Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
All buses leave from the riverfront, with fewer running at weekends. The
bus ticket office
(
282 442 338;
8.15am-1.30pm & 2.45-6pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat, 10am-noon Sun)
is on the western side
of the market.
TRAIN
Local buses travel daily between Silves and its train station (three to five daily). Services
from Silves:
Faro
(€5.10, one hour, nine daily)
Lagos
(€2.90, 35 minutes, nine daily)
PAYING TOLLS IN A HIRE CAR
In recent times the government has introduced charges to drive along the A22, the large motorway that runs along
the Algarve. Frustratingly, there are no toll booths and, at the time of research, not all hire cars were fitted with
electronic transformers. If you hire a car that is not fitted with an electronic transformer, you are responsible for
paying the toll. To do this you must go to any Portuguese post office within five days of driving on the A22 (but
after 48 hours), provide your hire car's license plate number and pay up (check first that you are covering your
trips only). License plates are photographed on the A22 and if you fail to pay the tolls, the car-hire company is
obliged to pass on your details to the appropriate authorities.
You will undoubtedly find yourself on this motorway; it's a far easier and safer alternative to the oft-crowded
(albeit free-of-charge) N125, so if you are hiring a car, check with your car-hire company how toll fees will be
paid on the A22.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Portimão
POP 50,000
Bustling Portimão is the western Algarve's main commercial centre and the second-most
populous city in the Algarve. The messy outskirts of the city hide a small but friendly hub,
whose focal points are the Praça Manuel Teixeira Gomes, a pleasant waterfront, an assort-
ment of outdoor cafes, and sizzling fish restaurants in the old quarter and quayside. You
can also arrange a boat cruise up the Rio Arade. Most tourists only pass through en route
to Praia da Rocha.
Portimão was an important trading link for Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians
(Hannibal is said to have visited). It was called Portos Magnus by the Romans and was
fought over by Moors and Christians. In 1189 Dom Sancho I and a band of crusaders
