New Easyjet Route - Paris - Faro

Easyjet have begun their new (summer for now) route from Paris to Faro.

See this article:

http://www.the-news.net/cgi-bin/google.pl?id=1019-33

If this route is going to become year round there is a real need to ensure that residents in the Algarve patronise the route as well as tourists.

Car Hire - Algarve - Summer 2009

Search this Algarve forum. This matter has been debated incessantly.

Be aware that because of the economic crisis car hire companies in Portugal and Spain have substantially reduced their fleets this summer so there are fewer cars available and prices have gone up.

You may already find it hard to find what you want at the price you want.

In terms of best offer/service with pick up from Faro airport have a look at:

Luzcar - www.luzcar.com - Prices are slightly higher than others but are all inclusive and include 2nd driver and travel to Spain as far as Seville.

I have used them for at least 10 years.

Auto Jardim - www.autocarhire.net

Well established local car hire company with offices throughout throughout the Algarve and Portugal.

Yorcar - www.carhireyes.com/carhirealgarve/

Well established local car hire company.

All of the above are reputable established local companies.

Budget Hotels close to beach in Lagos

It is unlikely that you will get an apartment for 4 days only. Most apartment rentals are for a minimum of 7 days although you may get lucky.

There is a paucity of low cost hostelries close to Meia Praia.

You could have a look at Dom Pedro Meia Praia Beach Club Hotel. This is right on Meia Praia and has been having some offers recently.

As regards Dona Ana there are several guest houses in in the area.

The Montemar Hotel Lagos is about 10 minutes by foot from Dona Ana but is also 10 minutes from the town centre on foot. It is a budget type hotel.

Also have a look at Sollagos Apartamentos Turisticos, near the Montemar.

Bus from Vila Gale to center of Lagos?

There is an Onda local bus Line 2 / Blue Line that passes in front of the pool area of the Vila Gale.

There is a bus stop at Bairro 10 de Maio, 2 minutes from the Vila Galé.

There are buses every 40 minutes or so during the week and there is a summer service with buses every hour on the hour until 23:30.

Vila Gale by foot is about 20 minutes from the Avenida. if you cut through Dunas Douradas, by the Station and over the marina foot bridge.

I know, I live here.

Sunday Mass - Albufeira

Had a look at the local diocesan web site.

Looks like the best option will be:

Here we go:

Nossa Senhora da Conceição
Tv. da Igreja Matriz, 6 - 8200-183 ALBUFEIRA

Mass at:

Saturday: 18:00, 22:00 (Summer), Sunday: 09:30, 11:00, 19:00 (Summer)

See:

http://bit.ly/masstimesalbuferia

Driving Lisbon Airport to Carvoeiro, Algarve, Portugal

Driving Directions here:(you will have to copy and paste into your web browser:)

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Alameda+das+Comunidades+Portuguesas,+Santa+Maria+dos+Olivais,+Lisboa,+1700,+Portugal+(LIS+-+Lisbon+International+Airport)&daddr=Carvoeiro,+Portugal&hl=en&geocode=FaOGTwIdurJ0_w%3B&mra=ls&sll=37.974515,-8.893433&sspn=2.009162,4.938354&ie=UTF8&ll=37.939865,-8.640747&spn=2.010109,4.938354&t=h&z=8

For group 1 vehicles, the current south bound toll on the A2 to Paderne is in the order of 18.60 EUR.
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Pay as you go Dongle in Portugal

Yes. I use one a back up when visit clients.

Performance is generally good but depends on location. I have had up to 5 computers running on one via a router, albeit in an area where the nearest mobile tower was only 1km away over flat ground.

See:.

http://barlaventositblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/prepaid-mobile-broadband-portugal.html

And

http://barlaventostravelblog.blogspot.com/search?q=vodafone

Coverage in Mountains is patchy. The system depends in line of site and to get good performance you need a good 3G mobile phone signal. I strongly recommend potential buyers to test their signal first with a good 3G phone or computer equipped with a dongle before purchasing.

There are three basic units on sale in Portugal, Vodafone, TMN and Kanguru. They can usually be had in any Mobile phone shop, Worten, Vobis and Fnac Stores.

Prices vary but if you are in the Mountains you will probably want a powerful dongle like the Huawei E172 which runs at up to 7.2 Mbps and currently costs € 49.90. in Worten

low-cost-transfer.com / Best Day.

low-cost-transfer.com is not low-cost-transfers.com who are still operational. It is a totally different company.

The low-cost-transfer.com website is not operational.

Its whois record shows that the domain was owned by Best Day who we know from posts have gone bust.

See this link:

http://whois.domaintools.com/low-cost-transfer.com

Alvor or lagos

As the fly crows, Alvor is only 6kms from Lagos across the bay.

Unfortunately, flies don't crow here in the Algarve and the road route loops inland and the distance is about 30kms.

Lagos is a great place but be aware of our recent comments in this forum about our ongoing building work.

Most of the work should be finished by spring next year and the centre should be back to normal with an improved water front.

We have more bars and restaurants than Alvor and great hidden beaches.

Algarve Car Hire - Summer 2009

I am writing this in the offices of clients of mine in Lagos who deal with several car hire companies in the Algarve.

As of this morning, Luzcar reported that they had no vehicles available for the next week and Guerin are reporting that they have no vehicles left for at least the next month.

It appears that owing to the economic down turn and the need to balance short-term summer fleet needs with 10 months of low fleet usage, Algarve car hire firms have reduced their fleets to a level where demand may exceed supply this year.

I was at Faro Airport on Monday and I thought that the fleet parks for many of the car hire companies were emptier than usual. This appears now to have been confirmed.

This situation also seems to mirror reports off similar problems from Spain.