Free Wifi Access in Lagos

The only place I know for sure you can do this in the area (because I've used it) is at the Centro Cultural de Lagos, in downtown Lagos. The Building & Cafe has free wifi access.

Centro Cultural de Lagos

Morada: Rua Lançarote de Freitas
8600-605 Lagos
Telefones: 282 770 450

Lisbon hotels

I would recommend the Ibis Hotel Malhoa which is situated about 400 metres from Sete Rios Bus Station, from where the bus to Seville departs.(All down hill).

see: http://www.ibishotel.com/ibis/fichehotel/gb/ibi/1668/fiche_hotel.shtml

You would have to take a taxi anyway from the airport as there is no metro nor convenient bus service from the airport serving budget hotels.

Lisbon -Seville/Sevilla - Lisbon Bus Services

The following are the current (July, 2008) bus/coach timetables for the service Lisbon - Seville - Lisbon operated by www.alsa.es. (Click on images to enlarge)

Seville - Lisbon



Lisbon - Seville

Vilamoura to Fatima

The most direct route from Vilamoura to Fatima by public transport is by bus from Quarteira, the town right next to Vilamoura.

Bus operator Rede Expressos offer several services daily via Lisbon Sete Rios Bus Station.

The following is an extract from there current schedule:(Double Click on the + sign below to enlarge )



By train, you would have to get a service from Loulé Station, 6km from Vilamoura to Lisbon Gare Oriente.

See the second part of this post on my blog for more details:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/algarve-albufeira-fatima.html

Early Morning transfer from Albufeira to Lisbon airport

Unless you go up to Lisbon the day before, the only way to do this is by bus:

Rede expressos have a departure from Albufeira Main Bus Station at 02:20hrs. arriving Lisbon Sete Rios Bus Station at 05:30.(Current Price - 18 Euros) You would then need to take a taxi to the Airport.

Renex have a departure from Albufeira Main Bus Station at 01:55hrs. arriving Lisbon Gare Oriente Bus Station at 05:00. You would then need to take a taxi to the Airport.

You can find a link to timetables on my blog here:

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right hand side panel till you come to:

»» Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

»» Continue scrolling down in this section till you come to the timetable you want.

Please note that the trains do not offer a suitably timed service.

Train or drive from Lisbon to Lagos?

Remember, you are from Texas!

Although you guys think the price of petrol is high stateside right now, it is currently around the equivalent of US$ 10.70 a gallon here in Portugal. A small car will use about 3 to 4 gallons for the Lisbon to Lagos run depending on loading. Add the tolls and you are looking at a minimum of about US$ 55.00 if you take the motorway.

Also as you are from the otherside of the pond, remember that most vehicles this side are manual shift. If you need an automatic, remember to specify this when booking and be aware that you will pay a premium for an automatic vehicle.

Train tickets are about € 20.00, not US$ 20.00

You will need a car in the Algarve so better to hire when you arrive the Algarve.

As regards train stations, your best bet is to take a taxi from Lisbon Airport to Gare Oriente Station. (About 5 minute drive.)

From there you can get either a long distance RENEX Coach to Lagos or the train, changing at Tunes.

For direct links to timetables, see my blog at

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/

Scroll down on the right hand side panel till you come to:

»» Algarve & Portugal - Travel Transport Links

»» Continue scrolling down in this section till you come

Portuguese Railways - 2008 - Lisbon - Algarve Faro/Lagos Timetable

or

RENEX Bus Service - Lisbon to Algarve timetable

Click on these to download the timetables from the respective sites.

Faro to Evora/Viana do Alentejo

To get from Faro to Viana de Alentejo is not that easy.

You cannot book through tickets.

The Sector Evora - Viana de Alentejo is operated by a local bus company and according to the local Council, buses only run on this route Mondays to Fridays.

See:
http://www.cm-vianadoalentejo.pt/pt/conteudos/informacoes+uteis/transportes/

Operated by Rodoviária do Alentejo - Line 8146

Departures from Évora: 07h15 - 17h30 - 19h15
Departures from Viana: 06h49 - 08h10 - 19h55

Services depart from Evora Bus Station

For the sector Faro to Evora one has two options:

1) Bus:

Service operated by Rede Expressos - http://www.rede-expressos.pt/0010.asp

Current Timetable as follows:



2) Train

Portuguese Railways www.cp.pt operate two services a day between Faro and Evora with changes in Funcheira and Beja.

Current Timetable as follows:

Dept. Arr.
Faro 9h05 Evora 14h24
Faro 13h08 Evora 17h41

taxi or bus from Istanilla to Faro

Get the hire car company to drop you in Ayamonte.

Islantilla is about 30km from Ayamonte by road. 20km as the fly crows.

Alternatively, Damas, the regional bus service operate a service four times a day on weekdays from Islantilla to Ayamonte at the following times Weekends about 1 service a day.:

08:30
09:30
14:30
18:30

There are buses departing from Ayamonte to Faro.

Check Cubsur's site at www.algarvebus.info for the times.

Portalegre to Lisbon/Faro

According to the CP (Portuguese Railway), http://www.cp.pt, there are two trains daily running from Elvas through Portalegre to Entroncamento with onwards connections to Lisbon Gare Oriente where you can connect to trains to Faro.

Trains leave Portalegre:

Dept Portalegre: 06.19 Arr. Lisbon Gare Oriente 10:02
Dept: Lisbon Gare Oriente 10:20 Arr. Faro 14:20

Dept Portalegre: 15.24 Arr. Lisbon Gare Oriente 19:02
Dept: Lisbon Gare Oriente 19:20 Arr. Faro 23:20 (Only operates Fridays year round and 1st June throughh 31st August.)

The line through Portalegre runs in an east - west direction and only has a link to Faro via Lisbon. The station is situated 12km from the town in a southerly direction. The Council website indicates that there are local buses serving the station.

See this link (in Portuguese) from the council website here:

http://www.cm-portalegre.pt/page.php?page=622

Note that the daily Lisbon - Madrid Express train that used to pass through nearby Castelo de Vide no longer operates that route. It currently runs via Vilar Formoso near Guarda

Train between Evora and Merida

There is no train service between Evora in Portugal and Merida in Spain.

However, there is a bus service operated by www.alsa.es that serves this route.

Current Timetable as follows. (Click on image to enlarge.)