

All drivers originally from the UK.
Click picture to visit the website
Pricematch Guaranteed, book your
return transfer and get a free gift!
Click the logo to visit
yellowfishtransfers.com

Airport, golf and local transfers


Bring your team to
the Algarve!!
Click to visit our website

Alternatives to satellite dishes also supplied and
installed
BESPOKE GOLF HOLIDAYS -
CLICK AD TO VISIT THEIR SITE
Family friendly holidays ad baby equipment to hire
click the logo to visit their site


Useful website for visitor information on safety and
security.
Click logo to visit

Bike rentals, tours, sales and service. Click to see their
site.
Located on the N125 near Algarve Shopping, Guia.
VISITING ALBUFEIRA?
WANT TO PLAY LAWN BOWLS?
THE BALAIA BOWLS CLUB
NEAR ALBUFEIRA WELCOMES YOU
Visitors
of all abilities are welcome
Please visit this
page for the details
Roll-ups Tuesday and Friday mornings, meet at 0945 for
1000 start. (This may be changed, so please check.)
Visitors pay €10 per person for about two hours play. We
can provide woods, also bowling shoes if you need them.
We are also happy to welcome touring sides and can provide
our own team as your competition. Four rinks on natural
grass. Bar adjacent!
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE CLUB
WEBSITE
There are also lawn bowls clubs based near Alvor, Cabanas,
Almancil and Floresta BC at Aldeia Azul near Lagos
HOLIDAY OR LONG TERM
RENTAL
MODERN TWO BEDROOM
APARTMENT FOR HOLIDAY RENT LONG OR SHORT STAYS IN THE
CENTRE OF ALBUFEIRA OLD TOWN
No pool, no parking, but 2 minutes walk from the beach
area, 1 minute walk from the old town's main square.
The apartment is NOT suitable for those who cannot manage
46 stairs up from the street! No lift / elevator.
Long lets available in winter. Price around €250 a week,
negotiable, minimum 'long' let is three weeks. Unlimited
wifi, fully equipped kitchen. Large balcony. I know
the owner and can put you in touch with him direct!
Bookable for holidays at Booking.com - click here.
The same owner has a 1 bedroom apartment, fully modernised
last year, in a quiet residential area about 5 minutes
walk from the old town and close to all amenities. Details
here.
SHAMELESS BOOK
PLUG!

