This page is unofficial. The information has been
obtained from printed timetables and other local sources(like
taking the bus)and is given in good faith.
Everything is correct to the best of my knowledge as of 11th March
2013 - bus fares increased yet again new fares shown below.
Bus operations in the Algarve are possibly quite different from
what you may be used to back home!
Click here for a list
of all the timetables on the site; please first read the various
notes on this page.
An alphabetical list of all the places included in the timetables
is here.
A diagram showing the bus routes in the Algarve is here
The EVA bus company
operates most bus services in the Algarve. Their buses are
predominantly white with green and yellow trimmings.
In the west, particularly around Portimão, some buses are
operated by Frota Azul (Algarve). Their buses are mostly
white with blue and green trimmings. All the buses in regular use
are modern air-conditioned vehicles.
To confuse the issue, the companies do often use each others buses
and you may see a sign ‘Em serviço de EVA’ as well as the
destination. Local buses (Urbanas or City buses) in the main
cities or towns are run by a number of different companies.
Apart from local city/town services, buses do not carry route/line numbers as they do in most other parts of the world. No I don’t know why not. You therefore need to check the destination display on the front of the bus, which is often just a paper sign pinned in the driver’s window.
By the way, almost every bus driver in Portugal has the radio on during the journey. Too bad if you don’t like their choice of music, but most of the time it’s OK!
There are four different types or operations of bus on rural and
interurban services. In the major towns and cities, the local city
or urban mini-buses may operate along the same roads as EVA or
Frota Azul, but fares will be different and tickets are not
generally inter-available.
TRANSRÁPIDO
(picture below) runs as an express service the length of the coast
between Faro and Lagos. It stops only at the places shown in the
timetable. Transrápido buses
carry a sign in the driver’s window and they are usually
identifiable by the paintwork! Download
and print the latest timetable.
TOILETS - or lack of! Transrápido buses do NOT have toilets on
board and neither is there sufficient time at any stop to use one.
So if you are travelling the whole way, make sure you go before
getting on! This may be an issue at Armação de Pera and Portimão,
where there is no bus terminal building and therefore no toilets
nearby!
DELAYS - Transrápido buses are frequently delayed by traffic.
Anticipate delays of 15 - 20 minutes on all the Transrápido buses
and also on the buses between Albufeira and Lagos, even at
weekends! These delays are a combination of unrealistic timetables
and heavy city traffic.
ALBUFEIRA
- LAGOS (formerly Algarve Littoral) route runs as a
limited-stop service between Lagos and Albufeira. If two buses
arrive at the same time to the same destination, you may need to
ask the driver which one he is! I have also noted that some
buses continue to and from Albufeira to/from Faro via Vilamoura or
Loulé although this is not advertised. I have included details in
the relevant timetable pages. Note that these buses are also often
delayed.
INTERURBANAS (Interurban) are the ‘normal’ buses between all the
main towns and to the surrounding areas. Between Faro and
Albufeira several buses on weekdays (ie Mondays to Fridays) are
labelled ‘DIRECTA’ and miss out some stops, notably between
Albufeira Bus Terminal and Modelo, in the outskirts of Vilamoura
and the outskirts of Faro. The differences in stopping places
between the NORMAL and DIRECTA routes are detailed here. There are also some 'Directa'
runs between Faro and Olhão. Yes I know it would be easier if
there were route numbers! NB - there are NO BUS SERVICES AT THE
AIRPORT except for a local bus into Faro city centre - details here.
EVA has been spending its money on
some nice shiny, new, buses. Pictured above.
Several towns have local city (Urbanas) mini-buses operated or
sponsored by the city or town council. I have included details for
Faro, Albufeira ,
Lagos and Portimão in
these pages and links on the alphabetical
index page to the local council website for the timetables
for the Loulé and Quarteira services. I have included brief
details of the operations in Olhão and Tavira in the relevant pages. There is also a
local bus running between the airport and Faro city centre -
details here.
All towns and many villages have express buses (coaches) to and
from Lisbon and further afield. Larger places eg Faro, Albufeira
have 12 to 15 departures a day. Smaller places might have only 2
or 3.
I have listed some timetables for Rede-Expressos here but be aware that these are difficult for me to check.
These long-distance services are operated by two companies, REDE
EXPRESSOS* and RENEX. You should reserve a seat in advance for all
long-distance buses, especially at weekends and around holidays.
Tickets can be bought from the various offices and agents around
the Algarve. There is a list of EVA and Frota Azul ticket offices,
with opening hours in English, on their website here.
* Rede-Expressos is a consortium of several bus companies
operating under this network banner.
Note that in many towns the companies have separate offices and
stopping places. These are sometimes quite some distance apart, so
check that you are at the right place, as the timetables do not
tell you. The RENEX office in Lagos is about 300 metres from the
bus station down near the indoor market. You will see a sign
'Caima Viagems'. In Faro it is opposite the bus station and in
Vila Real about 200 metres away. Note that ticket offices are NOT
open 24 hours. If your bus leaves late at night or during the
early hours of the morning, you will need to buy a ticket in
advance or on-line.
