Flights from Madeira to the Canary Islands

SATA Açores Airline operate Funchal to Gran Canaria twice a week.

Prices for end of November don't look to bad!

https://www.sata.pt

Madrid - Jerez - Salema - Lisbon

I would therefore recommend one of the two following options:
1) Hire a car in Madrid, Drive it to Jerez, then to Salema, then Lisbon. Put it in the Long Term Car Park at Lisbon Airport while you are in Madeira, then drive back to Madrid. Bear in mind that this routing will incur substantial tolls on the Portuguese Motorways. (Incl. electronic ones on the Algarve spinal Via de Infante A22.) Also bear in mind when renting a car to specify automatic if you are not conversant with manual shift.
2) If you want to do the trip by public transport, then take the AVE from Madrid via Seville to Jerez. Return to Seville by bus or train. Overnight in Seville. Take daily morning DAMAS/EVA buses from Seville to Faro/Lagos, in the Algarve. Either hire a car in Faro/Lagos or take the regular EVA bus to Salema.
2 days later, take the bus back to Lagos and then train/bus to Lisbon or drive from Salema to Lisbon.
Bear in mind a one-way hire will incur a drop-off fee. For this type of rental, I suggest Auto-Jardim or Europcar as both have offices in Lagos and Faro. In Faro bear in mind to specify pick-up at the TOWN office. Otherwise you will have to trail out to the airport to pick up a car.

Transport Publique entre Porto et Guimarães

Il y a, chaque deux/trois heures, un service "shuttle"/ autobus entre l'aeroport de Porto et Guimaraẽs Horaire: http://goo.gl/fdMUy Sinon, il existe une "Tramway" entre l'aeroport et le gare Porto Campanha. Le dureé du voyage est plus au moins 45 minutes. Site: www.metrodoporto.pt Les trains partent chaque heure pour Guimarães avec une dureé de transit de 1hr 15mins. Site: www.cp.pt Il doit être averti que, actuellement, il existe toujours les possibilités des gréves sur les chemins des fers et le tramway.

10 days in Portugal in January

The Algarve is not exactly clement in January! I live here. The far western Algarve does have spectacular coastal scenery, (you would need a car) and we do do rental apartments here. I would suggest if your mind was really set on it, head for Lagos rather than Tavira. Alternatively, I would plan on a trip that took in Lisbon and environs, Coimbra, Porto, (possibly including day trips to Braga, Guimarães or up the Douro River on a wine tasting tour. ). Given the cost and hassle of fuel, tolls and the likely weather in January, I would suggest to plan to travel by long distance coach. The train service between the above centres is good BUT given the current and anticipated penchance of the local rail workers unions to announce stoppages at short notice, plan on using coach travel. Further, if you do end up hiring a car, be aware that most rental vehicles this side of the pond are manual shift. If you require a automatic shift remember to specify this when reserving and be prepared to pay a premium. As regards apartments, also bear in mind that there are excellent reasnably priced Pensão/small Hotels throughout the land. In Coimbra, I would recommend Residencial Victoria andin Lisbon, the Portuense and Florescente near Rossio, If you do visit the Algarve and come to Lagos, have a look at the Vila Galé Hotel, the Marina Club ApartHotel and the Hotel Marina Rio, all of which will probably have excellent offers on in January via bookings.com

Norwegian - Gatwick - Faro - from April 2013.

Norwegian, the Scandanavian low cost operator is opening a base at London Gatwick Airport in April 2013. They will be operating a weekly flight to Faro on Saturdays. See: (in portuguese) http://goo.gl/DxGrp

