Alvor Travel Forum

My husband and i are coming to alvor and tavira in June,1 week in each, we have been before but we would like to visit the surrounding area and we do not drive. Can anyone recommend any trips organised locally as we are not on a package and are making our own way around. We don't mind taking local buses. We fancy Ferragado and Faro,we've been to portimao and Lagos any ideas or any other useful tips would be great

There was a gypsy market on Saturdays in Lagos, and a farmers market in Lagoa. Silves has a nice castle. Monchique is a great place to cool off and enjoy the view. Cape St. Vincent and Sagres are great spots as well. The Algarve really offers a lot of things to do but finding transport is a real challenge. In your shoes I would ask locally about a car and driver. My experience with Portuguese taxis was not good but if someone private was willing to act as an unofficial guide you might have a great tour for just a little more than the cost of an organized tour. I would also find out when the organized tour companies are having their meet and greet in your hotel and approach them. They will no doubt be happy to sell you an excursion even if you are not part of their group, it's all money to them. In addition, when we were in Alvor the girl at the front desk had plenty of tours that we could sign up for that were not offered by our tour group. The Jeep tour in particular visited a lot of back country. One word of warning: Alvor is quite a distance west and tours into Spain will stop at numerous other hotels before actually getting under way. We had to start our tour to Seville at 6:00 AM and didn't get there until 11:00, the shops all closed for siesta soon after our arrival and then we had to catch the bus back before they reopened and didn't get back to our hotel until well after dark, a complete waste of a day.
Enjoy Alvor, we loved it.
View our photos at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shirleycann/sets/72157603429914351/

I have all the bus and train times for the Algarve on my website at www.algarvebus.info - please take a look. Bus and train travel here is not expensive; the longest bus ride is only €5.10 (Faro to Lagos) and that same journey by train is €6.40 - the train is about 30 minutes quicker.

Getting to Ferragudo from Portimao is a bit of a pain at the moment.The old bridge across the river is closed as it is unsafe and all vehicles (including buses)have to take a four mile detour via the N125. There was talk of a ferry across the river but nothing seems to have come of it.

If you don't mind a little bit bit of a walk, you could take the bus from Alvor to Portimao and walk across the bridge to Parchal and Ferragudo. Otherwise the bus from Portimao takes 20 - 25 minutes going the long way round.

I'd recommend Silves with its historic castle etc - you can take a bus from Portimao. Monchique is rather touristy but the bus from Portimao is a nice enough ride into the hills.

For Faro I suggest taking the train or bus from Tavira when you are there; the train takes about 40 minutes, the bus a little longer.

You should also visit Tavira island, which is a nature reserve. There are ferries from the centre of Tavira in summer (not sure of exact dates as no information was posted when I was last there) and from Quatras Aguas (a mile from town) all year round.

Hope that helps a little.