Just booked a cheap flight to Lisbon in late Feb. My wife & I plan to stay in Lisbon 2-3 days then take the train to the Algavre, pick up a car in Faro and drive along the coast for 3-4 days and then drive into Spain. Will have about 3 days there and back to Faro and train to Lisbon. What distric in Lisbon should we stay in for easy access to sites and train/metro, any suggestions for moderate/inexpensive hotels there and in the Algarve area. Much thanks

Hi Larry --We stayed last year at the Inter-Continental in Lisboa... if you are there on a weekend don't miss the seafood buffet gt<BR><BR>One thing about Lisdbon ... you will literally "walk your feet off"!!!<BR><BR>Barry

Even when the Algarve region is almost desserted in February, you still can check out by yourselves how beautiful this coastline is, being my favourite areas: Sao Vicente/Sagres Point, Alvor/Tres Irmaos, Lagos/Ponta da Piedade, Algar Seco/Carvoeiro and Tavira/Cacela Velha. Falesia area or Alvor would be my first options to stay.

Alvor is a tiny, but charming fishing village. My vote is for Alvor, too.<BR>ja

Message: The algarve is still a bit cool this time of year, also be aware of the very aggressive gypsy's and their children. Also, sadly the country doesn't have an organized humane society, and pet responsiblity seems to be non existent. The stray cat and dog population tends to be high and they are all over, esp. run over in the street and sidewalks. That is my memory of a week in the Algarve in May of 1999. My souvenir was a liter of kittens thats mother had been run over, and the resort was going to use rat bait to poison them. I was appalled and spent a few bucks ( escudos) to see a very kind british vet, who gave me all the wrong paperwork to bring the kittens home to Germany with me. The german customs guys told me to take the kittens and go. I managed to find good homes for all 4 of them in a matter of days. I get little Pedro myself and he is a healthy, happy cat now. I realize this did not answer the original posters question but the overwhelming stray population really left a negative impresion on me and I would never return to Portugal. It was just to sad...<BR><BR><BR>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>

I can't help you much on accomodations in Lisbon. You should visitSintra while you are there, and also Cascais and Estoril are worth a look. Algarve is where we spend our winters, and are leaving this weekend for 10 weeks in Albufeira. The Alfagar complex in Oura ( Albufeira) is nice, overlooking the ocean. Make sure you can take the car into Spain when you rent it as most rental companies charge more money to do so for insurance purposes. The Algarve coast is stunning, so many lovely beaches and small towns along the coast from Sagres to the Spanish border town of Vila Real de St Antonio. Hope you have a great time.

CaroleAnne: Can you recommend places to stay in Albufeira?

for small question check my web page in www.geocities.com\mucuruco . You can there post more questions. It´s free, without commercial purposes, and it´s made by me...I live in Lisbon.

Larry,<BR><BR>We just got back from a a week in the Algarve bookended by 2 nights in Lisbon. For cheap accommodations in Lisbon can't beat Hotel Florescente--we stayed in Room 511 and loved it (there is an elevator but it starts on the second floor--go figure). Fodor's review of this place is a bit off the mark. If you want nicer we also looked at Metropole and it has a lovely lobby, at least, and nice staff. Both those hotels are on or very close to the Rossio which is a very central and dynamic location.<BR><BR>In the Algarve we stayed at the Hotel Viking in Armacao de Pera as it's a time share affiliated with my in-laws' network. Armacao de Pera is better than Fodors indicates--has some nice seafood restaurants on the beach. My only strong recommendation is to skip Albufeira altogether and certainly don't stay there. What a tourist trap. It was the only place where people approached us trying to sell watches, necklaces, etc. and overall felt very seedy. Lagos was nice, Tavira was lovely, and I think there are lots of smaller villages to enjoy along the coast.<BR><BR>Drop me a line if you want more information.

Larry--forgot to tell you--rent the car in Lisbon and drive down! Highways are well marked. We drove down via the coast (via Sines and Vila Nova de Milfontes) and back through Evora (the long way, but really a lovely lovely drive). The direct route is an interstate-type road most of the way and would probably take less than 4 hours depending on where in the Algarve you were headed--but not as interesting as the meandering route we took. We rented from EuropCar which has a branch on Rua Antonio Augusto de Aguilar (?) about 5 minutes' cab ride from downtown (don't rent the car for getting around Lisbon--leave that to the experts...).