CP - Portuguese Railways - Labour Disputes - Warning

Although there is a general tomorrow in Portugal, there are also ongoing periodic rail strikes and "works to rule" continuing on the railways. Although I live here, speak Portuguese, and was full aware of the problem , we got nobbled this morning when taking a train from Lisbon to Lagos. We picked up a ticket to get the 10:29 Intercidades from Lisbon to Tunes, whence we would have changed train to Lagos. We were not advised at the ticket office in Lisbon, that the connecting train from Tunes to Lagos was cancelled due to strikes! Furthermore, the ticket collector on-board the train smiled sweetly at us when we presented our tickets, said "mude em Tunes" (change in Tunes - as usual) and then carried on with no mentioned of the strikes or "work to rule". On disembarking at Tunes, (at 13:20) along with many locals, there was a garbled message which no one could hear because of the departing train. Following discussions with some interested locals over the lines, and using the help line, I established that the 13h25 to Lagos was cancelled owing to "strike action" and that the next train was at 16:57. In the end, we clubbed together with some locals and took a taxi at a considerable extra expense back to Lagos. The real issue is that information on late cancellations is not being passed on to the ticket offices, etc. As regards travelling to the Algarve, I therefore have to strongly recommend that anyone seeking to head from Lisbon to the Western Algarve, (i.e. Silves, Portimão and Lagos), DO NOT, for the present, use rail travel. There is no indication yet as to whether the current work to rule is going to continue after the national rail strike on 1st November, and as alternative public transport from Tunes to the above centres is non-existent, you may end up paying € 12:50 each for a cab with four people to get to Lagos. I STRONGLY recommend that anyone seeking to travel from Lisbon to the Western Algarve USE one of the three bus services, Renex, Rede Expessos or EVA (Search this forum for information this!:) I also strongly recommend travellers to continue to use this option until the rail labour disputes end! If these labour disputes do not end soon, I can see Portuguese Railways local rail services going out of business and, in reality, pehaps that would be the best giving the problems being faced by tourist visiting the Algarve!

Bus from Estepona to Albufeira

Alsa.es operate a daily service from Malaga and Algeciras as follows: Malaga 21:00 Albufeira 02:45 Algeciras 18:45 Albufeira 02:45 See: www.alsa.es Best bet is to get a local bus from Estepona to Algeciras. Note: May require bus changed in Sevilla

Restaurant Portal do Infante, Marina, Lagos, Algarve

We had a long-planned party for friends and family in Lagos on a Saturday in mid-September 2012.

We required a location with a pleasant view, Portuguese cuisine and capacity up to 80 persons. Planning started in March 2012. We trawled the main restaurants and hotels in Lagos. Either they did not have enough capacity, were ridiculously expensive and/or turned us away saying mid-September was still "tourist" season.

The Portal do Infante was among one of the first restaurants visited and the manager, Sr. Paulo was about the only manager to whom we spoke who understood what we wanted, was able to offer a good price per person and was interested in what we as customers required. The Restaurant is situated in the area around the corner from the main Marina complex. It is a more tranquil location and offers a direct view over the moorings.

The party passed off perfectly. It was a beautiful sunny Lagos Saturday evening. Drinks were served to all guests on arrival and then we sat down to a lovely dinner. We had arranged a pianist and a traditional Fado group, comprising two guitarists and an excellent female Fado vocalist. (Even guests from Lisbon and Coimbra complimented her talent.)

All this time, the staff of the Portal were extremely attentive and continued to be so until we finished at 1 a.m.

The food was of the highest quality and included for the first course arroz de peixe com Gambas/Fish Rice with shrimps or Bacalhau no forno à Infante/Baked bacalhau (cod) á Infante. The second course offered Borrego assado no forno/ Roast Lamb or Medalhões de Vitela Madeira/ Veal Medallions in Madeira.

The wine selection was also excellent.

We cannot more highly recommend this restaurant which also has a cafe section which offers snacks and light refreshments at good prices.

This is an excellent location just for a dinner for two or for an anniversary/wedding party.

Website: http://www.gelanel.pt/portal/portal.html

Lote 31 - Cais de Honra - Marina de Lagos 8600-780 LAGOS Tel: 282 792 197 e-mail: portalinfante@sapo.pt

Transfert de l'aeroport a Fatima

Transfert de l'aeroport a Fatima Il n'a pas un lien direct à partir de l'aéroport jusqu'au Fatima. Il faurait prendre un bus urban "Aerobus" de l'aeroport jusqu'a la gare de bus "Sete Rios" ou on pourrait prendre l'autobus pour Fatima.

What Comes Next?: Lisbon, Portugal

What Comes Next?: Lisbon, Portugal: So here I am back from Germany for two months already and thinking I should do an update about what I've been up to.  Don't worry, not much ...