Algarve in June - hotel and transportation?
 

Hi - we are looking to stay in Lagos for 5-6 nights in June with teenage daughters. Belmar or Cascades Wellness Resort are two hotels that we're considering because they have apartments with kitchens. Any thoughts on these hotels? Proximity to the beach is important to us. I would like to be able to walk to town and restaurants also, if possible. If not, a short (5 minute) car ride into town would be ideal. We like to try different cafes and bakeries, go to the beach, hike, kayak or paddleboard, sightsee (but not necessarily museums), shop in local stores.

We'll fly into Lisbon. How would you recommend getting from Lisbon to Lagos?
By the way, we're also open to suggestions of other beach towns in the Algarve that are clean, charming, safe, with easy access to beaches.

Thank you!

I haven't stayed at either, but I've seen both while staying outside of Lagos, and I really like the Praia do Porto de Mos area. The Belmar is within a 2-minute walk of that beach, while the Cascade Wellness is further. From neither of the 2 can you take a short walk into town, but you can take a taxi or uber. I believe the Cascade Wellness offers a shuttle but the Belmar doesn't. The Cascade is a much larger property with more of a self-contained "resort-like" feel.

From Lisbon's Oriente station to Lagos you can take the train, but it requires a train change--you take the high speed Alfa Pendular or Intercidades train to Tunes, then a regional train to Lagos There are 5 departures per day.
See the schedule and purchase tickets here-
www.cp.pt

My husband and I stayed at Belmar Resort in October 2015. My husband remembers it being about 7-minute drive from the Old Town. I just checked this on Google Maps and his guess was spot-on. In October, we had no trouble finding a parking spot at the periphery of the Old Town. I'm guessing the Old Town would be busier in June.
The beach, below the resort, is just a few minutes walk away. Our apartment faced the pool and was at the very end of the complex closest to the ocean, so we spent many hours in lounge chairs facing the sea just steps away from our apartment. It was perfect. Of course, we also visited the beach.
By the way, Belmar is about a 3-minute drive from a good supermarket.
The resort was a good base for taking a day drive to western attractions, such as Cabo São Vicente (and Lighthouse), Fortaleza de Sagres, and Salema village.
You and your teenage daughters will probably enjoy a boat trip out of Lagos.

We took the train from Lisbon to Lagos (you'll have to transfer once you reach the Algarve, but this wasn't difficult). The Lagos train station is connected to the Old Town by a foot bridge. You can easily find a taxi in the Old Town. Don't expect to find taxis waiting at the Lagos train station.

I should have added that the Old Town is adjacent to the marina. The foot bridge passes over the marina and will come out onto Av. dos Descobrimentos, a busy street where you can catch a taxi.

Most of Portugal's beaches open straight onto the Atlantic with only a few held behind a natural sandbank (which you can also use as a beach but with limited amenities) but all are incredibly clean.

Lagos, take the train. Why would you pollute a lovely holiday with a car?

Thank you all for the great information.

Is there enough to keep us entertained for 6 days? We're happy to relax and explore local culture so I think there is!
If you were to compare it to another European beach town/area, what would you compare it to?
We mainly used uber when we were in Lisbon/Cascais a few years ago - uber is also easy to use to get around the Algarve?

I'm thinking of taking the train to Lagos the day that we land in Lisbon. Any suggestions on how much time I should allow between landing in Lisbon (from US) and going through customs, to the train? The last time I booked train tickets after a flight I was too conservative and we sat around the train station for almost 5 hours but I'm not sure how to account for flight delays/ customs lines, etc.
Thanks so much!

Well the Algarve does really have a Portugal atmosphere and especially not the coast in what is really a massive golf course, I'd go further north into Alentejo. Certainly try and stay away from the coast for that.

cmm6797,
I've been following discussions on the Lisbon TA forum about the lengthy, frustrating delays in getting through immigration at the Lisbon airport. You might want to pose your question there to someone who has gone through passport control recently. It seems so unpredictable at the Lisbon airport these days.

We spent 5 days in Lagos and found plenty to keep us busy although it wasn't beach weather for us (and the Atlantic waters there are cold!).

Like Diamantina, we took trips to the Sagres fort (took the National Geographic travel guide back way route),visited the Cape Vincent lighthouse, went up to Silves to visit its castle, its church and to do a wine tasting at Quinta do Francês.

From Aljezur we drove up to the fortress then took the dirt road from beautiful and relatively deserted Praia da Bordeira to Praia do Amado (2 popular surfing beaches in summer) and stopped for lunch there atop the stunning cliffs. This was a spectacular drive or you could also walk. Many people were out walking this portion of the Costa Vicentina, as it's really scenic and popular with hikers.

We also drove as far north to Praia Arrifana, the most famous beach on the Costa Vicentina.
And Praia da Luz is a pleasant, small resort to spend time in, within a short drive west of Praia do Mos.
Little Burgau has some beach bars that are appealing.
https://www.facebook.com/BeachBarBurgau

Vila do Bispo, to the west of Lagos, is the goose barnacle, perceives, capital of the Algarve, and they will be in season, if you want to try them. After the perceves festival in Oct. you can't find them on the menus.
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