Hi Helen,

I am probably confused, but have heard of Tavira and have heard of Praia de Luz but not Luz de Tavira, could you explain where it is? Is it a more formal name for Tavira?

I stayed in Cabanas a few years ago which is just outside Tavira but we also went in to Tavira a few times. It's lovely and still remains very Portuguese we had some nice meals there near the river.

Praia de Luz is also nice, and has the advantage of being close to Lagos which is a great place with lots of character. Lagos is probably a bit more Portuguese than P d Luz. Luz is more British (but not in a bad way) with lots of Ex-Pats etc.

Hope this is some help. Doe

Doe

Luz de Tavira is a village west of Tavira about half way to Fuzeta on the N125, or rather that's what the map says. In reality a Luz address could be spread over a fairly wide area either side of the road and may not be within walking distance of "central" Luz never mind Tavira itself, which may be a problem when looking for restaurants. You really need to nail down exactly where it is. The area certainly meets the rest of your requirements though, good links and Tavira is as unspoilt as you can hope for on the coast. Lisbon is probably less than 4 hours up the motorway - then another hour looking for somewhere to park! Seville is much closer - there is even a bus a few times a day from Tavira.

I agree with Doe about Cabanas being worth looking at, it's a bit closer to Tavira and probably better for getting in and back in the evening.

There is a bit of info about Luz at http://www.tavira.com.pt/luz%20de%20tavira.htm and if you then go back to the Home page you can see the rest of Tavira including Cabanas

Almancil (or at least the centre of it) I think is a traffic choked nightmare of a place but, as with Luz, the town addresses are spread out wide and there may well be some much nicer bits!

I agree you need to nail down the locations, as you might be told Almancil or Luz only to find you are 3 miles out of town.

I've been through Luz de Tavira on the train many times. In general it seems a nice area, although I had the sense of quite a bit of new building going on.

The little station at Luz de Tavira would enable you to get to other places along the coast without the need to drive; Almancil also has a little halt but it's about half a mile from the centre.

I write because many people have spoken to me about the, shall we say, liberal interpretations of what is Albufeira and I imagine such descriptions are not dissimilar for other resorts.

the one villa is called Casa Joia and is 2Km from Amancil and the other is called Casa Margaretha and is 250m from Luz de Tavira. Sounds like Luz de Tavira may be my best best - don't fancy a traffic choked nightmare.

Some sites say Casa Margaretha is 250m from Luz but others say 1km. However they generally agree that there is a bus stop at the end of the drive (maybe the drive is 750m long??). This means in the evenings you can get the bus into Tavira and taxi back so won't need to worry about driving.

http://www.eva-bus.com is the rather wobbly website for bus services -bits work well in various languages but other bits don't even work properly in Portuguese. The timetable for Tavira to Luz is http://www.eva-bus.com/gen_pdf.php?servico=0&origem=TAVIRA&destino=LUZ%20TAVIRA but it won't give display for going into town although you can assume a similar frequency. Also, I suspect that certain buses will not run at weekends, probably the Interurbanas, but it doesn't mention that. The bus will drop you just north of the Roman bridge which is central to the restaurants and bars - best value is the other side.

Taxis in Tavira are readily available, they wait at a rank near the cinema just inland from the old market.

If the villa turns out to be close to Luz station see http://www.cp.pt and click the fragment of Union Jack at the top. At present there are problems getting sense out of the timetables, presumably due to them changing soon.

The Tavira-Seville bus timetable is at http://www.damas-sa.es/Lagos-Sevilla.htm - don't forget Spanish time is one hour ahead of Portugal.

Thanks for all that info, that is really helpful. The bus service could make all the difference as we like a bottle of wine with our evening meals!!

Or failing that we could always walk - even if it is 1km that is walkable!

thanks again

Helen

Stayed near Almancil last month, and went in for one evening but we were a bit dissapointed. There are plenty of upmarket restaurants in the surrounding area but many of them do involve a drive and they seem priced to catch the Quinta do Lago and Vale da Lobo crowd (i.e seemed twice the price of restaurants in other areas of the Algarve I have visited).

