Faro: from the bus station to the airport

See Cubsur's excellent site here for airport bus schedules:

http://thomasallen.home.sapo.pt/travel/003.htm

Price from Airport to Faro Centre depending on time of day/week and bags will be € 10.00 to € 11.00.

Petition for Porto to Scotland Air Route

Rui Costa has started a Petition to Ryanair to consider starting an air route between Porto in the North of Portugal and Scotland.

If you would like to read and/or sign the petition visit:

http://www.petitiononline.com/so_ryan/petition.html

Thanks to Sergio Bastos - http://www.lowcostportugal.net
for the link

Ryanair - Faro - Porto - Passenger Loadings.

In a press report today, Ryanair have reported that their new service between Faro and Porto has been operating with 80% passenger loadings during its first three weeks of operation.

Press report here in Portuguese:

http://www.lowcostportugal.net/aeroportos/porto-%E2%80%93-faro-com-80-%E2%80%9Cload-factor%E2%80%9D-nas-primeiras-semanas/2009/11/

Barcelona to Faro

At present, there are no direct flights, trains or buses from Barcelona to Faro.

Ryanair tried a flight a couple of years ago but there was not enough trafiic.

There are routes that are relatively easy but it does require switching between airports and bus/train stations in either Seville or Lisbon.

If you have some one in Faro, you would be better off having them travelling to Seville or Lisbon airports and meeting the boys there.

The following airlines fly from Barcelona to Seville:

# SPANAIR

# VUELING AIRLINES

# IBERIA

The following airlines fly from Barcelona/Girona to Seville:

# Ryanair

The following airlines fly from Barcelona to Seville:

# Vueling

# TAP

One other option that may be quite pricey given the time of year is by airberlin.com via their hub at Palma da Mallorca. The current winter timetables shows through booking from Barcelona to Faro daily. However, I do know that in summer that this schedule can be reduced as there are more direct flights to Faro from Germany. Their summer schedule does not yet appear to be online.

Madeira News

Two local sources have confirned that Transavia will begin direct scheduled services between Porto and Madeira from March 2010.

See:(In Portuguese)

http://ultimahora.jornaldamadeira.pt/index.php?/pt/noticias/200911205444/noticias/economia/transavia-com-nova-ligacao-porto-funchal-em-marco.html

and

http://www.lowcostportugal.net/aeroportos/porto-funchal-via-transavia-marco-2010/2009/11/

I have also be apprised recently of two new commercial services offering car hire and transport services in Madeira.

Madeira Transfers

and

Funchal Car Hire

Lagos, Algarve - Beach Reclamation Project

A dredger arrived in Lagos, yesterday and, for the next two months, will be taking sand from Meia Praia to increase the size of Praia Dona beach.

Photo here. I only had my mobile with me so the resolution is not that good but the dredger is right centre.



Article (in Portuguese) here:

http://dn.sapo.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=1425633&seccao=Sul

Almancil - Algarve - Portugal - Man Stuck in Supermarket Wall

It's all over the web, thanks to an enterprising young Romanian who did not know his own waist size, and consequently ended up giving the Algarve and Almancil more publicity on the web than all the paid media advertising one could wish for!

For those who have not seen it...here is it again, courtesy of You Tube.

Ryanair Update - New Flight - Bristol to Faro, Algarve

Ryanair have just announced they will start two flights a week (Mondays/Wednesdays) from Bristol to Faro as from 31st March, 2010.

See: http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/rte-en-191109

They will also be increasing frequencies on the Liverpool to Faro Route.

Algarve Car Hire Luzcar

In the Algarve, I have over the years almost always used Luzcar, who are based in Lagos, and also have an airport depot.

Their list prices are generally slightly higher than the rest, but, and this is a big but, prices are all inclusive, including second driver and insurance for Spain, as far as Seville. If you do want to go to Spain with the car make sure to tell them, as you need a second triangle, a second reflective jacket.

You can ask for further CDW insurance it you want. Also for Group C cars and above they may ask for a 50% credit card deposit on picking up the car.

For their latest prices see:

http://www.lagoscarhire.com/

Alternatively, you can contact them by email at email@luzcar.com. You can say you were referred by Sr. Chris.

I used one of there VW Polo last week to go to Seville and earlier this year, one of their VW Sharans which they provided as a sponsor for our annual Lagos-based Classical Dance Easter school event Dance Algarve 2009. http://www.dancaiberica.org/

They look after their clients and generally the vehicles are in good nick.

Parking near the metro in Lisbon

Best place to head for is the public parking underneath Gare Oriente Station just over the Vasco da Gama bridge. From the Algarve take the A2/A12 Motorway.

From there you can take:

1) Either the Linha vermelha to São Sebastião and then the Linha Azul to the Baixa

2) A local train to Stª. Apolonia

Just Back - Quick Car trip from the Algarve to Malaga and Seville

I left Lagos in the Algarve last Wednesday afternoon at circa 14:45 in a VW Polo. I ran with € 20.00 fuel in the tank till I crossed the border at Ayamonte and to the first off-ramp and ran along the slip road till the first fuel station.

At present, 1lite of 95oct. costs on average € 1.30 in Portugal but only € 1.04 in Spain.

Arrived in Seville - Paseo da Delicias at 18:30 local. (Total drive time was circa just under three hours.) There are currently ongoing road works on the Huelva - Seville motorway in both directions.

