Faro to Ayamonte
 

I am traveling back over to Ayamonte is a few months to relook at buying property this would be our 3rd visit love the area 2nd time looking at property.

My biggest problem with the area is transport from Faro airport tried car rental far to expensive from Faro airport the same to be said regarding Taxi I have been told we could use the ferry taxi services can anyone advise how you can do this.

At Faro Airport how do you get to Ferry and at what cost also ferry cost then Taxi at Ayamonte to Isla Canel

Any info what be great

Thanks

George

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Can't tell you times but you can get a bus from the airport to the railway station. Take the train from Faro to Vila Real (takes just over an hour and cost just over €10). Then from Vila Real get the ferry to Ayamonte then a bus/taxi to Isla Canella. But personally I don't think that car hire from the airport is that expensive: I have just paid £54 for 12 days or, in February, £40 for a week. Have you tried booking with someone like Economy Car Hire?

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

I would look at the car hire pricing a bit more - try Economy Car Hire etc - because you would need to add the cost of taxis for travel to viewings etc on top of the cost of getting to Ayamonte. Also car hire from Faro town is sometimes cheaper than at the airport because you don't have to pay the airport premium. Car hire in Ayamonte itself is not cheap either.
However there are a number of ways to get to Ayamonte from Faro using public transport:

• Coach - there is a coach which travels along the coast from Lagos to Seville stopping near Ayamonte, not sure where the pickup near Faro is though but you could research with google
• Train - get a shuttle bus (or taxi) from the airport to Faro station and the train to Villa Real, it is then a short walk to the ferry terminal. However, the trains are not very frequent but it can and has been succesfully negotiated in the past.
• Bus - I believe that there is a local bus service from Faro (town) to VRSA but have no more details.
• Private hire - if you wait long enough someone on here will offer a Faro airport transfer service. Check the status and insurance before going for it but if you are happy with the risk then this may be an option.

The problem you may have is getting back to the airport in time for a flight as the public transport options may not be reliable enough or at the times you want.

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

If you are staying on Canela or looking around, how are you going to get about while you are here. IC to Ayamonte will be about 10 euros.

Do that 5 times and a hire car looks cheap

Look at Economy car hire. I have used Travelrent and Drive for fun numerous times Thru them and they are very good and fair
Do not forget that you will be paying about 20 euros in tolls and 10 for Insurance for Spain

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Not all companies charge a premium to cross the border: Rentauto, for example, don't; and their charge for tolls is cheaper too. But you have to weigh up all the pros and cons for each company.

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Thanks for the info lots to consider.

First time at Faro cheapest car hire at the Airport was Gold Car £350 all in full tank of fuel insurance tolls flights for 2 £260 includes return hotel full board £240 for 6 nights the car hire cost the most and we only used it a few times.

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

I wouldn't touch Gold Car with someone else's bargepole. Apart from all the extras they try and load on they have the most unfair petrol policy in the business. If you try one of the broker companies (eg Holiday Autos, Economy Car Hire etc) you can choose a much cheaper option. I have used 'cars4fun' a number of times and they are are good value - if you search the Ayamonte sub-forum you will find loads of advice re car-hire in Faro. £350 sounds like the price of a premium car in high season. I have rented a small economy car for less tha 100euros out of high season.
I have heard that car hire at Seville airport is a bit cheaper although it's a longer drive.

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

I agree you'll get it much cheaper than that... lots of info on the forum.

I always check Economy car hire; Economy Car rental and Argus.

I got a car last Nov and December for less than 10 Eur a day.. and I would certainly recommend you get one for your house hunting trip.

Good luck
Jon

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Another useful tip is to avoid the additional excess costs insurance the Car Hire Companies will try to sell you. If you plan to use car hire for even a couple of times a year, purchasing an annual insurance policy to cover these extras (tyres, windscreens headlights etc.) from someone like Insurance4carhire is much more cost effective. My annual fee for this year was only £39.99

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Good tip Bob, although we don't use hire cars in Spain we do in the UK so we do the annual cover. We have had to claim on 3 occasions and there is never any quibble, ditto re price. Mike

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

I have just hired a car for 4 weeks in June/July for less than that: £324.

Although this time I am not flying, it was still about £100 cheaper to take a short trip from the train station to the airport to pick the car up from there.

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Certainly have no truck with GoldCar. Have usually used Economy Car Hire to book cars with Travelrent and/or drive4Fun; great service. However, this time ECH can't get a quote for those two suppliers for longer than 30 days, so have had to go direct. Price is actually cheaper, but of course don't yet know whether the 'service' will have changed.:fingerscrossed:

Steve

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Of course you could always initially book with ECH and then extend the rental locally when you arrive - most rentcos are happy to do that and you may get a good deal on the extension.

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Hi Kath
Have you got that the right way round?
Usually it's cheaper to collect in town because there is a premium for the airport and I thought that this new tax that the airport has imposed on Rentcos would make it more expensive.

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Is second economy car hire!

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

I've extended lots of times with ECH. Easy and cheap

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Guys, I usually rent via ECH, but they always use the (semi) off airport operators who work out of white transit vans in car park 4. NEVER ever one of the hire co's with desks/ offices inside the airport terminal. I would suggest they overcome ON AIRPORT charges and taxes this way. Occasionally, I've been met by a minibus and taken one km up the dual carriageway to their depot. You have to take care to ensure you choose an operator who does not make an additional charge of up to 30 euros to cross into spain though. HTH

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Some of the companies they use are based at the outside counter in Car Park 4, so I would imagine they do pay the airport fees.

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

Hi I started out using Economy Car Hire, however now always book direct with Drive4Fun, get a good favourable rate and only have to pay on arrival as opposed to paying at point of booking with ECH. Always had a great service from them, have also had to extend the lease and this was just a call, no problems, no hassle. Wouldn't think to use anyone else.

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

If you still want to travel by public transport have a look at the following link - despite the title it has information about trains as well:-

www.algarvebus.info/

Re: Faro to Ayamonte
 

As from next month it would appear that all the companies that are based in car park 4 will have to pay the new airport charges. This will add at least another 20euros to rental costs.