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Renting a car in Algarve – do or do not?

Hi! I will be traveling to the Algarve Coast August 29-September 1st, staying in Lagos as a home base. We'll be coming from Lisbon, and are weighing whether or not to rent a car while in Lagos. I checked with our hotel and there is free and paid parking nearby.

Pros: would give us greater flexibility of places to stop at + would likely be faster driving to beaches versus bussing/training it.
Cons: I know it will be the tail end of busy season, so I'm wondering how difficult it will be find parking at beaches / how traffic will be in general.

Has anyone rented a car while on the Algarve Coast during the summer? What was your experience?
Thanks!

Posted by
1826 posts

Rent a car. I don’t know about parking at the beaches at that time of the year, but it’s quite difficult to get around the Algarve without one. The buses are infrequent and might not go where you want to go. It’s also likely to be too hot to walk very far. I can’t imagine being in the Algarve without one. It’s easy to pick one up after riding the train from Lisbon.