Directions

Remember that we can always pick you up straight from the airport if you don't want the stress, cost and time loss of hiring a car. Prices for this service are on our "Prices and Availability" page.

The Quinta can be easily accesssed by road, (though the last 4kms can be challenging if you arrive after dark), and there are regular trains from Lisbon or Faro, both of which are serviced by scheduled and charter flights from most major airports. 

There are two apps that we recommend for a stress-free arrival.

The first is what3words which is a superb - and free - app that divides the whole world into 3 mt squares giving each an individual 3-word address - so much easier than trying to remember GPS co-ordinates. Our randomly allocated address with this app is the superlatively appropriate "helicopter.superpower.presently".

The second is maps.me which is an off-line map. With this app one downloads any map of any country via wifi and then can open it on one's tablet or phone anywhere one wants without incurring roaming charges. Once opened this special app has a dinky little blue triangle showing you where you presently are on the map, so there's really no excuse anymore for anyone ever becoming lost. I've presonally used this on six continents so far, including travelling through the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert, well over 100 kms from the nearest tarmac, so it really does work anywhere, unlike Google maps et al which don't work once one is in the hills and away from a main road as in the Quinta's case.

Plane ...

The two nearest airports are Faro, (one and a half hour's drive away), and Lisbon, (two and a half hours away). If you're flying, as well as all the low cost carriers such as Easyjet, Thomson and Ryanair that fly into oth airports, British Airways flies into Lisbon on a regular flight. Watch out for Ryanair though - their customer service leaves a LOT to be desired and you’re much better off going with one of the others! Not for nothing are Ryanair consistantly voted worst airline, with the most used adjectives describing them as being "arrogant" and "greedy". They may sound cheap to begin with but they give a whole new meaning to "hidden extras". You have been warned!

Train ...

The Quinta is approximately one and a half hours by train from Faro and three by train from Lisbon; the nearest station is Santa Clara-Saboia. A great way to arrive if you want to keep your carbon footprint low, and tickets easily found from anywhere in Europe with Seat 61 or The Trainline.

There are two or three trains a day from either Faro or Lisbon. Timetables change frequently but you can see the current one here. From Faro, Lisbon or Santa Clara-Saboia stations there’s a collection service available which drives all the way in through spectacular countryside directly to the door - the price for these are on our "Prices and Availability" page.

... or Automobile.

Guests can arrange their own car hire or they can be collected from the airport, (Faro or Beja are 1 1/2 hours drive away, Lisbon about two and a half). The Quinta is happy to arrange road transfers between any of the airports or the local railway station. For those wanting to hire a car, there are many services available on the web, but the one we’ve found best is Zitauto, and we cannot suggest a better company - and we don't receive any commission from any of our suggested options so you're receiving completely unbiased advice here.

There are also several sites that compare prices to get you the best deal; Blue Valley Car Hire is particularly good - and supported us handsomely in our fight to save Salgados - and there’s another one called Argus Car Hire. 

Please be careful when hiring cars; check the tyre treads before you leave their premises, and if you book one with air-con, make sure it works and doesn’t just blow warm air at you etc … I’m talking from experience here! There are some real rogue companies out there that will spoil your break and if in any doubt please just give us a ring.

One company to definitely be aware of and steered clear of is Goldcar, basically the Ryanair of the car-hire world; we have had several guests whose whole holiday was ruined by this company's appalling service, the latest this year. "Yes, I saw what you wrote on your site, but I didn't take it seriously", didn't unfortunately garner much sympathy from us when they banjaxed his hols. Quite often they supply cars to other internet-based providers - i.e. you book with a company, but when you arrive off your plane you're directed to pick up your car from Goldcar, so it's always best to check very thoroughly that this will NOT be the case when arranging your car hire - once again, you have been warned! 

If you’re coming by car and are at all unsure about how to get here please print out the Driving Directions instructions by clicking the appropriate link on this page. We cannot stress this enough as those guests who don’t invariably get lost - some sat nav systems don’t work near here and it’s not a good start to any holiday to be lost for hours in the middle of nowhere, no matter how beautiful the area. Those using Google Maps are very often directed to use roads that add on an extra 50 kms of squiggly, slow-going road - once again, what3words and maps.me is the way to go!

For directions from Lisbon click here. For directions from Faro airport click here.

The GPS co-ordinates for the start of our track are 37º33’04.5N / 8º25’03.0W but I would again recommend What3Words and maps.me. Our address once again is "helicopter.superpower.presently" - rather apt as you'll no doubt realise once you arrive at the Quinta.

There’s also a regular bus service from either Faro or Lisbon that’s inexpensive, but the drop-off point is Ourique, 45 kms away, and the final leg of the journey can make any cost savings redundant.