I left Seville at 18:50 (Rush hour.) Speed limits and traffic until getting clear of Alcalar was circa 80km / hr. Thereafter, 100/120km /hr. I ran to Antequera and headed South on the Malaga Rd.

Pulled over at 20:30 at the Hotel Restaurant La Vedra, about 40km North of Malaga on the South-bound carriageway. € 25.00 for a room with shower.(single occupancy) V. Clean. Set Dinner with three big courses was € 7.00.

Next morning, left at 08:25 and was parked up in Malaga Station by 9 a.m. The last 40km of the motorway to Malaga is currently undert major reconstruction with a maximum speed limit of 80km /hr for most of the distance. The Metro Construction in Malaga centre is causing mayhem. I recommend visitors park their car and use the local bus service which we did. We stayed at the IBIS Centro. Very good value for money but garage access a real pain.

Left Malaga for Seville the next morning at 09:30 and arrived environs of the latter circa 11:30. (with stops). Traffic on the ring road chaotic. I had to cut across town via San Sebastian to make a 12:00 meeting. Just made it.

We stayed at the following hotel for two nights just outside Seville in the suburb of Castilleja la Cuesta just behind IKEA on the SE30 Seville - Huelva Rd. It is very economical. At present just over € 44.00 per room for 2 people per night.

Hotel Leflet Castilleja
C/Real, 106
41950 Castilleja de la Cuesta (Sevilla)
Tel: 954169191-661792373 / Fax: 954169148
castilleja@leflethoteles.es
http://www.leflethoteles.es

This hotel has secure parking....The car park entrance is interesting! The rooms are very clean but the wifi is patchy. The Hotel cafe is not that inspiring, but there are at least 2 other cafes within 100m of the hotel which are fine for desayuno and tapas. There are not many restaurants in the are but the are buses every 15 to 30 minutes (longer at night), which run into Seville Plaza das Armas Bus Station. The buses only cost € 1.25 each way and only take about 15 minutes into town.

Left Castilleja this morning at 11.30 Spanish time this morning and was parked up in Lagos at 13:00 Portuguese Time. Transit time 2hrs30mins.

Ibiza to Lagos, Algarve

Regrettably, there is no easy nor cheap option to allow you to travel direct from Ibiza to Lagos or the Algarve.

Air Berlin (http://www.airberlin.com) do operate daily flights from Palma da Mallorca to Faro in the Algarve. There do appear to be ferries between Ibiza to Palma,(see for example, http://www.balearia.net)

There are no direct buses from Faro airport to Lagos. You would have to arrange a hire car (I recommend http://www.lagoscarhire.com/), an airport transfer, (e.g. http://www.low-cost-transfers.com/faro-airport/index.php) or take a taxi. There are trains from Faro town to Lagos, but you would have to take a taxi into Faro and then should make sure that you have a taxi waiting for you on arrival at Lagos station as there are often none there on arrival.

As regards the return trip by train, this will be tortuous. You will need to catch a local train from Lagos to Tunes Junction. There you connect to the Alfa-Pendular high speed train to Lisbon Gare Oriente Station. From Gare Oriente, you will need to connect with the daily 16:14 Overnight Sud Express Departure for Hendaye where it connects with a TGV to Paris Montparnasse. From there you will have to transit to Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar.

Links (pdf format) to the train timetables can be found on my blog on the right hand side in the panel entitled:

>> Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

You will need to check three timetables:

> Algarve Regional Line Train Timetable
> Porto - Lisbon - Faro (Algarve) Train Timetable
> Paris to Lisbon Train Timetable - Sud Expresso

Train - Jerez to Lisbon

Sorry for the delay in replying.

There are no direct train services between the South Western part of Andalucia and Lisbon.

You best option will be by bus via Seville.

Alsa.es operate a service as follows

JEREZ LISBON Sete Rios 12:30 21:15 Thursday to Sunday
JEREZ LISBON Sete Rios 22:30 07:30 next day daily

Prices Single € 66,00 Return € 114,00

Lisbon - Day Trips and Seville

Firstly, be aware that there is no direct train service between Lisbon and Seville. One has to travel to Madrid and then to Seville.

Indeed the train service between Lisbon and Madrid is, at present, restricted to one overnight train per day.

Have a look at the following article on my blog about this!

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/trainbus-sevillespain-to-lisbonportugal.html

To be honest, if you want to do Seville from Lisbon, I do recommend the bus. The cost is only circa only € 35,00 one way.

Current Timetable:

LISBON Sete.Rios SEVILLE 09:00 17:45 61,00 Thursday to Sunday.
LISBON Sete Rios SEVILLE 20:45 05:15 61,00 Daily

You refer Evora. This is at a dogs leg from the other towns you have mentioned. It might be better left for a subsequent trip.

You are going to be hard pressed to do Lisbon, Sintra, Cascais, Obidos and Fatima in six days.

You need to allow at least 2 full days for Lisbon, a day from Sintra, Cascais and a day each for Obidos and Fatima.

To do all the latter two using buses is preferable as the stations are a ways from the town.

If you search my blogs under the town names, you should find more snippets and info which will help you.

Please email me about any specific queries that subsequently arise.

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com

Transport to Carrapateira

There is only once bus a day each way between Vila da Bispo and Aljezur via Carrapateira and this only runs on school days.

To visit Carrapateira one needs to rent a car, a scooter or arrange a day trip with one of the surfing tours that does trips up there from Lagos.