Sunny Lisbon

Portugal is still a country well know because of the Algarve sunny beaches. Lisbon is growing up as a desired destination, but for many years tourists would fly from abroad directly to Algarve, without paying too much attention to the city. And truth be said, the city didn’t care a lot about them also. But things have changed and it’s now easy to feel welcome and to find things to do and see, as a result of the increasing importance that tourism has on Lisbon (and Portugal) economy.

So now is common to find travelers that decide to fly to Lisbon, spend a couple of days here and then head south to Algarve. And the most common question is, of course, how to I get there? Do I rent a car, take a bus or train? Well it depends a lot of your budget and the time you have to spent on that journey.

Renting a Car

Renting a car can be an expensive solution for a short group, but can prove to be a good solution for a whole family. Renting in Lisbon and dropping the car on Faro, for instance, in the same day, can cost you between 150€ and 200€. If you find this attractive in you case and if you have time, rent the car for one day more and enjoy a slower journey to Algarve. Visit Evora or Costa Vicentina, Beja or the some other part of Alentejo. The extra cost you’ll spend will be compensated by historic visits and breathtaking landscapes.

If you don’t like the idea, you can also go directly to Algarve : it’s a 3 hour travel to make around 300 Km.

Train

You’ll find two alternatives two get to Algarve, the IC (Intercidades) trains and the AP (Alfa Pendular) trains. The second ones faster and will cost you a few extra euros. As an example a train ride from Gare do Oriente (Lisbon) to Faro will take 4h and cost 23.50€ in IC Trains and take 3:15 hours and cost 26€.

Bus

There are a lot of long journey buses that will take you from Lisbon to Algarve. To name a few and to give you some prices :

• In Rede Expressos it will take 4h and cost you around 18€.
• In Eva Bus it will take 3:15h and also cost you around 18€.
• In Renex it will take 4:15h and cost you around 17€.