available as a paperback and Kindle at Amazon.
Paul Marsh has lived in the Algarve for fifty years.
This is the first part of Paul's story – how he threw away
the opportunity of a privileged education and a glittering
career in accountancy and opted instead to bum his way
around Europe for a few years until finally settling in
the Algarve, where he had a stroke of good fortune, became
emotionally attached to a local street dog – that’s him in
the title of this book – and fell in love with the country
and its people.
|
The Algarve region of Portugal - information on bus
and train services
This is an unofficial website compiled by a
resident of the Algarve. It has come about as a result
of many enquiries in various forums. No responsibility
can be accepted for any problems caused by errors or
omissions. This site is not connected with, nor endorsed
by, any official operator or organisation. I welcome any
feedback, comments and
suggestions. In all cases I strongly recommend that you
check times locally at the bus terminal etc as timetable
changes are often made with little or no prior warning!
Timetables are NOT posted at some bus stops.
Contents - summary
YOU ARE STRONGLY
ADVISED TO READ THE GUIDANCE NOTES first as,
at first sight, the operations here can seem a bit
complicated.
For example, most buses in the Algarve do not have
route / line numbers as they do in many countries.
A
list of all the timetables on the site
Alphabetical list of all places in
the Algarve served by train or bus
All timetable pages carry the date on which I was last
able to verify the times as being correct.
I have used almost all the buses and trains myself.
THE MOST
FREQUENTLY CONSULTED PAGES
Fast Buses Faro
<> Albufeira <> Portimão <>
Lagos
|
Buses
along
the coast between Faro, Almancil, Quarteira,
Vilamoura, Albufeira, Lagoa, Portimão and Lagos
|
Buses along the
coast between Lagos, Portimão, Lagoa, Albufeira,
Vilamoura, Quarteira, Almancil and Faro
|
Buses
between Faro, Olhão, Tavira, Monte Gordo, Vila
Real de Santo António
|
Travel
between the Algarve and Seville (Spain)
|
Buses between Lagos and Sagres
Diagram
of Algarve bus routes
|
List of
timetables
Notes
on
the bus systems |
Alphabetical
list
of towns and villages with links to timetables
|
Public
Holidays in Portugal 2022 / 2023
|
Outdoor
markets in the Algarve
|
Local buses around Albufeira |
Bus maps of Albufeira |
Buses in other parts of
Portugal
|
Long-distance
buses (coaches) in Portugal
|
Trains in the Algarve and
to/from Lisbon |
Football
(soccer) in the Algarve |
|
Beer price
conversion table - download and save this
MS EXCEL
file then find out how much your
beer here really costs!
|
EMAIL ME
|
News and updates - latest
- Wednesday 10th August 2022
IMPORTANT
- WEARING A MASK IS STILL COMPULSORY BY LAW ON ALL
FORMS OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT WITH BIG FINES IF YOU DO
NOT. THIS INCLUDES TAXIS AND FERRIES. THIS
WILL APPLY UNTIL AT LEAST THE END OF AUGUST
PUBLIC HOLIDAY MONDAY
15th AUGUST
Monday 15th
August is a public holiday in Portugal - the Feast
of the Assumption. Trains and buses will run to
Sunday times.
CHANGES TO SOME BUS ROUTES AROUND FARO FROM MONDAY
1st AUGUST
Announced at five days notice, regional routes 33, 50
and 93 are no longer be operated by VAMUS.They will be
operated by a new company under the banner Via Faro,
financed by Faro city council. There will also be
changes to some other local routes around Faro, little
used by visitors. Pages concerned have been updated.
EXTRA TRAINS FROM AND TO LISBON FOR THE SUMMER
There is an extra train Lisbon to Faro on Friday
evenings until the first weekend of September. This
train calls at Tunes, Albufeira, Loulé and Faro, with
arrival in Faro at midnight. Reservations are
required. Needless to say, there are no local bus or
train connections at that time of night! The return
journey on Sundays leaves Faro at 20.08. There will
also be an extra train each way on 15th August, a
public holiday here. Full timings here
on the official railway website.
REDE- EXPRESSOS CROSS BORDER COACH / LONG
DISTANCE BUS SERVICE TO SPAIN
The cross border coach / long distance bus
service between Lagos and Seville is now
operating five journeys each day in each direction
calling at Portimão, Albufeira, Faro Airport, Faro
and Tavira in Portugal, some also stop in Huelva in
Spain. (By comparison, there were eight journeys
each way in winter 2019.) The night-time journey and one daytime
journey Lisbon - Albufeira - Faro - Seville are
also operating. Times here.
Flixbus
is operating at least two daytime journeys each day
between Lisbon and Seville, with stops in Albufeira,
Faro, Faro Airport and Huelva. CHECK THE TIMES
AT THEIR WEBSITE! They have also restored the
overnight journeys, but these no longer stop in
Albufeira or at Faro Airport.
OPERATOR FOR ALGARVE REGIONAL BUSES - PREVIOUSLY
EVA AND FROTA AZUL ROUTES
The regional bus
service in the Algarve is operated under the name
VAMUS. Buses have a mainly white new colour scheme.
Click a picture to see it full size.
Their website is vamusalgarve.pt
and an 'app' for your mobile available in Portuguese,
Spanish and (American) English. Pre paid tickets for
multiple journeys can be added. It includes
interactive maps of all routes including the stops, an
A to B journey planner and a calculator for season
ticket fares. There is also a pre paid ticket
card available at bus stations, which can be renewed
on line, rather than having to go to a bus station.
OFFICIAL MAP OF ALGARVE BUS ROUTES
The VAMUS bus company
has kindly provided me with a copy of their official
route map which can be viewed and downloaded here.
Bus Station ticket office hours
Most bus station ticket
offices are open but some with limited hours. There
is an updated list here. If you need a
ticket for a long distance journey go to www.rede-expressos.pt
or if using Flixbus, to their website.
Paying for the
bus - local buses in the Algarve region
Buses in the Algarve
do not take contactless debit or credit cards.
The crisis situation did not push them towards it.
Unless you have a pre paid pass or season ticket,
for local journeys it's cash only on board. Change
is given, but bus drivers will not thank you for a
€20 note. You can pay for a pre paid pass or season
ticket at a bus station using a debit card.
The VAMUS bus company offers a pre paid 'pay as you
go' card valid for all its buses, which reduces on
board fares by 40 - 50%. Information in Portuguese
and English here.
Bus stops on Google Maps
VAMUS regional bus stops in the Algarve region are
marked on Google Maps! Click on a bus stop
symbol and you will see the times of the buses and
their destination. The route numbers on the departure
board may not be shown on the front of the bus, just
the destination. Some stops do not show up on the map
unless you zoom right in. Warning - because of short
notice changes to bus times, I recommend you check bus
times and other details at the official websites if
your journey is important. The information on Google
is not necessarily going to be correct.
Also shown on Google Maps are the Albufeira local
GIRO system bus stops, routes and times - but a
warning!
Many of the times shown on Google are WRONG by up to 10
minutes. Also, last buses are up to 30 MINUTES EARLIER
than Google states. There is NO officially published
timetable. The times here and
on linked pages are correct and based on almost daily
use of the system.
TRAINS - TICKETS AND RESERVATIONS
Remember that reservation is COMPULSORY on all long
distance trains, even for the shortest journeys.
Tickets are sold up to 60 days in advance. Timetable
changes may be made at short notice. You should check
times FOR THE EXACT DATE OF TRAVEL at the official
website www.cp.pt
Reserved seats are not available on regional trains.
Tickets for regional trains can be bought from the CP
website or using their 'app'. You must either print
