Southern Spain / Lisbon 2010

Your schedule is tight.

I would not recommend laying over in Huelva as it is a port city and not very picturesque.

Better to lay over somewhere like Tavira on the Algarve Coast. Its about 3hrs 15mins from Lisbon.

I would concur with the comment about car hire. Inter-Country one way drop-offs between Portugal and Spain cost a fortune.

The only outfit that does it reasonably, (in the off-season only) are these guys:

http://www.iberiacarhire.com/

However, vehicle pickup for spain is currently only available at Faro Airport in the Southern Algarve region of Portugal. However, I think they do packages with another company from Lisbon.

Seville to Loulé Buses

There are no direct buses between Seville and Loulé.

Once would need to get a bus from Seville to Faro and then a local bus from Faro to Loulé.

The following is the current schedules operated by EVA Transportes

Sevilha Faro 07:30* 10:10
Faro Loulé 11:30 12:10

Sevilha Faro 16:15* 18:55
Faro Loulé 19:15 19:55

* Spanish Time

Shopping in Andalucia, Spain from the Algarve

There are substantial shopping opportunities over the frontier.

In most Spanish towns of any size, you will find El Corte Ingles, a sort of John Lewis/Waitrose combined department stores on Steroids!They also operate Hipercor Brand hypermarkets.

There is one El Corte Ingles in Huelva (nearest to the Algarve) and three in Seville and environs.

There is an IKEA in Castilleja la Cuesta, a couple of kms this side of Seville.

In Huelva and in Seville, there are branches of MediaMarkt, a european Computer, Media and white goods hyperstore.

There are also Carrefour hypermarkets at Cartaya, Huelva and Seville. Carrefour Camas Aljarafe is a couple of kms past Ikea.

Be aware that shops, including shopping centers, do not generally open on Sundays. (except Public and selected holidays).

Smaller shops do not often open on Saturday afternoons at all.

2010 - UK Market Predictions for foreign vacations

Interesting Article here in the UK Daily Telegraph:

http://bit.ly/4QNETx

No doubt, based on this article, tourism operators in the Algarve will have to become more competitve and productive to maintain and regain a share of the UK market for holidays.

Natal em Newark....Christmas in New York

If you can't get over to Portugal this festive season, great article here for those of you on the Eastern Seaboard....


http://bit.ly/8N8zUk

Faro to Marrakech

There are no scheduled air services between Faro and Morocco.

To drive, would mean travelling via Seville, Spain to Algeciras a distance of about 500km. Ferry to Tanger and then a +- 600km drive to Marrakech.

The total distance by driving would be well in excess of 1000km each way.

The only possibility that might meet your needs would be to drive to Seville Airport. Ryanair.com have scheduled flights from there to Marrakech

Club Arcos - Praia da Rocha

I don't know the aparments in question, but Faro Airport to Praia da Rocha is between 50 minutes and one hour by car.

If not hiring a car, your best bet will be a direct airport transfer.

If diskwizz is floating around the forums, he can probably help with more local info.

Club Arcos actually seems to be located near Praia da Vau which is about 1km from Praia da Rocha proper.

See this link for google maps/satellite photo.
http://bit.ly/6bQEsF

Trains from Ayamonte/Vila Real Sto. Antonio to Lagos

The last through train from Vila Real Sta. Antonio to Lagos departs at 18:41 and arrive Lagos at 21:49. There is a 20 minute layover in Faro and you may have to change rains there.

Note that if you are coming on the ferry from Ayamonte that the station is about 800m from the ferry pier so allow plenty of time.

On Friday's only there is a later connection.

Note that if you miss this train detailed above it will probably be impossible for you to get to Lagos that night,

Also be aware that there is a daily EVA Transports/DAMAS bus that leaves Ayamonte as follows:

Dept: Ayamonte Bus Station 18:15 (Spanish Time)
Arr. Lagos 20:45 (Portuguese Time)

See: http://bit.ly/Aymonte_Lagos for timetable.

