How To Find The Quinta
The Quinta can be easily accessed by road, (though the last 4 kms in can be challenging if you arrive after dark), and there are regular trains from Lisbon or Faro, both of which are serviced by scheduled or charter flights from most major airports.
As well as all the low cost carriers such as Easyjet, Monarch, Thomson and Ryanair that fly into Faro and Lisbon, 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!
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 ones we've found best are Carjet and Europcar. There are also several sites that compare prices to get you the best deal; www.bluevalleycarhire.com is particularly good - and supported us handsomely in our fight to save Salgados, (see our Blogs here and on Birding-in-Portugal.com from July 2012 onwards) - 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 - you can see why here; we have had guests whose whole holiday was ruined by this company.
The Quinta is located in the Lower ("Baixo") Alentejo. As the crow flies, it is about 40 km from the West or South coasts.
It's two and a half hours by car from either bridge in Lisbon, or one and a half hours by car from Faro or Beja Airports.
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.
There are two trains a day from either Faro or Lisbon. Timetables change frequently but you can see the current one here. (Click on "Horarios" on the right hand side and fill in the departure and arrival stations - remember our local one is "Santa Clara-saboia" - it's one of those annoying sites where everything has to be written exactly right). Unfortunately it only ever shows the timetable for the coming month ahead, so for planning further in the future it's not very helpful; tickets are bought on the day - there's no option for buying in advance. From the station this end there's a collection service available which drives all the way in through spectacular countryside directly to the door.
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.
If you're coming by car and are at all unsure about how to get here please print out the Driving Directions map at the bottom of this page as well as the instructions below.
We can't stress this too much 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.
The GPS co-ordinates for the start of our track are
37º33'04.5N /
8º25'03.0W
(Please ignore the co-ordinates at the bottom of this page).
Check-in time
Please note that our latest check-in time during High Season is 22.00 and at other times of the year it's 21.00.
Under
extraordinary circumstances, such as the late arrival of a flight, we
can organize someone to stay up for you, but this is charged at 10 euros
per hour and must be advised at least seven days prior to your arrival.
Directions
From Lisbon:
- Take either the Ponte 25 Abril or the Ponte Vasco da Gama south towards the Algarve.
- Get off at Grandola and take the IC1 towards the Algarve.
- About 25 kms south of Grandola you
come to the small village of Mimosa at the end of which you turn right
onto the N262 signed to Alvalade, Cercal and Lagos.
- Carry straight on for 10 kms, (the BP station you pass
after 1 km at the roundabout is the last one for ages so fill up if you
need to), and turn left signed to Fornalhas Velhas and Val de Santiago.
-
You reach Val de Santiago after 12 kms and take signs to Odemira and
the Algarve.
- 2 kms later you come to the little village of Santa
Luzia, at the end of which you turn right onto the N263.
- Go
straight across the roundabout and 3 kms later turn left towards S.
Martinho das Amoreiras.
- After another 8kms, arriving in
S.Martinho das Amoreiras, take signs to Portimão.
- 10kms further
on, just as you’re coming into Luzianes, turn left signed to Corte
Brique.
- After 4.5 kms turn right at the cross-roads.
- At the T
junction after 3 kms turn left, signed to Cortes Pereiras.
- After
3.8 kms turn right at the sign for “Paradise in Portugal, Hospedaria,
Guest Lodge, Quinta do Barranco da Estrada” and then it's 4 kms straight
on down the track.
The journey normally takes about two and a half hours from either of the Lisbon bridges.
From Faro Airport:
- Exit Airport & take
signs to Faro and the A22 Portimão.
- After 2.5 kms take the blue signs to Lisboa, Portimão and Loulé.
- This swings you down
onto the EN125; watch out the junction is dangerous.
- After 4.5 kms filter
right signed to Faro and Almancil and then, when the road splits, keep straight
on signed to Almancil.
- After 3kms keep on the
main road signed Albufeira and Quarteira; don’t turn off to Almancil, and then
4kms later turn right at the roundabout, signed to Loulé.
- After 3.5kms turn right
off the dual carriageway signed to S. Bras de Alportel, and go right around the
roundabout back the way you’ve come, down to the next roundabout and straight
across, signed to S. Bras and Boliqueime.
- Up to the next
roundabout after 1.5kms and turn left to wards Boliqueime onto a single lane
country road.
- After 3.5 kms go
straight across the roundabout, up over the rise for 500 mts and turn right
signed to Alte and Benafim.
- After 11.5 kms you
arrive in Benafim where you turn left signed to Alte.
- Arriving in Alte after
about 5kms keep on the same road and at the far end of the village go straight
across the roundabout signed to Messines.
- 5kms later you’ll come
to the little village of Messines de Baixo, and at the far end of this go
straight across the roundabout signed to S.B. Messines.
- 1km further on turn left
at the roundabout signed to Lisboa and Albufeira and 500mts later left again at
the next roundabout signed Lisboa and S.Marcos da Serra.
- 14kms later turn right
signed to Monchique and S. Marcos da Serra.
- Cross the bridge and bear
left, turning right at the T-junction.
- After 200m turn left over the railway line
signposted Monchique.
- After about 4 kms turn right, (at the
bottom of the big hill), signed Benafatima and carry on all the way, roughly 10
kms, to the end at the small village of Nave Redonda.
- At the T junction, turn right, signposted
Odemira.
- After another 15km and having crossed 4
bridges (3 rivers and 1 railway), you will see Santa Clara on your right. Drive
200m past Santa Clara and turn right, signposted Cortes Pereiras.
- Follow this road for 8.5 km until you see a
signpost for Quinta do Barranco da Estrada on your right.
- Follow the Quinta do Barranco do Estrada
signs for a further 4km and you've arrived!
The whole journey usually takes 1.5 hours, depending on traffic.