Portimão area bus services including Praia da Rocha, Praia do Vau, Alvor and Penina

The information has been obtained from printed timetables and other local sources (like taking the bus) and is given in good faith.
Information correct as of 2nd April 2022

The stopping place for Rede Expressos, Mundial Turismo, Expresso Qualidade and other long distance services is the bus station in Rua da Abicada. This is 1.5km from the town centre. Services to and from Lisbon, Seville etc stop there. This bus station is also used by the 'Aerobus' to and from Faro and
Faro Airport via Lagoa and Albufeira.
  Map here. Other relevant information is here
All regional buses stop in Avenida Guarané by the river. Most of the local Vai e Vem buses stop at Largo do Dique close by.

Links to timetables for buses and trains between Portimão and the rest of the Algarve

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT PORTIMÃO CITY TRANSPORT - PLEASE READ!

Portimão is linked with the rest of the Algarve by the inter-urban and long distance bus routes listed above.
The railway station is just to the north of the city centre, with trains along the Algarve route and connections with Lisbon via Tunes.
Long-distance buses (coaches to UK readers) run to Lisbon and more distant parts including Seville.

Below - Alameda square in Portimão

THE VAI E VEM CITY BUS NETWORK OF PORTIMÃO

The city of Portimão and its suburbs are served by a network of mini-bus routes under the banner ‘Vai e Vem’. Service starts at 0700 and finishes between 1930 and 2000hrs. On December 24th service ends at around 1900hrs. In summer there are later buses between Portimão and Praia da Rocha but not elsewhere.

At weekends and public holidays some routes have very limited service, several have none at all. The mini-buses used for most journeys are grossly inadequate at busy periods (school start and finish times) so be prepared for overcrowding and even for a full-up bus sailing past your stop. The picture below is one of the minibuses used most of the time. They do have some larger buses used at busy times on some routes.

These buses do not go across the river to Ferragudo etc! There are maps and timetables at some  city centre bus stops, but many other stops have no information at all.

The links below are to the official timetables. Timetables are annotated in Portuguese and English. The official website itself, only in Portuguese, is here.

SUMMARY OF ROUTES AND LINKS TO TIMETABLES AND MAPS

THE OFFICIAL SYSTEM ROUTE MAP IS HERE. All stopping places are shown.

There is a useful interactive map at https://www.cm-portimao.pt/ptmapa/ click Vai e Vem and a route number to see the complete route and all the stops. When a route is shown, click a stop to see the times of the buses.

All the links below are to the official maps and  timetables on the Portimão council website and will open in a new window. Most routes serve the Largo do Dique in the City Centre. The Alameda is the large square in the older part of the city about 5 minutes walk from Largo do Dique. Some routes start/end at Rua das Hortas rather than the Alameda or Largo do Dique. Rua das Hortas is near the municipal market and quite a walk (about 750 metres) from the Largo do Dique.

Inbound buses that stop at the Centro de Saúde (Health Centre) stop at the city market outbound. The Health Centre is a short walk from the market. See the map.

In Praia da Rocha, inbound buses stop at the Hotel Jupiter, Hotel Oriental and the Fortaleza. They return via a parallel street without stopping.

The route between Portimão city centre and Praia da Rocha has late evening service in July and August. It is numbered route 3N.This is now the only route operating after about 2000hrs.

In ALVOR all buses in all directions call at the bus stop at the large roundabout junction at the entrance to the village. At the time of my last visit no current timetables were on display. There is a local agent selling Vai e Vem bus passes called Papelaria d'el Rei nearby at Rua Marquês de Pombal, nº 3. Open every day.

CRUISE LINER SHUTTLE - the port of Portimão operates shuttle buses as required between the cruise dock and the city centre at Largo do Dique. The distance is about 1 mile / 1.6km, is flat and easily walkable.

The main routes of interest to visitors will be these.

ON VAI E VEM BUSES SUMMER TIMES APPLY ONLY DURING JULY AND AUGUST. Make sure you are looking at the correct times.

At the time of my most recent visit, no current timetables were visible at the main Largo Do Dique bus stops nor at Alvor. Many bus stops do not indicate which bus stops there, some are still showing the numbers for routes discontinued 2 or 3 years ago!

The diagram below shows the main routes likely to be used by visitors.

Click the diagram to see it full size. There is no direct Vai e Vem service between Alvor and the eastern end of Praia da Rocha.

Route 13 is the quickest route between Portimão and Alvor, but does not run at weekends nor on public holidays. At weekends and holidays it is Route 1P that you need - see below.

Route 13 - City (Largo do Dique) - Tres Bicos - Bemposta - Hospital Particular - Alvor Roundabout every 25 minutes during peak hours, every 50 minutes mid-morning and mid-afternoon. This bus starts from a different stop at Largo do Dique than the other buses to Alvor - check the map or you might miss it like I nearly did! See Route 16 below for limited Saturday service along this route.

Route 14 City Centre (Largo do Dique) - Alameda - Portimonense Stadium (outbound only) - Poeta Ant. Meixo School - Vale França - Praia do Vau - Clube Prainha - Torralta (Dom Jõao II Hotel) - Alvor Praia (beach) - Alvor Centro. Runs via Alvor Praia in this direction only. To go from there to Praia do Vau etc take the inbound bus and go via Alvor Centro (Rotunda / Roundabout) runs every 30 minutes on weekdays only. For weekend and holiday service see route 1P below.

Route 33 City Centre (Alameda) - Portimonense Stadium (outbound only) - Largo do Dique (for other local and regional buses) - Marina - Praia da Rocha (Fort) runs every 30 minutes  DAILY /DIAREMENTE/TOUS LES JOURS/täglich. Timetable - external link

Route 3N City Centre (Largo do Dique) - Marina - Praia da Rocha (Fort) runs in July and August only, every 30 minutes from city between 2030 and 2330, from Praia da Rocha to city 2039 to 2339. SÓ EM JULHO E AOGOSTO / SEULEMENT JUILLET ET AOÛT /  BETRIEB NUR JULI UND AUGUST

Route 16 - same as route 13 above but extended to also serve Montes de Alvor near the aerodrome. Four buses Portimão to Montes do Alvor, five buses from Montes do Alvor via Alvor to Portimão. Service finishes at 1725hrs. Saturdays only.
Route 37 - Hospital - Cardosas - Centro de Saúde - City (Largo do Dique) - Railway station - Parque de Feiras e Expo* - Hospital. Every 60 minutes. On Saturdays some buses run to and from Ladeira do Vau. The Parque de Ferias e Expo stop is served only by buses going FROM the city towards the Hospital.)
Route 38 - City (Largo do Dique) - Rua das Hortas - Sesmarias - Chão das Donas - Alfarrobeiras. Saturdays only. Two outbound and three inbound buses only.
Route 39 - City (Largo do Dique) - Bairro Independente / Estadio 2 Irmãos - City (Largo do Dique). Saturdays only, seven buses at irregular intervals.

Fares on Vai e Vem buses

Portimão's old 'bus station' used by local and regional buses is an open air facility near the Largo de Dique, which is not far from the old bridge over the river and the main city centre shopping area.

NB - bus stops are not lettered as per map - this is just for convenient indexing!

For a list of all the timetables on the site, click here
For an alphabetical list of places in the Algarve, click here
For some important general notes about buses in the Algarve, click here
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