Also Have a look at the

Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links section in the right hand panel on my blog here:

http://bit.ly/barlaventostravelblog

and Cubsur's site here:

http://bit.ly/cubsur

4th Anniversary/4 º Aniversário - LowCostPortugal

Happy birthday to lowcostportugal.net, Portugal's premier blog for breaking news on low-cost airlines in Portugal and world-wide.

Congratulations to its editor, Sérgio Bastos, for creating a great real time resource for us bloggers on travel matters in Portugal

http://www.lowcostportugal.net/uncategorized/lowcostportugal-3-anos-de-historias/2009/12/

Parabéns lowcostportugal.net, primeiro blog de Portugal para as últimas notícias sobre companhias aéreas de baixo custo em Portugal e no mundo.

Parabéns ao seu editor, Sérgio Bastos, para criar um recurso de grande tempo real para nós blogueiros em matéria de viagens em Portugal

Lisbon to Madrid Day Time Rail Link

Cubsur has written an excellent article on the new daytime rail link between Madrid and Lisbon using regional trains.

Detail here:

http://bit.ly/Lisbon_Madrid_Daytime_Train

Lisbon Airport to Sete Rios Bus Station

To get from Lisbon Airport to Lisbon Long distance Coach Station take the following bus which leaves from outside the Arrivals hall:

(Aeroshuttle - Copy of note from current Lisbon Airport website.) Aeroshuttle (CARRIS Nº96) - Available everyday, every 30 minutes between 7am and 11pm, the aeroshuttle connects Gare Oriente - Airport - Entrecampos - Sete Rios Coach Station - Praça de Espanha.

Tickets (3,50€) can be purchased onboard and also in the Tourism Office at arrivals (public area).

Tel. +351 213 582 334)

Transit time about 20 minutes.

Summer 2010 - Easyjet - Faro - Geneva

Thanks to Sergio Bastos of lowcostportugal.net for this.

Easyjet have indicated that they will begin operating direct flights on Tursdays and Saturdays between Faro and Geneva in April 2010. The schedule will run through until October 2010.

Earthquake off Sagres - Felt in Lagos

We were woken up in Lagos overnight at about 01:30 by an earthquake of 6.1 magnitude on the Richter scale. The quake was located at a depth of 31 kilometres and about 100km South West of Sagres under the Atlantic.

National press this morning reports no substantial damage, injuries or loss of life anywhere in Portugal. This is probably because of the depth of the even in the earthscrust, The Tremor continued for about 2 minutes, with decreasing instensity and was probably the same in sensed intensity as the one I experience in Lisbon as a child in 1968/69.

Aftershocks have continued through the night in the same regions but with much less intensity ranging between 1.3 and 2.3 on the Richter Scale.

Links here:

http://www.meteo.pt/pt/sismologia/actividade/

http://economico.sapo.pt/noticias/sismo-atinge-portugal_76938.html

We were very lucky that the depth of the event substantially lessened the potential impact of the event. Thanks to the Management upstairs for sparing us!

Right back to work.

NB: 11:21 17/12/2009

Portuguese Met Office server http://www.meteo.pt appears to have crashed owing to overload.

NB: 11:47 17/12/2009

USGS (United States Geological Survey) Data and Report on Quake here:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009qhac.php#details

NB: 12:19 - Earthquake Strongest felt since that of 1969

http://sol.sapo.pt/PaginaInicial/Sociedade/Interior.aspx?content_id=157315

Faro - Now the Bad News... Flyglobespan has gone bust!

Just seen this.......

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8417183.stm

Ryanair - New Base - Faro - 14 new routes

Ryanair have announced this morning that they will be basing 6 new aircraft at Faro Airport in the Algarve creating their 39th base.