These services do not carry local passengers in the Algarve. You
can get times and buy tickets at www.rede-expressos.pt or
www.renex.pt but be aware that
the Renex site is in Portuguese only.
Below is the diagram of the RENEX routes serving linking the
Algarve and Lisbon. Note the use of the Vale Paraiso 'terminal' at
Albufeira as a 'terminal'. This is about 3km out of town on the
Ferreiras road, at the retail/industrial park. Some journeys
require you to change buses there, but this is not obvious from
the timetable! RENEX provide connecting buses between the old town
centre of Albufeira (Avenida Liberdade) and their terminal at Vale
Paraiso. They do not serve the main bus station in Albufeira.
It will cost about €20 to get to Lisbon from anywhere in the
Algarve. A round-trip (return) fare is slightly less than the cost
of two singles. The journey is around 3 - 4 hours from Albufeira
and obviously more the further afield you are. If travelling to
and from Lisbon. CHECK which bus station in Lisbon your bus will
use. EVA/Rede Expressos buses use the Sete Rios terminal. Renex
use the terminal at Gare Oriente. Both of these are several km
from the city centre, but have metro (underground railway)
stations adjacent for the final part of your journey, they also
have bus
connections to and from the airport. The Lisbon metro now
goes to the airport, direct from Oriente train and bus station in
about 5 minutes. From Sete Rios it takes about 25 minutes with one
change of train required, in São Sebastião station.
Stopping places are clearly indicated with signs of various
types. 
PARAGEM is the Portuguese word for bus-stop;
helpfully many signs also display ‘Bus Stop’ in English. In rural
area
s, the bus stop sign may be on one side of the road
only. The bus will stop on the opposite side if you are waiting.
All bus stops are REQUEST stops. If you are waiting at a stop,
give the bus driver a clear signal as the bus approaches. If you
are on the bus and wish to get off, ring the bell in good time
before your stop.
Most of the towns have a bus terminal, ranging from the large busy
bus stations in Faro, Lagoa and Albufeira, down to simple waiting
shelters, for example in Silves. These are usually at the edge of
town, as the roads in the town centres are either too narrow or
too busy to accommodate buses.
The bus terminal in Albufeira is
about a mile/1.6km from the old town centre and major hotel
areas. If arriving from the west, north or on Transrápido
from Faro, you will need another bus, a taxi or maybe 15 minutes
walk to reach the old town centre and beaches. Local buses from
the east (eg Faro, Vilamoura) pass through town and it’s best to
get off near Modelo supermarket before you end up in the middle of
nowhere. Click here for more
information about the bus terminal and ways to get into town.
The bus terminal in Faro is in the centre
of town and 150 yards/metres from the railway station. The bus
terminal in Tavira is three
minutes walk to the town centre.
The terminal in Loulé is about 4
minutes walk from the main shopping area, indoor market and town
centre. Most buses also make a stop in the town centre near the
indoor market. The terminals at Silves
and SB Messines have no office,
but in both cases there is an enquiry office/agency nearby at the
municipal market building. Portimão does
not have a bus terminal as such - click here for more information. At Lagos, the bus terminal is a few minutes
walk from the historic town centre and about five minutes walk
from the railway station, which is on the other side of the river.
IMPORTANT! When boarding at a BUS STATION/BUS
TERMINAL you must usually buy your tickets at the ticket office
window.
Allow a few minutes for buying tickets at the ticket office,
especially at Faro! Ticket prices are available at the EVA BUS website or the Frota Azul website, depending of
course which company operates the route in question. There is a
list of EVA and Frota Azul ticket offices, with opening hours in
English, on their website here.
If boarding elsewhere or when the ticket office is closed, have small change ready and pay the driver as usual. For our North American readers drivers will make change, but they will not thank you if you hand over a €50 note! Even the longest journey here will cost only €5.85.
Bus fares have recently been increased by large amounts and are
no longer seen as inexpensive, especially for short journeys.
Trains are often cheaper for the same journey where feasible.
Faro to Lagos - €5.85; Albufeira to Portimão -
€4.50, Albufeira to Lagos - €5.45; Albufeira - Faro €4.65;
Albufeira to Armaçao de Pera €4.05; Silves – Portimão
€3.25; Silves
– S.B Messines €4.05; Albufeira to Silves, Quarteira or
Loulé €4.25; Monte Gordo to Tavira €4.05, Monte Gordo to Vila Real
€2.20, Monte Gordo to Faro €5.45.
You can usually buy return tickets at Bus Stations. That doesn’t
save any money but may help for time. Bus drivers do not issue
return tickets. Small word of warning - it was reported to me on
26 January that a return ticket for Transrápido was refused by the
driver for the inbound trip on a different bus!
