Observations on Schengen Visa Extensions

Actually, EU Member States Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus are also not currently member states of the Schengen area along with the UK and Ireland.

From a brief reading of various sources, I think it may be possible to request a further extension to a Schengen entry permit once you are within in the area.

It certainly is a fact that for the purposes of a 90 day Schengen tourist visa, the Schengen member states are considered to be one sovereign area. This means you cannot spend say 90 days in Portugal and then nip over to Spain for another 90 days. It is 90 days total in all the member states of the area.

I would suggest that you should identify your first proposed entry point in the Schengen area and then contact that country's consulate in Auckland for further clarification on extensions..

A list of all diplomatic and consular missions accredited to New Zealand published by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be found here.

…govt.nz/includes/pdf/PDF-Foreign-Representa…

Ah! I see the confusion. What I quoted was from an article on the main EU Schengen Authority website in Brussels.

This makes no mention of the continued validity and application of pre-Schengen bilateral agreements between NZ and individual Schengen states, as stated in thehttp://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/aus-nz/ website which you quote and which is the site for the individual EU Delegations in Canberra and Wellington.

I have some experience in this topsy-turvy world of diplomatic gobbledegook but I am not an specialist in International Law.

From what the latter site says, and it appears to be the case I agree, is that that you should be able to stay for individual stays of up to 90 days in different countries in the Schengen area with which NZ has such bilateral arrangements.

However, to put you mind at rest why not email or call the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Wellington to get a confirmed legal understanding of this matter from the NZ Govt. side.

Contact / Email query form here:

https:/…

Hotels with Parking near Lisbon Airport

At present there are no hotels really near the Airport. 

Your best bet would be one of the hotels at Parque de Nações or the Radisson Blu.

http://www.radissonblu.com/hotel-lisbon

These are all about 2 to 3 kms away. I doubt though they would do parking any cheaper than the Airport.

There is a hotel being built by the airport T1 but I have no idea when it will be open.

Addendum: I have just been informed that there is also a Holiday Inn Express in an Industrial area close to the Airport. Apparently there is an airport shuttle.

See: http://www.hiexpress.com/hotels/us/en/lisbon/lisap/hoteldetail

Flights to Faro

At present, there are currently no direct flights scheduled from Faro to Milano in either the winter or summer 2013.

Ryanair have tried to animate routes to both Milano/Bergamo & Orio al Serio in previous seasons, as well as to Madrid and Barcelona.

Indeed, I even understand that for Summer 2013 there will be no route to Madrid.

Unfortunately, it appears that low usage resulted in these being dropped. Efforts have been made to promote the Algarve as a tourist destination into the Italian and Spanish market but with little success. So existing scheduled routes target the destinations in the Algarve's main target markets...viz. UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Scandanavia, Switzerland, Canada, Luxembourg and certain charter markets such as Poland, Finland and Russia.

Decreases in visitor numbers to the Algarve is severely affecting Faro's attractiveness as a flight destination and I am afraid it is only going to get worse.

I recently had to travel from Lagos, Algarve to Pompeii in Italy via Napoli. The only options were either via Sevilla or Lisboa. In the end, because I like Seville and had to spend the night there, I took the twice daily bus from the Algarve to Seville and then flew Vueling.com from there.

I am increasingly recommending folk want to travel to and from the Algarve to consider usingLisbon as their gateway. There are frequent buses between Albufeira and other Algarve towns to Lisbon, taking three to four hours and from Lisbon there is a much greater choice to flights to a variety of European and destinations including Italy.

As regards France, ryanair.com fly several times a week to Paris Beauvais.

Have a specific look at vueling.com. They are the only real low-cost airline that I know that offers through booking. When I flew from Seville to Napoli in November 2012, I got a ticket for €55.00. The route, however, was by one aircraft from Seville to Barcelona, a two hour stop-over and then another Barcelona to Napoli.

Vueling.com fly from Lisbon as well.

On final option to consider, could be flying Ryanair from Faro to Porto. There are many more flights from Porto into destinations in France, Spain and Italy than there are from Faro.

Seville to Lisbon

1) If you are hiring a car in Southern Spain, it is probably best to return to Spain to drop it off, as one way car rentals between Spain and Portugal can result in serious "drop-off" premiums.

2) Lisbon has an excellent public transport system including trains, metro, buses and ferries. I have know Lisbon for decades but no longer drive into the town when visiting owing to the price of parking, traffic calming measures and the fact that it is easier to use public transport.

The old downtown (Baixa, Alfama, Graça ,Estrela etc ) is made up of many, often narrow, streets built on steep hills and winding curves. Not easy for driving.

It is probably better to leave the car in a car park at your hotel, at the airport or at Gare Oriente and take the Metro into town.

3) Bear in mind that in June, certain parts of Andalucia (Southen Spain) (e.g. Seville), can be nearly as hot as "Alice" during the day!

4) TAP Air Portugal operate daily flights from Lisbon to Seville. However, it is not a low-cost operator!

5) There is no direct train link between Seville and Lisbon.

6) There is a daily (twice at weekends) long distance bus service between Seville and Lisbon operated by alsa.es. Buses leave from Sevilla Prado San Sebastian Bus Station and Sevilla Plaza das Armas bus station.