your ticket or keep it on your mobile device. There is
no 'collection' option, if only because most stations
have no ticket office and there are no ticket
machines. Payment on board the train is cash only.
TAXIS INCLUDING UBER ETC
Taxis, Uber, BOLT etc are
available almost everywhere. Most municipal taxis do
NOT accept card payments. All taxi companies have
English speaking staff. In most areas, they operate as
co-operatives with a central contact point by phone or
app. A simple internet search 'taxi + (name of town)'
will find this information.
FURTHER DISCOUNTS TO 'SEASON TICKETS' ON REGIONAL
BUSES
A promotional drive has further reduced the cost of
monthly passes to 50% of the base fare and with a
maximum price per month of €40 ie equivalent to €2
each working day. Might be useful to long term
visitors staying outside towns or in places not served
by the purely urban networks. Details here.
TOURIST PASSES FOR ALGARVE BUSES
These are available as
three day versions at €35 and seven days for €45. Days
must be consecutive. They can be bought using their
'app' or at any bus station ticket office and the bus
ticket office in Largo do Dique, Portimão. They are
valid on ALL buses operated by VAMUS listed in
timetables on this site. They are NOT VALID on
Mundial Turismo (MT), Rede-Expressos or other long
distance services or international services, nor on
the local urban buses in Lagos, Portimão, Albufeira,
Loulé, Vilamoura, Quarteira, Faro and Tavira. The
local buses in those towns have their own day passes,
multi-ride tickets and season tickets for frequent or
regular users.
TOURIST PASSES FOR REGIONAL TRAINS IN THE ALGARVE
Available from STAFFED stations only - Lagos,
Portimao, Tunes, Albufeira, Loulé, Faro, Olhao, Tavira
and Vila Real de Santo António - and are NOT VALID ON
ALFA PENDULAR OR INTERCITY TRAINS. Do the maths first.
A return (round-trip) ticket from Faro to Lagos is
only €14,80.
Passes cost €20,90 for two days and three days for
€31,90. Reduced fares for children. Days must be
consecutive. The seven day pass is not being
advertised, that I can find.
Discounts for long distance train travel!
If you book more than 8
days in advance there are some really cheap fares
available on trains, eg between the Algarve stations
and Lisbon. These fares can be cheaper than coaches
(buses). These tickets might not be refunded if you
do not use them. Go to www.cp.pt
for all you need to know.
OTHER DISCOUNTS ON TRAIN TICKETS
If you are aged 25 or under, CP is offering a 25%
discount on all Alfa Pendular, Intercidades,
InterRegional and Regional train tickets. You can
use this discount in any class, any day of the week.
Just show official ID with proof of your age such as
a Citizen card, ID card, driving licence or
passport. You can buy your tickets from
long-distance ticket offices, netTICKET travel
agents. These tickets can be reissued or refunded.
Young people aged 26 or over can still enjoy the
Cartão Jovem discount for individual journeys.
In addition, a 40% or higher discount is available
to all travellers on long distance Intercity and
Alfa Pendular trains who make reservations on line
eight days or more in advance. Reservations open 60
days before travel. On some trains the number of
these discounted tickets is limited. These tickets
can be exchanged for a different train, but are not
refunded if you don't make the trip. You can buy
your print at home tickets at www.cp.pt and in English. DO
NOT buy tickets from RailEurope or any other site as
they cannot offer the discount and cannot provide
you with the mandatory seat reservations. These you
would have to obtain locally and pay an additional
fee for them. Anyone over 65 can travel half fare on
trains so long they have ID eg passport.
STEP FREE ACCESS TO TRAINS - NOT POSSIBLE
I must emphasise that there is NO STEP FREE ACCESS at
any Algarve station to any train while it is in the
platform. All trains in use have steps up into the
carriage. Some platforms are very low, making it
difficult for some. I have added an item to the ' disabled page' with details
of the various stations.
BUS DELAYS
Traffic congestion and
unrealistic timetables mean that many buses may not
be relied upon to run to time, especially on the
longer journeys. However, I have very little recent
bus travel beyond Albufeira to report on! Some
timetables for longer routes e.g. Faro to Lagos have
had a few minutes added to make them more accurate.
On the longer routes eg Lagos - Faro and Albufeira -
Lagos, delays of 10 - 15 minutes towards the end of
the journey were commonplace, on any day of the
week. Delays are even more likely in summer.
TIMETABLES AT BUS STATIONS ETC
Timetables may not be
currently posted at bus stations and were not seen at
Faro and Loulé. Most bus stops now have a timetable
panel showing the times buses leave and to where they
go. But not at all stops, including some in Albufeira
I know of.. Copies of the official timetables can be
downloaded from the VAMUS website,
but finding which one(s) you need can be a problem.
For example, between Albufeira and Portimão there are
four different bus routes each with its own timetable.
Copies can be obtained from bus station ticket
offices. The official timetables have information in
English as to which days buses do or do not run.
DISABLED OR FIND IT HARD TO GET AROUND?
DEFICIENTE? BEHINDERTE? HANDICAPÉ?
Please click here
for some observations on this issue. You will
have problems using the buses and trains
in the Algarve. I am able-bodied by
the way!
Why the site exists
I have built this site of local bus,
train and ferry information here in the
Algarve in response to many queries raised
through various forums.
The main idea is to allow visitors and
potential visitors to plan ahead by
getting an understanding of the local
public transport operations and the places
they serve and don’t! I recommend that
wherever possible you check times locally.
Updates are made here whenever changes are
found on official websites or through
personal experience!. Whenever I go
somewhere, I check the information. Each
timetable bears the date on which I was
last able to verify it as being
correct.Schedule changes often introduced
with little or no advance warning.
I live in the Algarve and use these buses
and trains as I do not drive. Not all
routes and services are included. I have
left out those unlikely to be of use to
visitors, for example some short
schooldays only runs.
I have not included full details of some
of the local 'city' bus type operations.
They have websites to which I can
redirect. You can make enquiries at the
local bus station or tourist information
offices if required. Please note that
tickets are NOT interchangeable between
these purely urban buses and the other
buses.
As much as possible has been checked on
the ground eg by using the buses concerned
and/or obtaining the printed timetables.
Official websites
The official website of the regional
bus company, VAMUS, is at https://vamusalgarve.pt/
available in English, Portuguese and
Spanish. To change language, go to the
bottom right hand corner of the page and
click 'idioma.'
This has interactive maps for each
route, showing all stopping places. There
is a journey planner but to use it you ned
to know the exact stops yuu will board and
alight and in some cases it is a different
stop number depending on direction.
The urban operators around the
larger towns also have websites, with
varying degrees of information.That for
Albufeira is the worst. Some information
is out of date. No official timetables are
published! Each local site is mentioned on
relevant pages, with links to them.
I would be pleased to receive any
additional information you think would be
useful. If you can scan or photo
timetables, leaflets etc, please email
them to me. I can then include the
data in these pages.
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|

