Turistcampo is beautifully placed for bus trips. The bus stop is right outside the site Sagres in one direction and Lagos in the other.
Basically two different bus lines in this part of Portugal, a local bus service Onda and a coach service Vamus. The two services overlap but the bus tickets are not interchangeable. Both bus services operate and have stops outside the campsite and timetables are readily available from reception or online. The buses are not too frequent and are heavily used by tourists, back packers, locals and school kids. Early morning 7am to 10am are most frequent. You do need to check the timetables as sometimes there is a long gap between buses.
Turistcampo to Lagos by bus.
A relatively short journey about 20 mins on the Vamus 47 bus, marked Cabo S. Vincente - Lagos ( por Sagres) A trip to Capo S Vincente ( the most westerly point of Portugal ) is tricky as there are only around 4 buses that go all the way. We opted for a day out in Lagos a very easy journey. We caught 10.28 bus which was only 10 minutes late. The coach driver was very friendly and helpful. A point to remember if you have a dog. Dogs are not allowed on buses in Portugal as a Dutch family in the queue found out. The fair was 5.20 Euros one way for the two of us. It is easy to find the stop as its on the end of the line at the bus terminal ( Terminal Rodrigues) on the sea front at Lagos. The bus to get back stops at the same place.
Lagos is well worth a day out. You can get an old town map with a walking route, which we didn't do this time. It takes in all the major sites. Lagos is very touristy with loads of stalls selling various boat trips at various prices. For the hardy types you can even do a kayak trip. We opted for a leisurely stroll.
Loads of places to eat, we opted for a small bar around the back streets which was lovely.
The beach which is very picturesque was also busy but being April I think the sea was rather chilly. We didn't try it!
All in all a lovely day out and perfect use of local buses! Make sure you wait for the bus on the right side of the road, easy to go wrong!
Day out. Turiscampo to Sagres by bus.
Another easy day out. A bit further to Sagres. It took us 35 minutes to get there but an hour and a half to get back ( the bus stopped at all the small stops to let kids off. We obviously picked the wrong time.
Buses in Portugal do a lot of turning around and doubling back on themselves to cover the small villages so don't panic if you think the bus is going the wrong way. A slightly longer journey this time it cost us 8.40 Euros. We also had to keep our eyes peeled for the bus stop to get off. The best stop is the one by the harbour in Sagres, we didn't know this and got off a bit early. Still it was a nice day for a walk.
Sagres is still a bit of a hippy place, full of surfers with lots of campers. It looks like since we were there 2 years ago the place has been tidied up. The waste ground where campers parked up is now a proper massive car park. I don't think overnighting is allows although it did look like some still ignored this.
Having visited the fort before, we decided to make for the beach this time and have a stroll around.
The long straight road to the fort. Slightly reconstructed but very imposing!
I think this used to be a wild camping spot. Now a car park. No charge as far as we could see but it did say parking between specific times.
The beach was full of surfers although it was cold in the water. Very wavy!!
Hardy souls. We opted for the beach bar and a cold beer.
View from the beach bar
After a wander around we found a lovely spot for lunch which just happened to be a local brewery. As he wasn't driving Den managed a few tasters before we found the bus stop home. The journey home with school kids on board was quite interesting as it took in all the villages. Incidentally buses only take cash!
Another great camper free day out and we got to meet the locals.
No comments:
Post a Comment