7) eva-bus.com / www.rede-expressos.pt / damas-sa.es offers connections twice daily (four in summer) via Faro. Buses leave from Sevilla Plaza das Armas bus station. Tickets must be purchase separately for Seville-Faro and Faro-Lisbon. There may be some layover time.

Move This Cable! - Get St. Helena Connected to the Interwebs!

St. Helena is a British Possession smack bang in the middle of the Southern Atlantic Ocean.

It needs a good fibre-optic link to the world.

See:

Move This Cable! | News

Lagos , Algarve - Petition against new measures on Bars

Petition against implementation of licensing hour measures against bars and hospitality businesses

http://goo.gl/ndLqR

"Should the Lagos Council decide to proceed with the approval and implementation of the by-laws described in the above “Edital”, which has the potential to negatively affect the current nightlife experiences in Lagos, that I as a patron, and/or as a visitor and/or as a tourist, and/or as an investor expect, you are hereby notified that it will greatly affect my choice of Lagos and the Algarve as a tourism, and/or holiday, and/or business, and/or investment destination.

In other words, I would most probably select another alternative location to enjoy my leisure, business or investment activities."

Turismo do Algarve atento ao futuro do Aeroporto de Faro

Will the privatisation of Portuguese Airports Operator ANA Aeroportos affect competitivity of Faro Airport?

Will competitive handling fees be maintained to ensure existing routes are maintained and to ensure traffic growth!

See:

Turismo do Algarve atento ao futuro do Aeroporto de Faro

Alvor/Portimão to Paris - Train or Plane

Flights:

easyjet.com will be operating Faro to Paris Orly in April. Two flights a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Rail:

As of the present time there are on going work to rule and other stoppages on CP - Portuguese Railways regional and urban routes. These have been ongoing since August last year and the unions have just extended them till the end of January. I suspect they will be ongoing for several more months.

You may therefore find that you book a ticket from Portimão only to find a day before the train you are supposed to catch to connect with the Alfa-Pendular express at Tunes Junction has been cancelled.

If you take the train, plan to take a taxi or transfer to Tunes from Alvor, (+- € 50.00).

Book your ticket from Tunes to Paris.

There is only one daily routing as follows:

Tunes to Gare Oriente Lisbon

I would recommend the 15h35 departure from Tunes arriving at Gare Oriente at 18h04. There is a later train arriving at 21h05 but if there are any delays you could miss your connection to the Sud Express.

Sud Express: Lisbon Gare Oriente to Hendaye(Spanish French Border)

Depts: 21:27 (Portuguese Time)

Arr: 11:28 (Spanish Time Next day.)

See: http://goo.gl/gctTF

Prices from Lisbon to Hendaye are here:

http://goo.gl/US6u5

You then have to book a connecting TGV-Atlantique train (Seats only) from Hendaye to Paris with http://www.voyages-sncf.com/

At present there is a Departure from Hendaye at 12h45 arriving Paris Montparnasse at 18h33.

In reality, you will be travelling for over 24 hours. The prices as well are not cheap. Travelling 2nd class and with no sleeper, one is looking at nearly

€ 200.00 per person one way.

At present, easyjet.com are quoting much much cheaper for Faro to Paris.

Looking at the prices

Lisboa - Best price/quality destination

Lisbon again voted a top world tourism destination.

Lisboa é destino com melhor relação qualidade-preço do mundo e a mais amável da Europa

A November 2012 Tripadvisor survey has ranked Lisbon as one of the best value for money city destinations.

Friendliest locals as well!

Força Lisboa

See:

portugaldailyview.com/whats-new/trip-advisor…

Lisbonne à Fatima

Malheureusement, the gare de Fatima se retrouve +-8km de la ville de Fatima et la Sanctuaire.

C'est pas conseiller prendre des trains à Fatima, car la gare est située à Caxarias à quelques kilomètres du sanctuaire et les services d'autobus locaux sur cette route ne sont pas fréquents (max. 7 par jour).

La meilleure manière de visiter la ville de Lisbonne est en bus ou en voiture

Il existe deux services d'autobus directs entre Lisbonne et Fatima:
a) Rede Expressos- http://www.rede-expressos.pt/
Il ya des départs réguliers de Gare Routière Lisbonne - Sete Rios (métro: Jardim Zoologico) à Fatima. Il ya des départs réguliers pendant la journée entre 07:00-20h00. Le durée du transit est 90min.
b) Citi-Express - http://www.citiexpress.eu
Citi-Express offre aussi des services de bus 2 à 4 fois par jour entre Gare Routier Lisbonne - Gare Oriente (Metro/Gare Grandes Lignes - Gare Oriente) et Fatima.
Les lignes 4,5,7 de cette société partent de la gare routière.
Les billets sont disponibles au guichet bus Nº. 8.
Horaires: ici http://goo.gl/8ZuB4
Concernant se rendre à Nazaré et Batalha, il faut noter que les services réguliers d'autobus entre ces villes et Fatima sont limitées.
Il peut être préférable de faire un tour comme ceux offerts par la société mentionnée ci-dessous.
http://www.dianatours.pt/pt/index.php?doc=sightseeing-tours/saidas-lisboa/fatima

Bon Chance!