See:

http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/rte-en-161209-4

and

http://bit.ly/6hzi6L

New routes being introduced between March and April will include:

Faro – Billund (30 Março) – Dinamarca
Faro – Marselha (30 Março) – França
Faro – Birmingham (28 Março) – Inglaterra
Faro – Maastricht (27 Março) – Holanda
Faro – Derry (30 Março) – Irlanda do Norte
Faro – Munich (Memmingen) (27 Abril) – Alemanha
Faro – Milão (Bergamo) (25 Março) – Itália
Faro – Kerry (30 Março) – Irlanda
Faro – Oslo (Rygge) (30 Março) – Noruega
Faro – Knock (30 Março) – Irlanda
Faro – Paris (Beauvais) (27 Abril) – França
Faro – Madrid (27 Abril) – Espanha
Faro – Estocolmo (Skavsta) (30 Março) – Suécia

Faro - Shannon is being dropped.

Faro - Porto is being increased to a daily frequency.

Online Traffic and Traffic Works Information - Portugal

The National Roads Authority of Portugal, Estradas de Portugal, have today launched a new portal with real time news on roadworks and traffic congestion throughout Portugal including live camera feeds from various road side cameras throughout the countryside.

The site (in portuguese) can be found here:

http://www.estradas.pt/

Ryanair - Michael O’Leary - Press Conference - Faro on Wednesday

Late-breaking news!

According to press reports - Michael O'Leary and Daniel Carvalho of Ryanair will be holding a press conference at Faro Airport on Wednesday morning, 16 de Dezembro 2010.

See:

http://www.lowcostportugal.net/uncategorized/michael-oleary-em-faro-na-quarta-feira/2009/12/

Speculation is that there will be announcement of new routes to Faro and/or establishment of a Ryanair base at Faro.

What is the cheapest way to travel from Lisbon to Brussel?

At present there are only two airlines operating between Lisbon and Brussels.

TAP Air Portugal- http://www.flytap.com/Portugal/pt/Homepage

Brussels Airlines - http://www.brusselsairlines.com/com/

You may be lucky and be able to book a reasonably priced flight with either of the two given the time of year you wish to travel.

However, the cheapest way may be to take an early morning trains from Lisbon to Porto, get the metro to the airport and take the Ryanair.com flight from Porto to Charleroi in Belgium. Ryanair call this airport Brussels Charleroi but it is 60km from Brussels. However, there are buses from Charleroi Airport to Brussels.

There is a flight as follows:

Wed, 10 Fev 10

Flight FR 1387

11:30 Departs Porto

14:50 Arrives Charleroi

At present, the price is shown as 14,99 EUR.

BUT!! remember with Ryanair you have to pay for your luggage, credit card use etc.

As regards a train there is an 06:09 train from Lisbon Gare Oriente arriving in Porto at 08:44. This should give you enough time to get the Metro to the Airport. The ticket price will be in the order of 30.00 EUR.

You need to check the total cost of this option against the price of a direct flight to Lisbon.

I should also add that while long distance bus or train are an option, they will take over 24 hours and are likely to be as expensive or more expensive than the ryanair option mentioned above.

Public transportation/private vans from huelva spain to faro in portugal

There are three times daily public bus services from Huelva Bus Station to Faro City Centre as follows:

Eva Transportes/DAMAS S.A. - http://bit.ly/8xskTh

Huelva Faro 08:45* 10:10
Huelva Faro 17:30* 18:55
* Spanish Time

Alsa.es

Huelva Faro 01:30* 02:15

* Spanish Time

Private Transfer operator Low-cost-transfers.com can also assist with transport on this route. This could be particularly useful if you are heading to Faro Airport as with the public buses you will still need to get by cab or local bus to Faro Airport if that is your final destination.

See their page here:

http://www.low-cost-transfers.com/faro-airport/index.php

Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the Departure drop down box to find Huelva.

Algarve - Easyjet New Route - Doncaster (Robin Hood) to Faro

Easyjet announced yesterday that they will commence flights from Doncaster Robin Hood Airport to Faro Airport April 19.

Report Here:

http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free/BREAKING-NEWS-easyJet-touches-down.5900952.jp

Lagos or Faro?

If you want to party in the Algarve over the New Year you need to look at Vilamoura, Albufeira, Praia da Rocha (Portimão) and/or Lagos.

Faro is the regional capital of the Algarve. It is administrative centre and has a few sites of interesnt but I would not call it a holiday destination.

