Visiting Portugal in September. Doing a river cruise for a week from Porto. After cruise, would like to spend 10 days heading south, then fly out of Faro.
Is it better to rent a car? Or plan on trains / buses? We want to hit Cumbria, Lisbon, and Lagos. And other non touristy towns and beaches as well.
Posted by
271 posts
Hi
Check your spelling.
If you book a hotel in Coimbra you're in Portugal if you book in Cumbria you're not in Portugal.
Personally I prefer trains but they don't offer the same flexibility as cars.
My suggestion: look at the Portuguese train system map and see if it goes to the locations you want if not, rent a car.
https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/how-to-travel
Happy travels
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Ten days isn’t very long to cover as much ground as you want to see, as I usually recommend a minimum of 14 full days including Lisbon. Having a car in the Algarve is useful as public transport there is poor, but it’s a hindrance in Lisbon, so take the train as far as Lisbon, then hire a car and return it at Faro airport. You need a car with a transponder for the tolls.
Lagos is tourist central in September! The less touristy beaches are along the Silver Coast near Lisbon, not the Algarve. The quieter Algarve beaches are up the west coast around Carrapateira and Aljezur, but you will definitely need a car to get there. Figueira and Zavial beaches west of Lagos are slightly quieter but they can be very windy, particularly in the afternoon, so you may get blown off unless you enjoy being sand blasted.
There aren’t really any non touristy coastal Algarve towns, but the inland towns such as Sao Bras de Alportel, Aljezur and Loule have slightly fewer tourists.