We are staying in Albuffeira for 15 days but want to do day trips in the area. We do not plan to rent a car.
What are the options local transit, Uber. Should we consider the car rental option? If so any suggestions?
Thanks.
David
Posted by
460 posts
We used the bus, train, taxis and occasionally rented a car for trips when it was convenient.
Vamos is the bus company for the Algarve region, Albufeira also has it's own local bus called Giro, both are on the same site.
https://vamusalgarve.pt/#/
Buses for the rest of Portugal
https://rede-expressos.pt/en
Trains
https://cp.pt/en/
Ride share are Uber or Bolt.
Posted by
Cascais, Portugal
2026 posts
I would definitely consider renting a car. While there are buses and trains, they aren’t all that frequent. Bolt or Uber is quite available and affordable, but I’m guessing renting would be a less expensive option.
Posted by
Kamloops, BC, Canada
525 posts
In early November we (2 people) did a day trip from Albufeira to Silves using public transit and Uber/Bolt. We took an Uber to the Albufeira train station, then train to Silves (28 minutes). Round trip tickets were €4.15 for 2 people. When we arrived at the Silves train station, we took a Bolt to the castle (fantastic views if you walk along the ramparts). Recommend Café da Rosa for lunch. Bolt back to train station, then train back to Albufeira. Uber back to our lodgings. Each Uber/Bolt was somewhere around 6 or 8 €. It might have been less expensive to rent a car, but we wanted to avoid the extra responsibility of parking, etc.
Public transit was quite seamless with some prior research and using the Portuguese train app plus Uber/Bolt rides using their respective apps.
In addition to Albufeira, we also stayed in Tavira and Faro and did day trips with public transit and an occasional Bolt/Uber ride.