Seville - Evora - Sintra Logical??
 

We will be in Seville in June and plan to be in Sintra 2 days later. We have debated how to get there, esp. given the cost of taking a rental car across the border. Does this make sense: take a bus from Seville to Evora on a Tuesday morning arriving into Evora at 3:30pm, spend the night in Evora seeing the sights Tuesday night and Wed, pick up a rental car the afternoon of Wed., and drive to Sintra to arrive Wed. night? The other option was to take the bus from Seville to Lisbon to Sintra, but that was 12 hour affair that seems torturous. Any advice would be appreciated.

Ymho it makes a perfect sense. Evora to Sintra requires no more then 2 hours driving, maximum.
Either bridge you take, the navigation is easy

Great! 2 hours was less than I thought. So I think this will be what we do. Thanks for the feedbck.

Hi again. I am confused. I am trying to look up schedules and ticket purchase information on the bus websites and I can only find sites in Portugese, and though I am using a dictionary, I am not comfortable with this. I am trying to see schedules from Seville - Evora, and then Evora - Lisbon, and then determine whether I need to buy my tickets now (there are 5 of us traveling.) Is there a site I can get this information that is in English? Thanks.

We went from Lisbon to Malaga, Spain two years ago by plane for $99 one way. Go to www.europebyair.com for their vouchers. All vouchers are the same price and must be bought on the internet in the US. By the way, we found a fantastic car rental deal through Hispacar, but you can't take the car across the border. We loved Seville and Sintra. Don't forget Obidos in Portugal.......our favorite village in Portugal.

Thanks for the ideas on plane fares. And I will check out Obidos. However, we are starting our trip in the Malaga / Marbella area, and will be in Seville right before we go to Portugal. I found the bus that goes from Seville to Evora, where we plan to spend a night. And then we will head to Lisbon. Right now we are picking up rental car in Evora, but the bus seems easier and cheaper. Just not sure how to buy the tickets.

Megdean, I would pick a rental car in Evora. It makes things much easier for you to go to Sintra and Obidos and to look around. You can see much more with a car.

Tara, we are staying in Lisbon and plan to take day trips from there (free nights at the Holiday Inn...). Do you think it wise to have a rental car in Lisbon and use it to drive out to Sintra, etc during the day?

I think it is Megdean. The Holiday Inn is located a bit outside of the city center but close to the exits of Lisbon, to Sintra and to other places. Therefore, as the hotel has a parking, you can leave the car at the parking and take the metro or a bus to go to the center .
At the same time you can use the car to go to Sintra and to other places outside Lisbon easily.
There are trains to Sintra but I wouldn't advise you to take them . With the car you can drive easily to Sintra, go to the castles and palaces located on the top of the mountains in Sintra ( and you couldn't do this walking), drive through Guincho ,Cabo da Roca, Cascais, Estoril on the return. It's pretty easy, as long as you have a map and a very nice drive.
If you have any more doubts or questions feel free to ask:)

Make sure to make a stop for a tea or coffee with a "travesseiro" and a " queijada" at one of the best patisseries in Portugal, the "Periquita". It's located in the center of Sintra and those cookies are a must to anyone who goes to Sintra! !

Thanks for the suggestion Tere. We do have a car rental from Evora to Lisbon, so based on your post, I will keep it. And thanks for the Sintra pastry suggestion! One thing, we do want to listen to the fado music - is there a particular location/venue you would suggest? Thanks.

megdean. Just curious on where you rented you car in Portugal (what company).

Hertz. I get a corporate with them through my company. 3 days, unlimited milage, one way rental from Evora to Lisbon was 45 Euro per day plus tax. I think for an Intermediate or full Size type car.

See if this site helps:

http://www.alsa.es/portal/index.asp?lang=en

Judi, I checked the site, but they do not go from Seville to Evora. ?

Actually, Judi, I looked at my notes and Alsa was the bus company we were planning on using for our Sevilla to Evora trip. But apparantly they no longer go that route? Last I looked back in January, they had a route from Seville to Lisbon that stopped in Evora, but now they do not. Now I have to re-figure how I am going to make this segment of the trip (Seville to Evora). Any ideas?

Megdean.
Why not take the bus from Seville to Faro (www.alsa.es). They have an English option.
Then pick up a rental car in Faro and drive the three hours to Evora. Hertz has a rental office in Faro.
Maybe this would work for you.

Thanks. I will take a look at that route today.

Thanks. I will take a look at that route today. Do you know if it is necessary to buy tickets ahead of time, and if so, how far ahead? We will be travelling that route on June 14

I just realized that you wanted to pick up the car on the way out of Evora to Sintra.

I also found two sites that would get you from Seville to Albufeira:
www.eva-bus.net/home.php?lang=UK

and then Albufeira to Evora:
www.rede-expressos.pt

But it might take a long time.