Hi,

My husband and I will be in Madrid soon and will be visiting Seville. We've done this trip several times and always take the AVE train from Madrid to Seville.

We would like to spend a few days in the Algarve and wanted to know the best way to get from Seville or Madrid to Portugal. Is there a train or will we need to take a plane?

Thanks in advance.

Melissa Perdue

If you can plan to return to Spain after your visit to the Algarve, then rent a car in Seville, and drive yourself. You could also use the car to visit some of the white villages in Andalucia or other areas best visited by car. There is a bus from Seville to Faro or Lagos, I believe it takes about seven hours. But a car would allow you to see much more, and as long as you can return it back to Spain, it won't cost you all that much.

Thanks for your email. We've considered driving from Seville to Portugal. Is driving in Portugal difficult -- are the road signs easy to understand?

Thanks

The roads are fine. The Portuguese drivers are nuts--they speed, pass dangerously and tailgate. Roads are not all that crowded, especially, I imagine, in the fall when the tourist season subsides. Road signs are more difficult than Spain but far easier than France (and by the way, I speak/read French but not Portuguese). Definitely go all the way to Cabo Sao Vincente, it's one of the most beautiful places on earth. If you do, I recommend Rick Steve's favorite in Salema, the A Mare http://www.algarve.co.uk/Page1.htm We stayed in Apt A, and put our kids next door in Room 6. Of course, you may not get it in the fall because Rick Steves fully books it for his tours. But try anyway--it's fantastic, and run by a Brit expat. The beach there is wonderful, and definitely drive over to the Atlantic coast from there. If you're not a surfer you'll wish you were.