Coimbra & Porto to San Sebastian

Coimbra is definitely worth a visit.

It is one of the oldest Universities in Europe with roots dating back to the 1200's. 

The student life melds with the fabric of the city

Its location on the Mondego River has been historically critical and there have been settlements there or near there since roman time. 

For some more info have a look at this recent article:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.pt/2013/01/coimbra-portugal.html

There are plenty of low-cost pensions in Coimbra. 

There is also a "Pousada de Juventude", state youth hostel.

See also: http://www.turismodecoimbra.pt/index.php?lang=en

As regards travelling to San Sebastian/Donastia from Porto you basically have two routes:

1) Through Galicia via Vigo, Santiago da Compostela, La Coruna, Oviedo, Santander and Bilbao. 

2) Via Salamanca, Valladolid, Burgos, Vitoria, and Bilbao.

This can all be done by long distance coach (See: alsa.es) or train. (See renfe.es / www.cp.pt) 

On both routes, there are historic cities worth visiting. In Bilbao you also have the Guggenheim.

There are other cities in the region like Zamora, Ourense, and Leon among others that might interest you.

Basically you need to have a look at the articles on these cities on wikipedia. Decide which ones interest you and then plan your itinerary from there.

Vickers Viscounts - Memories

Talking about Viscounts, I was privileged to be aboard the last flight of an Air Zimbabwe 700 series (before airframe expiry) in 1985, when we used it on a charter to take businessmen on a trade mission from Harare, Zimbabwe to Lubumbashi in Zaire/Congo.

The machine had been purchased by Central African Airways in the late 1950's and had served with CAA, Air Rhodesia and then Air Zimbabwe. It was still kitted out with a navigator's table behind the pilot's position as it had been originally used in the late '50's for scheduled 72 hours flights to London via various airports up the Nile route. I used the navigator's table on the 3 hour flight back to write my mission report and enjoy the view as we crossed the Zambesi Valley!

I also used to travel on Air Rhodesia Viscounts between Salisbury, Rhodesia and Jan Smuts, Jo'burg between 1972 and 1976. I flew the route about 60 times. It got so boring that I used to sit in an aisle seat and was able to tell by the tone of the plane's engines and time where we were en route.

35 minutes - Finished climbing and levelling off over Masvingo, (Fort Victoira/Great Zimbabwe)

1hr 10min - Crossing into South Africa over the Limpopo at Beitbridge.

1hr 45min - Beginning descent into Jan Smuts over Potgietersrus.

2hr 5min - banking to starboard over the Magaliesberg range north of Pretoria to avoid the restricted airspace of the Waterkloof Airbase.

2hr 15min - banking to port for final approach to Jan Smuts.

2hr 30min - land at Jan Smuts!

Memories!

Minoan Air

Very interesting new airline based in Crete but whose first scheduled regular routes will be:

1)  between Oxford Airport, England, Edinburgh, Scotland and Dublin, Republic of Ireland

2) between Lugano, Switzerland, Rome, Italy and  Vienna Austria.

Flights will be operated by (venerable) Fokker F50 turboprops.

http://www.minoanair.com

It will be interesting to see if this type of point to point flights between minor centres works!

What area to stay or not in Lagos, Algarve, Portugal

There are few "quality" B&B's in the old town of Lagos.

I can recommend the following:

Hotel Marina Rio

http://www.marinario.com/uk/reservas.htm

Have a look on booking.com to see if you can get a good deal. The Hotel is right next to the bus station on the main Avenida and opposite the Marina. An easy 10/15 minute walk down the Avenida to the centre of town with plenty of Restaurants.

We have used this establishment which has recently been upgraded to a hotel to accommodate visitors attending events we have organised here in Lagos.

Be careful with some of the properties listed in

www.bedandbreakfastworld.com/lagos/portugal

Many of them are Budget/Backpackers Hostels often with loads of noise.

Those I suggest that are worth looking and which are in the centre of town are:

- Casa da Moura (up the back of the old town by the city walls!)

- Hotel Mar Azul

- Casa Amarela

- Residencial Cidade Velha

- Hotel Lagosmar

Tripadvisor: os 20 melhores hotéis económicos de Portugal 2013

Tripadvisor's 2013 list of the 20 best budget hotels in Portugal

See:

Tripadvisor: os 20 melhores hotéis económicos de Portugal 2013

Flights from Dublin to Seville

ryanair.com operates a seasonal weekly service starting from March 16th 2013.

In the interim, your best bet would probably be to fly ryanair.com or aerlingus.com to Malaga, get the Cercania(Train) from Malaga Airport to Malaga Train Station and then train or bus to Seville.

There are regular train departures throughout the day taking between two to three and a half hours.

See: www.renfe.es

There is also a daily bus leaving Malaga Airport for Seville Plaza das Armas

at 16:45 arriving 20:00. One could also get buses from Malaga several times a day to Sevilla.

See: alsa.es

Portugal's Wine Exports - 2012

Excellent article on Bloomberg about Portugal's increasing wine exports:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-21/portugal-wine-sales-rise-as-asia-ex-colony-demand-grows.html?goback=.gde_2580599_member_206642329

Portugal needs more good news like this!

Faro Airport Transfers - Need for a bus service

Transfers to Lagos are currently priced at around €70/75.00 with most operators! This is fine if there are four people travelling!

That's why I am recommending single travelers and couples to consider coming into the Western Algarve via Lisbon.

Metro/Bus to Bus/Train Station: up to € 4.00 per pax.

Bus from Lisbon to Lagos/Portimão/PDR is +-€20.00. per pax

Even the twice daily bus from Seville to Lagos is cheaper!

Only € 21:00 per person!

We really do need a decent bus service, several times through the day and night, linking the major centres in the Algarve with Faro Airport.

It is crazy when people book early a low-cost flight into Faro for say €49.99 and then have to pay double the amount to get to their destination.

Flying from the Algarve to London

The following is a current non-exhaustive list of airlines that are or will be operating from Faro, Algarve to London, U.K.  during 2013.

Remember that London has six airport serving it and several airlines flying direct to Faro:

London Heathrow

London Gatwick - Easyjet.com, Monarch.com, Norwegian.com (From March 2013), British Airways, 

London Stansted - Ryanair.com

London Luton - Easyjet.com

London City

Southend.- Easyjet.com

Stop Press: Rail Accident between Lisbon and Porto, Portugal

There was a collision last night between an Intercity Train and a Regional Train near Pombal on the Lisbon to Porto Line.

According to the Portuguese Railways website  all services are suspended between Pombal and Pampilhosa.

If you are planning to travel by train between Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra in the next 48 hours I would recommending checking first at the Station.