Guest article by Tourmalina, 2nd November 2017.
We – four senior citizens – spent a week in Tavira in October and had great weather and a great time. It was our first time there so I’ve jotted down a few (random) thoughts plus pointers about prices which might be of use to other first-timers. In no special order, they are:
1- The centre of Tavira is flat, but it’s uphill almost all the ways when you head further out.
2- Taxis are really cheap. We stayed at Quinta do Caracol, which is near the railway station, a 10-minute walk from the centre, and were never charged more than 4€.
3- Rail travel is also cheap, especially for senior citizens, who travel half price. You will need a passport or other form of identification to take advantage of the discount.
4- Food and drink is also cheap. We paid around 60€ a night for four main courses, a litre and a half of wine, a couple of beers and coffee.
5- Don’t judge a book by its cover…I’ve reviewed all five restaurants we tried. None were fancy, some were just a few tables on the pavement, but all delivered delicious food. One in particular we would have walked past had we not had recommendations from Tripadvisor.
6- The ice cream/wine shop near the old bridge is aimed solely at tourists, with prices to match.
7- We had three beers and a coffee at a cafe alongside the food market (facing the Vila Gale hotel) for just 4€. Locals were buying giant bottles of freshly-squeezed orange juice from a shop alongside for just 3.5€.
8- We couldn’t find a bakery to buy bread, so had to resort to getting it from the supermarket (I’ve since been told a couple of cafes sell it, but none of those we tried did!).
9-Take the small train which chugs around town at the start of your holiday. We left it until the end, but it would have been a great way of helping to find our bearings.
10- We took a taxi to the start of the walkway to Barril Beach at a cost of 7.80€, but when we rang for a taxi to get back no one wanted to fetch us (we should have arranged a pick-up on the way there). It cost over 10€ to return by bus.
11- Cost of sunbeds/windbreakers at Barril Beach is quite expensive…I’ve forgotten exactly how much, but think it was around 16€ a day.
12- Get a good map of the town – the larger scale the better. You needed 20-20 vision to spot the tiny street names on the one we got from the tourist office.
You might also like our article – Things to do in Tavira
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not reflect those of the company.