I have bus times in (I hope) a readable form at my personal website http://www.algarvebus.info/015.htm.

The EVA official information is far from complete as has been said!

The bus station in Tavira is about 3 minutes walk from the (pedestrianised) town centre; in the village of Luz buses in both directions stop in the little square opposite the church. The route runs along the N125, which is presumably where the track comes out and where said other bus stop is located.

(I clicked on one of the map links on a website offering it to rent and the red circle was about 5km offshore, in the sea. Not helpful!)

My website also has the times of all the Algarve buses and trains I have been able to find out about.

I think you will enjoy that part of the world.

Sorry, clicked on that link and it took me to a site in Portuguese??

So long as Luz de Tavira is not full of British pubs and lager louts I am sure it will be fine for us.

Any idea how long it would take to drive to Seville or would we be better off taking a train? We will have a car anyway but I am wondering what the traffic would be like in the city centre.

Driving in the centre of Seville is a nightmare........even my friends who have lived there all their lives hate it!!!! Best to leave it ouside the centre and get a bus in. From Tavira, you can drive it in about 2 - 2 1/2 hours. You can also get the bus direct from Tavira which we have done many times. It takes longer as it stops in Huevla for about 20 - 30 mins. Maybe about 4 hours or so.
As for where you're staying......only just passed through Luz de Tavira so can't really comment on it. Why not look at Tavira itself which is a beautiful town and you have lots of lovely restaurants and can walk without the need for cars or taxis.
I stay in Cabanas de Tavira when I go and although there is a bus, it stops at 7pm at night and doesn't run on a Sunday, so you might find Luz is the same. As has been said, check the EXACT location 'cos you could be miles out from anywhere.
Pat

PS Tavira is certainly not full of lager louts and I can't think of one British pub!!!!

Good news about the lager louts and British pubs anyway.

We are a tad restricted as to where we can stay as I am paying for the villa with my Tesco clubcard vouchers!! So have to take what is on offer in the Individual Spain/Portugal brochure. There aren't that many so I am trying to narrow down the options.

thanks for your help, especially about driving in Seville, maybe we will drive to a station and get the train there.

Helen,
Do Tesco have a web site for this brochure and I will take a look and see if I can work out where it is in Luz?
Pat

Hi

the website for the property is Individualspain.com and it is property ref PS004.

Hi Helen,
It says the villa is only 250mts from Luz so should be ok. Just don't know if there's much there. Have a wee look here http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/_tourism/algarve/tavira/index
This will show how close it is to Tavira
Pat

Try looking at PS202. Think I know this one!!!!

Well, we will have a car so will be ok, we like travelling around a bit on hols. And we like quiet places!

And I have always wanted to visit Seville so this may be a good opportunity as you can't fly there from our local airports. Maybe we will get the train and stay overnight there.

Thanks again, if you find any more info let me know.

I spent a week in Seville in September and it would definitely be worth trying to make an overnight stop - it's a beautiful city with so much to see. However, do leave the car back at the villa if you can or else make sure you stay somewhere with off-street parking, especially if staying in the centre! Seville is a city is best enjoyed on foot - some of the nicest streets are fully pedestrianised and others are so narrow that they really ought to be :-)

All the main sights eg the Cathedral, the Alcazar, the city walls in the Santa Cruz barrio etc are all within easy strolling distance of each other and the main shopping streets are too. But taxis are also very cheap and there is a brand new tram system that links one end of the city with the other. So it once you arrive you really won't need the use of the car during your stay.

SM

Thanks everyone for all your advice, much appreciated!

I definitely think we need an overnight stop at Seville!

Just hope that when my Tesco vouchers arrive the villa is still available!

About the link in my earlier post - sorry but there was a stray full stop after the .htm bit so you saw the 'page not found' error message - my pages are hosted on a free Portuguese server.

http://www.algarvebus.info/015.htm

is what it should have been!

Sorry again.