Hello, we are a young couple traveling from Porto/Lisbon to Seville April 11th-12th. After seeing a few cities in Spain (San Sebastian, Barcelona), we will be heading to Italy (Amalfi Coast, Florence, Venice). On the way to Seville, we thought it would be nice (although tight) to spend one night in the Algarve area. We would like to see Ponta da Piedade, Praia da Marinha, and Benagil Caves. I realize some of this needs to be done by boat. We also know we will be missing out by rushing through this area, but thought it was at least worth a stop, if only for a day. Was wondering if it is possible to do this if we left Lisbon early morning (Bus? Train?) on 11th to see some of highlights of the Algarve area, then stay one night (Lagos? Portimao? Faro?), and then head to Seville (Bus). Any recommendations about the best route or where to stay? Thank you in advance!
Posted by
World
138 posts
Hi Stephanie,
To my opinion, Algarve does not worth the day in a Rush, going from Lisboa Oriente train station to Loule or Tunes trains station will not leave you a lot of time for the exploration. There are like 5 trains a day from Lisbon there. Train transfer takes like 3 hours, the earliest you will end up being on Algarve coast is like 11am. I would skip Algarve unless you have at least 2 days and are not in hurry.
Posted by
8322 posts
Don't waste your time trying to go to the Algarve. Seville is wonderful, spend more time there.
Posted by
Massachusetts
847 posts
I spent 6 days on the Algarve last March and visited most of the places you mention from Lagos, which is where you would definitely want to stay to see them. We didn't get to the Benagil caves because at that time of the year the boat schedules were weather dependent and the weather was not great - one day of pouring rain and other days of sun/clouds/wind. Still really enjoyed the hike to see the cliffs/coast, which was beautiful. You will be there about a month later than I was but I think there is still a good chance of poor weather which would essentially make your detour useless. So while I think seeing that stretch of coast was worthwhile, I'm not sure in your case it would be. I guess I would look at train/bus routes and times and see how much of a detour it really will be for you, and depends on how much time you have in Seville. How long is your total trip? Are you going from Porto to Seville then back up to San Sebastian? And then three very separated (geographically) parts of Italy. I would need to know the entire trip length and itinerary to decide if the detour to the Algarve was worth it.
Here's my photos - https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p713635492
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Chances are, at that time of year, the boats won’t be running. Add the extra day to Seville.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you for your feedback everyone!
Isabel - our trip is about 32 days. We are spending 3 days in Porto then 3 nights in Lisbon and then a night in Lagos (???) on the way to Seville (2 nights) and then a flight to San Sebastian just to eat at the nice restaurants (2 nights). We will then fly to Barcelona for 5 nights, then off to Italy for a little over 2 weeks. YOUR PHOTOS ARE BEAUTIFUL!!! :O That view alone makes me think the pit stop is worth it...what do you think? I have not been to Seville.
Stephanie
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
There is quite a high chance of rain at that time of year, so I would head straight to Seville which has far more to see if the weather is inclement.
You are going to have little time in Lagos once you factor in all the travel to get to and from there.