I must admit some bias as I live in Lagos, but I would strongly counsel against staying in Faro.

Most of the bars and restaurants in the centre of Lagos will be open and there should be quite a good atmosphere down town

If the weather is good, our beaches can be great for winter walks etc.

Ryanair - Porto Seasonal Routes - Summer 2010

Ryanair has today confirmed the following seasonal routes from Porto to the following UK airports - Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool.

Services will begin 28th/29th March 2010.

Thanks to Sérgio Bastos of LowCost Portugal for this info.

Report here: http://bit.ly/5dZprr

traveling from faro to caldas da rainha

Train is not an option! The last train to Lisbon leaves Faro at 17:00.

The last Renex Bus to Lisbon leaves Faro Bus Station at 20:00. He will need at least one hour to clear immigration, collect bags and get a taxi into Faro Bus/Train Station.

However, there is an overnight Rede Expressos Bus service leaving Faro Bus at 01:30 arriving Lisbon at 07:00 and connecting with a bus arriving in Caldas at 08:10.

For details goto to my blog:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right till you see a panel entitled

»»Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

In there you will find links to the relevant timetables including one entitled

"Rede-Expressos - National Bus Timetable - Updated"

This will take you to the Rede Expressos website. (Only in Portuguese)

I would not recommend driving as if you come by the A2 motorway you will also have to pay tolls both ways and at that time of year the weather can be the pits. If you take the old IC1 road, you will be restricted to 90kph. It will take as long as the bus.

Portugal - Murcia

Vale!

Que se ha encontrado un problema importante que se enfrenta a muchos viajeros que deseen viajar por todo el Pensnisula Ibérica.

Sólo hay dos trenes expresos por día entre Portugal y España. Estos son los Lusitania Express noche a la mañana, entre Lisboa y Madrid, y el Sud-Express desde Lisboa a París, que pasa por el norte de España. Para llegar a Murcia con tren, habría que ir a Madrid y desde allí a Murcia a través de Alicante.

No hay vuelos baratos directos de Lisboa o Porto a cualquier aeropuerto, cerca de Murcia.

De autobuses de larga distancia a través de Madrid o Sevilla podría ser una posibilidad, pero sería un viaje muy largo para los niños.

La única otra posibilidad, sería tomar un vuelo de bajo coste desde Oporto (Ryanair) de Madrid Barajas y después otro vuelo de bajo coste (Ryanair) de Madrid Barajas a Alicante. A continuación, puede alquilar un coche allí.

Desde Lisboa, puede ser capaz de conseguir vuelos de bajo coste a Madrid Barajas utilizando vueling.com o easyjet.com.

No hay vuelos de bajo coste desde Madrid a Murcia.

De lo contrario, me temo que el coche es la única opción.

Lisbon Airport - Figueira da Foz

The cheapest and probably most direct way by public transport is to take a Rede - Expressos ( http://www.rede-expressos.pt/ ) bus from Lisbon Sete Rios Coach Station to Figueira da Foz. To get there from Lisbon Airport take the following bus which leaves from outside the Arrivals hall:

(Aeroshuttle - Copy of note from current Lisbon Airport website.) Aeroshuttle (CARRIS Nº96) - Available everyday, every 30 minutes between 7am and 11pm, the aeroshuttle connects Gare Oriente - Airport - Entrecampos - Sete Rios Coach Station - Praça de Espanha.

Tickets (3,50€) can be purchased onboard and also in the Tourism Office at arrivals (public area).

Tel. +351 213 582 334)

Transit time about 20 minutes.

Horários
LISBOA Sete Rios FIGUEIRA FOZ
Bus Station (203 Kms)
Depart Arrive Frequency
08:30 11:15 Daily
12:00 14:30 Saturdays or (Fridays if public holiday)
14:45 17:15 Saturdays or (Fridays if public holiday)
15:45 18:30 Daily
18:30 21:30 Daily
20:00 22:30 Saturdays or (Fridays if public holiday)

Price - one way - € 12.50

You need to arrive at least 30 minutes before departure to buy a ticket.