Is there a direct train from Obidos to Sintra in Portugal?

There is no direct train nor bus between Obidos to Sintra

I emailed the Tourism Office in Obidos this afternoon and got this reply:
"mas não há nenhum autocarro de Óbidos com
destino a Sintra, sendo que terá sempre que passar por Lisboa"

Translation: "..but there is no bus service from Óbidos with a destination of Sintra, therefore one must always route via Lisbon"

So, incredible as it may seem, no direct public transport service between the two.

Lagos - Avenida closed for Road Works

"The Avenida" in Lagos, (i.e. Avenida dos Descobrimentos) will be closed between 14 to 28 July 2010 for works associated with the completion of the new down town car park.

See: http://bit.ly/a1FbS7

Meia Praia, Lagos, Algarve, Portugal - Bus Services

This thread is about Meia Praia, the suburb across the bay from Lagos, a town in the Western Algarve Region of Portugal.

I live in Meia Praia.

There is an excellent bus service operated by the local bus company Onda:

See these articles on my blog: http://bit.ly/dpo9IJ

There is no service after 20:00hrs except in July and August.

A hire car is advisable after this time. Alternatively, take a bus in before 20:00 and then cab back.

Also see: http://www.aonda.pt/

Algarve - Nearest IKEA Stores - 2010

It is understood that an IKEA store may be built between Faro and Loulé in the next couple of year's.

In the meantime, your nearest Ikeas are:

Castilleja de la Cuesta (2 km south of Sevilla on the Huelva to Sevilla road) - Autovía Sevilla-Huelva A49 (About 1hr. 45min from Albufeira)

See: http://bit.ly/9Qc3E0

Alfragide - Lisbon

See: http://bit.ly/bN2Rd5

France to the Algarve by train

There is one scheduled daily train service that runs from Paris Montparnasse to Lisbon.

This is the Sud-Expresso.

In reality, it is two trains:

TGV - Paris to Irun
Normal Overnight Trains - Irun to Lisbon Oriente.

Timetable here: http://bit.ly/duWas1

Lisbon Oriente to the Algarve

Although the North-Bound TGV stops in Poitier and Angouelme, southbound it does not.

Therefore, by train it does mean going up to Paris and then down again.

See also this articel on my blog: http://bit.ly/bogRy6

It's a real pain. We have a friend who stays near CarHire-Plougaix and we have looked at alternative means of travelling from the Algarve to Brittany to see her. In then end, its worked out cheaper to drive even though its a round trip of over 3000kms.

BTW ryanair.com and easyjet.com have recently started operating flights from the Paris region to Faro. In winter, only ryanair.com will operate twice weekly from Paris Beauvais to Faro.

Lisbon - Toulouse - Easyjet.

Great news for those wanting to travel between Portugal and the South of France.

Easyjet are to launch a route four times a week between Lisbon and Toulouse from 10th September 2010.

Thanks to Sergio Bastos at Low Cost Portugal for the info.

See: http://bit.ly/9iPIWh

Surfing in Portugal

Lagos would be a good place to start although in summer not sure what the waves are like.

See for exmple: http://www.surf-experience.com/

Also search the web for Ericeira between Lisbon and Porto. It is also a big surf place.

Lagos from Faro - Public Transport

There is no direct public transport from Faro Airport to Lagos.

One must take a local urban bus from the Airport to Faro Bus / Train Station and then a train or bus from Faro to Lagos.

Urban Buses 14 and 16 operate from Faro Airport to the Bus / Train Station.

See: http://bit.ly/9qRhOD and http://bit.ly/cgf4Qb for timetables.

From Faro Bus Station to Lagos see:

Buses: http://bit.ly/d9nvU3

Rail: http://bit.ly/9IokYD (pdf file)

Also see: Cubsur's excellent site at:

www.algarvebus.info

Eating Out in Praia da Luz

The problem in Praia da Luz in my experience is that the restaurants there are geared, naturally, to the tourist trade and prices reflect this accordingly. In fact, there are few traditionial typical "cheap and cheerful" Portuguese restaurants in Luz.

There is at least one chinese in Praia da Luz.

If you have a car, I can suggest a couple of places in Lagos, (5km away):
Restaurante-Cafe Ate Qu´Enfim, Behind Intermarche in the Upper Town.

As you enter Lagos from Luz, go through the first roundabout, (A22 motorway access), then turn right at the next. Take the second turning on your left and after about 500m on the right you will see the restaurant.

Another great place in Lagos, especially if you have kids, is Pizzolino's.

See: http://bit.ly/ddcoJk

There is also a restaurant halfway betwen PDL and Burgau on thr right called O Malhão. I understand it is quite good but have not checked the prices recently.

See: http://bit.ly/cVvuxC

Transfers to Lagos from Faro

Taxi Cost depends on time of day/night/weekend/bags.

Estimate between € 85.00 and £ 115.00 each way.

Its often more economic to take a hire car if here for up to 2 weeks if a family of four.

Search this forum for recommendations on airport transfers.

Two companies to look at include:

Low-Cost transfers - http://bit.ly/9UdwBj

and

Algarve365.com - http://www.algarve-365.com/