Day Trip to Portimao

Coming over to Albufeira in a couple of weeks and fancied a day trip to Portimao to have a look around. Can this be done by bus without too much hassle? Where do they go from and how frequently? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for the info. Did you make it to the beach/boardwalk area is it too far from the bus stop?

Bus times for Portimão and Praia da Rocha (which is where you will find the boardwalk and the sea) www.algarvebus.info/002s.htm

Portimão itself is about a mile and half from the coast.

These limited stop buses leave from Albufeira's main bus station and stop nowhere else here until Algarve Shopping (mall) near Guia. They do not have route numbers. You may as said above need another bus or a taxi to get from wherever you are staying to Albufeira's bus station, which is out of town. See www.algarvebus.info/albufeira.htm for more information. At the bus station, you buy your ticket at the ticket office inside before getting on the bus. The fare is €4,65 each way.

Finally, if you are staying in or near the old town area of Albufeira there are a couple of other buses on weekdays only to and from Portimão which save you having to trek up to the bus station. Let me know if you need the details of those.

"...what is Clock Tower"

Not exactly a huge tower but it's in the old town almost opposite the Sol e Mar hotel. Picture at https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/04/15/7a/9a/clock-tower.jpg

It dates from the mid 1800's (almost everything really old was flattened in the 1755 earthquake) and stands adjacent to where once stood one of the gates of the town. The outside of the big building and the one next to it formed part of the town walls. One became the hospital, but has been empty and crumbling for many years since the new one was built. The town museum is opposite. In the square, there is some archaeology dating from the 10th and 11th centuries and nearby are some more of the oldest buildings in town among the narrow streets.

It's worth a look around and certainly on a rainy day the museum is a good place to spend a couple of hours. In winter it is closed on Mondays, otherwise opens thus:-

Saturday Sunday Tuesdays 0930 - 1230 and 1330 to 1730
Wednesday Thursday Friday 0930 to 1730 no lunch break.

Costs 1 Euro, but free on Sundays before 1130 and for assorted concessions

By the way on that list "Marina Beach" is the Praia da Marinha, west of Armação de Pêra, which is impossible to get to without a car.

Finally, 1st December is a public holiday here (Restoration of Independence) so things run to Sunday times. Shops etc mostly open as usual, banks post offices etc of course not!