Pre-paid rechargeable ticket cards - EVA and Frota Azul buses
If you are staying a while and intend to make the same journey
during your stay five or more times, it may worth investing in a
pre-pay card. This rechargeable card stores a set number of
journeys in either direction between two points. It saves money
(in many cases as much as 50%) and queuing time, but you do have
to pay a €3.00 fee for the card. You can buy the cards from any
bus station or, in Albufeira, also at the bus office in Avenida da
Liberdade. Separate cards are also available for the local city
buses not operated by EVA, for example the GIRO service in
Albufeira. You can get your money back for the card if you hand it
in at a bus office before leaving. You can of course keep it for
next year.
On boarding, place the card on the ticket machine pad, count
three and your ticket is automatically printed.
There are also 3 day and 7 day tourist passes available. A three
day pass costs €28,80 but you would practically have to live on
buses to get your money's worth, more usefully a seven day pass
costs €35,90. These allow unlimited travel on EVA and Frota Azul
buses. Buy from from bus stations and other ticket sales points,
not on board the bus. They are NOT VALID on the urban bus networks
eg Faro, Portimão, Lagos and Albufeira.
Please note that tickets and passes are not interchangeable between different operator's buses, except the special Algarve tourist ticket, which can be used on both EVA and Frota Azul buses. All the city buses require a different ticket or pass to the interurban routes.
Timetables are, in many places, not displayed at bus stops
especially in rural areas. Even at Bus Terminals, you may find
only a list of departures to principal destinations. That’s one of
the reasons for my making these pages! Printed timetables are
usually available at the Enquiry Desk or Ticket Office.
English is spoken at most locations but it is polite to ask first!
The EVA and Frota Azul bus
company websites do have a timetable search facility, but not all
routes and destinations are included.
Click here for a
quicklist of all the timetables on the site; please first read the
various notes on this page.
An alphabetical list of all the places included in the timetables
is here.
In general, bus services linking the various towns and villages in the Algarve start around 0700 on weekdays and finish by 2030, which means that, in most places, last buses are on their way around 1930. On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays first buses are generally fairly early, but there are a lot fewer buses than on weekdays. Last buses are often earlier than weekdays. Many villages out in the countryside have no buses at all at weekends or on public holidays, but the main inter-urban routes do have weekend and holiday service, albeit at reduced levels.
There are often long gaps in service on Saturday afternoons and on Sundays. Buses do not usually run at regular intervals ie at so many minutes past each hour. Buses away from the main coastal tourist areas are mostly few and far between, as they cater for local needs of schools and shopping. You are strongly advised to double-check the times of last buses back if you are off hiking in the hills.
The local city buses (GIRO) in
Albufeira operate until midnight during the summer (1st June to
30th September) and until 2200 for the rest of the year. Buses
between Portimão and Alvor, also Portimão and Praia da Rocha run
until about 2200 in winter. There is a late
night service around Portimão, Alvor and Praia da Rocha
during the summer. The Lagos area has
local buses until midnight on some routes during the summer,
otherwise service ends around 8pm. Weekend service on the urban
routes in Lagos and Portimão has been drastically reduced in
recent months.
In other cities and towns, local buses usually operate between about 0700 and 1900 on weekdays and between 0700 and 1400 on Saturdays. They either run very limited schedules or not all on Saturday afternoons, Sundays or holidays.
Point-to-point timings and fares for EVA services from the main towns can be checked on
their official website at http://www.eva-bus.com/
but beware that some of the information on the website is
demonstrably at variance with even the most recent printed
timetables! Frota Azul has a similar website. Neither
website has complete timetables nor can any be downloaded. Two of
the reasons for this site!
Most bus journeys do not run every day. In the various timetable pages, there are column headings and notes to indicate the days a particular bus runs. In one or two cases, there are separate sections for weekday and weekend services where the times are very different, but on most pages there is one table for the whole service.
These codes and information en Français, auf deutsch, em Portugues please click here
Daily – runs every day including holidays (NB - buses and trains DO
RUN on Christmas Day, New Year's Day etc)
MFO – Mondays to Fridays (weekdays)
only; does not run on Saturdays, Sundays or Holidays
SSH – runs on Saturdays,Sundays and Holidays only
SHO – runs on Sundays and Holidays only
SHX – does not run on Sundays or Holidays
SAT – runs on Saturdays only except holidays
SCH – runs on SCHOOLDAYS only ie will not be running in July and
August, nor during Christmas and Easter breaks or on Public
holidays.
NSC - runs MFO but during School Holidays only
XXX – used where bus runs only on certain days that do not fit
into these headings – look for a special note.
PORTUGUESE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 2012/2013
- details here.
I have tried to be consistent with these headings in all the pages. Apologies if I fail anywhere.
A word of 'warning' - between 0800 and 0900 also between 1630
and 1700 on schooldays, buses to/from the main towns are VERY
crowded with schoolchildren and older students on their way to and
from school/college. In some areas schools operate early and late
'shifts' (because of overcrowding) and you may get an extra 'rush
hour' around 1pm, for example in Lagos.
I personally have experienced this at Loulé on the 1340 and 1640
buses to Albufeira and also the 1655 from Silves to Albufeira. You
may have to stand for a while - no they are as unruly as in any
other country!
The good news is that schools are closed during the main holiday
season of July to early September, at Easter and for two weeks
over Christmas and New Year.