March, 2019 | Postcards From Here and There

Travelling the Algarve by Train

For our recent trip to the Algarve we decided to forego hiring a car and see how much we could do just moving around using the local regional railway. We didn’t miss having a car but you do need to plan carefully how you will manage a visit and exactly what you want to see and do. I don’t suggest this option is for everyone but it does give a cheap option for those on a budget.

The Algarve Regional Railway runs from Vila Real De Santo António in the east to Lagos in the western Algarve. It is often necessary to change trains in Faro. The station at Faro can be somewhat confusing when catching a train as there are no departure boards. Even the locals can be unsure at times as to which platform to use. We found the staff to be most helpful in this regard. Most trains also have the destination on display at the front.
Trains to and from Lisbon connect with the regional railway at Faro, Loulé, Albufeira and Tunes. These trains have a different pricing structure and tickets can not be bought on the train.
Journey times are; Vila Real De Santo António to Faro is roughly an hour, from Faro to Lagos it takes 90 minutes. Trains are roughly hourly in each direction but not all trains run at weekends.
Tickets are relatively cheap compared to the UK. There are only two types of ticket, single and return. The cost of a return is double that of a single.
Tickets are not available in advance and must be purchased on the day. Not all stations on the line have a ticket office, in this case you simply purchase a ticket from the conductor on the train who come round after every stop. It’s worth noting that the conductor only deals in cash, he does not take card payments.
A tourist ticket is available. Called the Tourist Travelcard it can be bought as a two day or three day card. This allows you to use the Algarve line as often as you like but the days of use must be consecutive. A two day card costs 20.90 Euros and the tree day 31.90 Euros. It can only be purchased from a station with a ticket office, they are not available on the train. You may well want to check if it is actually a saving for you. Faro to Tavira is 6.40 Euros return and Faro to Lagos is 14.80 Euros for a return. We didn’t use a Travelcard for our visit.
It is worth checking in advance if the station of your chosen destination is actually close to where you want to go. The station at Albufeira is actually 3 miles from the old town, Lagos is much closer but it is still a reasonable walk to the old town though it is a very pleasant walk past the marina and along the river.

Algarve Cork Production

Cork is produced by a species of oak tree called Quercus suber, it grows well in the western Mediterranean where it favours the mild winters and plenty of sunshine. It grows wild in the Algarve and is not usually grown in plantations so you are likely to come across it in the mountains along with other useful trees such as olive, almond and carob. Portugal produces half the worlds cork, most of which is used to make stoppers for wine bottles. The best quality cork for stoppers is said to come from the Algarve and parts of the Alentejo.

Cork production has remained largely unchanged for centuries. The cork oak is not a fast growing tree so it must be at least 25 years old before the first harvest. This will be inferior cork and unsuitable for wine stoppers. Cork can then be stripped from the tree every nine years but it will be the third harvest before cork for stoppers is good enough. Following harvest the tree is painted with the year it was undertaken, 5 painted on the tree trunk signifies it was harvested in 2015 it therefore can’t be harvested again until 2024. Producing cork is a long, slow process.

Cork is initially only taken from the lower part of the trunk. As the tree gets older it can be taken from greater heights as the tree grows. Cutters work in teams of two, one climbs the tree and the other remains on the ground. They carefully strip away the cork layer using axes but extreme care is needed not to damage the living layer below as this is where the new cork will be regenerated from. Cork is usually removed in the summer months between May and July, this gives it the remainder of the summer to dry out.

Cork oaks can live for over 200 years and are protected by law. The law regulates the frequency of cutting at nine years and it is illegal to cut down a cork oak even if it is dead or diseased.

Once the summer is over the cork is sold to cork factories. The town of Sã0 Brás De Alportel is the epicentre of the cork processing industry in the Algarve. The industry has declined in the area and much of the finishing of cork products is now undertaken in northern Portugal. When the cork first arrives at the factory it is stored outside in stacks two pallets high. The curvature of the bark can clearly still be seen at this stage.

The cork is then taken into the factory and placed into a boiling water tank. This kills any insects and microbes that may be on or in the cork but also softens it so that it can be flattened. The boards are then stacked and left to dry.

The boards are then examined by eye for the quality of the cork. The person that does this is highly skilled and is looking for imperfections and patches of retained moisture. Strips are cut away until the best, most even cork is left. The offcuts are bagged and used to make cork tiles and insulation material. Nothing is wasted here.

Below shows two pieces of cork, the one on top is much higher quality for making bottle stoppers.

Today the cork is now sent to other factories to be turned into the final products which can be anything from the aforementioned bottle stoppers to floor tiles, thermal and acoustic insulation boards, clothing, shoes, handbags, purses and shopping bags. The amount of cork that is processed for use is staggering just from this one factory

Corks for bottles used to be punched out individually from strips of cork cut to the required depth

Stoppers used to be punched manually using a machine like this.

Today the demand for bottle stoppers is huge. Something like 80% of the 20 million bottles of wine produced each year are stoppered using cork. It is not surprising therefore that the process is now fully automated and can produce thousands of stoppers per minute.

A fascinating visit to one of the traditional industries of the Algarve.

Porta de Piedade Lagos.

The town of Lagos in the western Algarve is 60Km from Faro with a drive of a little over an hour. It is also possible to reach Lagos by train from Faro with a journey time of 90 minutes. Lagos is a pleasant town with an active, modern marina. The highlight of any visit to Lagos has got to be the Porta de Piedade, a headland of limestone cliffs just to the west of the town.

It is possible to access the headland on foot and there are several sets of steps to reach the beaches of Praia de Camilo and Praia Dona Ana. However by far the best way to view the cliffs and rock formations is by boat. There are plenty of tour options from Lagos marina costing around 20 Euros for a 75 minute cruise. Generally the boats used are small, carrying around 8 passengers, enabling them to get close up, through arches and into some of the caves.

The colours of the limestone are incredible, yellow to gold to red to browns. The layers erode at different rates creating shadows and crazy shapes, some of which have been given names by the local guides.

The constant battering of the ocean has created pillars, arches and caves. it is a coastline in constant change. It can be stunning and dramatic especially on a clear, sunny day which can make the colours almost glow. It can also be bleak, especially on a cloudy and windy day and as you round the headland conditions can change as you move from shelter into the breeze.

You can get so close you can almost reach out and touch the rocks such is the skill of the guide and the manoeuvrability of the boat. It is well worth doing as part of visit to Lagos and out of the main holiday season its relatively quiet and you can almost have the boat to yourselves.