Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
May to June. The fare from Quatro Águas-Tavira to the island is around €18 for five
people.
A bus goes to Quatro Águas from the Tavira bus station from July to mid-September
(eight daily). A taxi to Quatro Águas costs around €5.
For Praia do Barril, take a bus from Tavira to Pedras d'el Rei (10 minutes, around eight
daily weekdays), from where the little train runs regularly to the beach (it runs all year,
though the timetable varies out of high season).
TOP OF CHAPTER
Vila Real de Santo António
POP 11,900
Perched on the edge of wide Rio Guadiana, low-key but pleasant Vila Real de Santo
António stares across at Spanish eyes. Its small pedestrian centre is architecturally im-
pressive: within five months in 1774, the Marquês de Pombal stamped the town with his
hallmark gleaming grid-pattern of streets (like Lisbon's Baixa district) after the town was
destroyed by floods. From here you can head off to Castro Marim. The large, sandy
Monte Gordo beach is 4km away.
Sleeping
Villa Marquês
( 281 530 420; Rua Dr José Barão 61; s/d €35/40; )
Two streets back from the waterfront, near
the bus station, this modern, yellow place has bright and airy - if a little cramped - rooms
and a rooftop terrace with views over town. The best value in town.
HOTEL
€
Casa de Hospedes
Matos Pereira
( 281 543 325; Rua Dr Sousa Martins 57; s/d €35/50)
This family-home guesthouse near the
tur-
ismo
has small, lace-filled rooms, some with a terrace and very steep steps.
GUESTHOUSE
€
Hospedaria Arenilha
( 964 722 018, 281 512 565; Rua Dom Pedro V, 53-55; s/d €50/60, tr €75-90; )
In the centre of town,
this place was built to resemble a hotel but seems to have morphed into budget accom-
GUESTHOUSE
€
