We are planning out our iternary for our month long Spain/Portugal trip late this year, but have run into a snag. Historically we have travelled either via train or rental car. Our plan originally was to arrive in Madrid, see Mardid and the surrounding area, then head down to Andalucia, ending in Sevilla. From Sevilla we were planning to head into southern Portugal and then up to Lisbon and the surrounding area. From Lisbon we were going to fly to Barcelona where we would eventually head back home from. Our problem has come in the Sevilla to southern Portugal leg. We were really interested in seeing Sagres. Originally we were planning to rent a car to get from Sevilla to Sagres and then eventually head to Lisbon and the car off there. However we have since discovering that picking up in Spain and ping off in Portugal is extremely expensive ($700+ off charge which doesn't even include the rental) so we have had to that idea. We then looked at taking the train but can't seem to find a route that will take us from Sevilla into Portugal. Everything seems to go back through Madrid. We hate to back track so much and waste time. Would our best option at this point be to take a bus instead? We've never done bus travel in Europe so we are not very familiar with the process. Where can I go to look up pricing and time tables? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!
Posted by
Bend, OR, United States
1167 posts
You can get bus schedules here:
http://www.alsa.es/portal/site/Alsa/#capa_internacional
Posted by
Portland
3643 posts
You might also want to know that the buses are clean and comfortable. It is a surprise to find out that two cities, Lisbon and Seville, which seem like they ought to have good train connections, don't.
Posted by
Whittington
984 posts
'Our problem has come in the Sevilla to southern Portugal leg.' - Same answer as always, see here - http://www.algarvebus.info/001.htm 'We've never done bus travel in Europe so we are not very familiar with the process.' - for bus inter city, read coach and see the person at the window if a bus station to purchase a ticket. If concerned about seats on a specific bus journey and want peace of mind, purchase the day or two before. Pick up another rental on the Algarve, I would suggest. Does this cover it?
Posted by
OP
Charlotte, NC, USA
35 posts
Thanks everyone for the replies!
Posted by
OP
Charlotte, NC, USA
35 posts
It looks like my best option is going to be to take a bus from Sevilla to Faro. The bus seems to drop off next to the train station. From the train station I can get a taxi to the airport in Faro where there are car rental agencies.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6790 posts
Yep to all the above. We did more or less the same thing (for the same reasons) but going the other direction. The variation we had was that we wanted to include the White Hill Towns, which work best with a car, so we tried to minimize the distance without a car. We accomplished that by getting as close to the border as possible, dropping one car, getting across, and grabbing another car. Basically, we rented a car in Lisbon, drove to and around the Algarve (including Sagres area, which is definitely cool), and dropped the Portugal car in Faro (the closest town to the Spanish border with a car agency that we could find). Took a bus to a small town on the Portuguese side of the Portuguese/Spanish border (Villa Real de Santo Antonio, if memory serves), walked onto a tiny ferry which took us across the river to the town on the Spanish side (Ayamonte), huffed our packs a few blocks to their bus station, then took a bus to Huelva, the nearest town in Spain with a car rental agency, picked up our car for Spain there, and drove off to Arcos. It was a complicated day but as you see, can save a big hunk o' euros. This is how we beat the "dropoff fee" for rental cars across borders. Did something similar 2 weeks ago crossing from Slovenia to Croatia. Always a bit of an adventure, but worth it. Have fun.