Need a car in Lagos?
Feb 18th, 2020 | 04:03 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 290
Likes: 0
Need a car in Lagos?
We'll be in Portugal for 7 days (September 22 - 29) and have the following itinerary planned:
1. Fly to Lisbon from France, get to hotel about 5:00
2. Explore city - RS walking tours
3. More exploring - train to Belem
4. Day trip to Sintra by train
5. Travel day to Lagos in the Algarve
6. Explore the area around Lagos
7. Travel day back to Lisbon
8. Depart LIS at 1:00 PM
If anyone can help, here are my questions:
- Do I need a car to explore around Lagos for this short time? Or is the main attraction the local beach?
- I plan to take the bus from Lisbon but if I need a car in Lagos I might drive instead. How is the driving from the Lisbon airport to Lagos?
- I presume I can also rent or hire a car in Lagos, true?
- Taking two travel days to get one day in Lagos is unfortunate. Any suggestions as to how I might use these three days to better effect?
- Maybe I could fly into somewhere near Lagos (from Nantes) and then finish up in Lisbon for the flight out?
Thanks for any help.
1. Fly to Lisbon from France, get to hotel about 5:00
2. Explore city - RS walking tours
3. More exploring - train to Belem
4. Day trip to Sintra by train
5. Travel day to Lagos in the Algarve
6. Explore the area around Lagos
7. Travel day back to Lisbon
8. Depart LIS at 1:00 PM
If anyone can help, here are my questions:
- Do I need a car to explore around Lagos for this short time? Or is the main attraction the local beach?
- I plan to take the bus from Lisbon but if I need a car in Lagos I might drive instead. How is the driving from the Lisbon airport to Lagos?
- I presume I can also rent or hire a car in Lagos, true?
- Taking two travel days to get one day in Lagos is unfortunate. Any suggestions as to how I might use these three days to better effect?
- Maybe I could fly into somewhere near Lagos (from Nantes) and then finish up in Lisbon for the flight out?
Thanks for any help.
Feb 18th, 2020 | 08:31 PM
#2
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 23,440
Likes: 0
I think that a car in Lagos would be very useful for everything but what is available in Lagos itself (tour of the local sea caves, beaches, and the town itself). You may want to take a look at my Portugal trip report from Spring 2019 where we used Lagos as our base to visit different areas of the Algarve; click on my name to find it. We could not have seen as much for the amount of time we were there if using public transportation.
Feb 19th, 2020 | 01:20 AM
#3
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,165
Likes: 2
The airport for the Algarve is Faro and I think that there are direct flights from Nantes. It should take a couple of hours. I'd then rent a car to get to Lagos, but if you intend to use that car to get back to Lisbon, don't use a local Algarve firm. Use a big company who won't mind you leaving the car in Lisbon, but make sure they quote you for the journey.
Also check how you pay for the road tolls where there is no option to pay at a toll booth, so you avoid a fine. Having said all that, is it really worth the time and expense to have one day (and see very little) on the Algarve? A couple of hours from Lisbon will get you to Coimbra, a wonderful smallish city with lots to see and do. I think that would be my choice if I wanted to get out of Lisbon for the day and had already planned for Sintra.
Also check how you pay for the road tolls where there is no option to pay at a toll booth, so you avoid a fine. Having said all that, is it really worth the time and expense to have one day (and see very little) on the Algarve? A couple of hours from Lisbon will get you to Coimbra, a wonderful smallish city with lots to see and do. I think that would be my choice if I wanted to get out of Lisbon for the day and had already planned for Sintra.
