to Lisbon Cais de Sodre.

Then take the Metro Green Line to Alameda then the Red Line to Gare Oriente.

From there you can get either a long distance RENEX Coach to Portimão or the train via Tunes.

For timetables, please visit my blog at


http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right hand side panel till you come to:

»» Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

»» Continue scrolling down in this section till you come

Portuguese Railways - 2008 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

or

RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Algarve timetable

Click on these to download the timetables from the respective sites.

Lagos to Sintra to Cadiz

Lagos to Sintra.

You have two options:

1) Rail

Local train from Lagos to Tunes
Intercity from Tunes to Lisbon Entrecampos

Timetable can be downloaded from my blog here:

You can find a link to timetables on my blog here:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right hand side panel till you come to:

»» Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

»» Continue scrolling down in this section till you come

Portuguese Railways - 2008 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

Suburban train from Entrecampos to Cacem - Weekdays trains every 20 minutes or so

Suburban train from Cacem to Sintra - Weekdays trains every 20 minutes or so.


2) Bus

EVA Bus from Lagos to Lisbon Sete Rios Bus Station.

You can find the timetable here on my blog here:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/lagos-to-sintra-to-cadiz.html

lagos sete rios eva - Upload a Document to Scribd

Read this document on Scribd: lagos sete rios eva

Suburban train from Sete Rios to Cacem - Weekdays trains every 20 minutes or so

Suburban train from Sete Rios to Sintra - Weekdays trains every 20 minutes or so.

3) Sintra to Cadiz

Suburban train from Sintra to Sete Rios - Weekdays trains every 20 minutes or so

Suburban train from Cacem to Sete Rios - Weekdays trains every 20 minutes or so.

Long distance coach with www.alsa.es from Lisbon Sete Rios Coach station to Jerez la Frontera. (Current Timetable)

Dept: Lisbon: 09:00
Arr: Jerez la Frontera: 20:00
Dept: Jerez de La Frontera 21:35 (Train Renfe)
Arrive: Cadiz 22:24

Dept: Lisbon: 21:30
Arr: Jerez la Frontera: 08:30
Dept: Jerez de La Frontera 09:30 (Train Renfe)
Arrive: Cadiz 10:19

Madrid to Castelo Branco

Train is not possible. At present there is only one train per day from Madrid to Lisbon which runs via Vila Formoso.

Bus is also not really an option for a same day trip as you would have to go via Lisbon.

Have a look at this recent post on my blog:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2008/05/travel-from-madrid-to-castelo-branco.html

Hire Car is your only option to do it the same day, but be aware that inter-country drop-offs in Europe are very expensive. You would probably have to drop the vehicle off in Spain afterwards.

Madrid Barajas Airport to Castelo Branco by road is approximately 409 km – about 5 hours drive.

I have created a google maps gazeteer here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=Madrid,+Barajas,+Spain&daddr=Castelo+Branco,+Portugal&sll=37.15781,-8.734502&sspn=0.24571,0.601501&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=8