How to Get from Lisbon to Algarve

This is your guide on how to get from Lisbon to Algarve. If you’re going to Portugal, we HIGHLY recommend making some time to visit the Algarve region. Between the beaches, the natural caves, and the food, you won’t want to miss it!

I will break down where we went in the Algarve region.
I will share where to book your tickets.
I will share the difference between the bus and the train.
I will tell you the the names of all the stations.
Plus, I'll share any other important information to make sure your trip is seamless!

Contents hide

1 Why Lagos, Portugal?

1.1 We chose Lagos for a few reasons...

2 Where to Book?

3 Bus or Train to Get from Lisbon to Algarve?

4 Where do I take the train/bus from Lisbon?

5 Frequently Asked Questions:

Why Lagos, Portugal?

We chose Lagos for a few reasons...

After doing some research, we found that Lagos wasn’t the party town in the Algarve. It seemed like a mix of young couples and families which is what we were looking for.
Old Town Lagos has so many restaurants and shops! Check out our last post about our favorite restaurants in Lagos HERE.
Lagos itself is full of beautiful beaches and scenic views.
Like all the other Algarve towns, there are plenty of water activities to do.
A big positive of going to Lagos is you don’t need to make a stop and transfer anywhere.

Where to Book?

There are a few options when booking travel throughout Europe depending on if you're looking to take the train, bus, plane or drive.

I'm going to focus on the train and the bus for this post. You can rent a car or take a flight, but both are more self explanatory options.

We decided to take the bus because it was the cheapest option and it wasn't too much longer of a trip compared to the train.

We booked our bus trip with Flixbus. We bought our tickets directly from their website which you can find HERE.

Two apps you can download for travel throughout Europe are Trainline and Omio. Specifically speaking about getting from Lisbon to Lagos, they both have different bus options. While Omio also has train options to get you to Lagos as well.

Public transport throughout Europe is generally easy and they're usually clean as well. We've taken Flixbus in other countries and they're always reliable so we decided to use them again!

Bus or Train to Get from Lisbon to Algarve?

This answer depends on WHERE in the Algarve you are looking to go. We went to Lagos so I'll start with that.

As I said before, we decided to take a bus from Lisbon to Lagos which we booked directly through Flixbus.

Why bus? First off, it was the cheapest option. We paid $60 for two roundtrip tickets. The second reason is there is no direct train to Lagos. We didn't want to stop and hop on another train with our luggage. The fastest train to Lagos is 3 hours and 45 minutes. The bus we took says 3 hours and 45 minutes, but you do stop for lunch so it was more like 4 hours and 20 minutes. They do this because you cannot eat or drink on the bus.

If you're only interested in taking the train, you have a couple of options. From Lisbon to the Algarve you can take a direct train to two locations. You can take the train to either Faro or Albufeira. The train to Faro takes 2 hours and 52 minutes from Lisbon. While, the train to Albufeira takes 2 hours and 28 minutes from Lisbon. Conveniently, they are both on the same train line.

We didn't go to Faro or Albufeira so I can't give any tips on travel there. Getting there seems easy enough though!

Where do I take the train/bus from Lisbon?

We took the bus from the Lisbon Oriente station. It can get a bit complicated there as there are so many buses. My advice is to get there a bit early and ask one of the bus attendants for your track.

Buses in Europe are very strict on their food policy. You cannot eat on the bus and the drivers will make sure you don't. We quickly found out that the food options aren't the best at the Oriente station. To save you that headache, eat something before you get to the station. During your bus trip the driver does make a stop at a rest area to grab lunch and eat before continuing the trip. The rest stop we went to was pretty nice and the food was good!