CURRENT
ALBUFEIRA
WEATHER

ALGARVE HOLIDAY FUN
INFORMATION, ADVICE AND DISCOUNTED
BOOKINGS FOR YOUR HOLIDAY FUN - CLICK THE LOGO TO VISIT
THE SITE
THE VIA ALGARVIANA

CLICK THE PICTURE FOR
TRACY BURTON'S GUIDE TO THE VIA ALGARVIANA HIKING TRAIL
CLICK HERE
FOR A MAP OF THE VIA ALGARVIANA

RECOMMENDED BARS
IN OLD TOWN ALBUFEIRA
Cavern Bar

English owned and run since 1991 Old town Albufeira, Rua
do MFA, two minutes walk from the square.
Open from 12 noon weekends for the sports, 6pm on weekdays
every day in summer.
60's and 70's music plus all UK sport on TV. Free wifi for
customers
TUNES BAR

Old town Albufeira near the Sol e Mar Hotel
Up the steps by the tunnel and turn right to Praça Miguel
Bombarda
Good music, UK Sports on TV. Free wifi for customers
Open 11am until late, every day.
RECOMMENDED BARS IN OTHER PARTS OF TOWN
These inserts are not paid for. Just places I sometimes go
to, plus ideas from regular visitors. Hours may vary
according to season.
FAT CATS DINER, RUA DUNFERMLINE
Near Paraiso, Tropical Sol, Eirasol, Forte do Vale etc
Facebook page
VICTORIA BAR, RUA SAMORA BARROS
Near Albufera Jardim, Windmill Hill, Páteo Village.
THE WANDER INN, AREIAS DE SÃO JOÃO
Facebook page
In Rua Alexandre Herculano. British owned.
THE YORKSHIRE TAVERN
Facebook Page. Near the traffic
lights at the 'strip'. Closed Saturdays.
ARTE BAR, CERRO GRANDE
Now open from 11.00 daily. Under new management and
completely refurbished. They have a Facebook page for
the latest news.


ALGARVE SENIOR LIVING
Buy your dream retirement home abroad
click the picture to visit their website
|