Faro. Twenty minutes from the aircraft to the first tee.
The Algarve is unusually easy. One airport serves the whole coast, it never closes, and the best addresses are a short motorway run away. The two things worth planning are the golf bags and the weeks when the region fills.
The airport
Faro at a glance
- CodesFAO / LPFRGago Coutinho, about 4 kilometres west of Faro, on the lagoon with the A22 motorway a few minutes inland.
- RunwayOne runway of about 2,490 metresComfortable for light, midsize, super midsize and most heavy jets, with the usual performance checks on the largest types in summer heat.
- HoursOpen around the clock, all yearNo night curfew. A late arrival or a very early departure is genuinely available here, which is rarer than it sounds.
- Private arrivalsHandled through a general aviation facilityPrivate passengers are processed apart from the holiday crowds, which in July is the difference between fifteen minutes and an hour.
Faro is a holiday airport with a serious private side. The commercial terminal in August is one of the busiest in Portugal; the private side is not, and that gap is most of the reason people fly privately into the Algarve at all.
Journey times
From Faro along the Algarve
| To | Quiet roads | July and August |
|---|---|---|
| Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo | 15 to 25 minutes | 25 to 40 minutes |
| Vilamoura and the marina | 25 to 35 minutes | 35 to 55 minutes |
| Faro old town and the lagoon | 10 to 15 minutes | 15 to 25 minutes |
| Albufeira | 35 to 45 minutes | 45 to 70 minutes |
| Portimao and the Algarve circuit | 45 to 60 minutes | 1 hour to 1 hour 30, far longer on a race day |
| Lagos and the western beaches | 55 minutes to 1 hour 15 | 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 45 |
| Monte Rei and the eastern Algarve | 30 to 45 minutes | 40 to 60 minutes |
| Seville, over the border | 2 hours to 2 hours 30 | 2 hours 30 or more, and the clocks change at the frontier |
Realistic ranges, not promises. The A22 toll motorway runs the length of the coast and is the fast route; the N125 beneath it is the slow one. Portugal and Spain keep different time zones, so a Seville run gains or loses an hour depending on the direction. Cars in Portugal are arranged through operators we know; our own fleet and our own chauffeurs are in London and Manchester.
Two seasons, two reasons
Summer for the coast, and the rest of the year for golf
The Algarve has an unusual shape to its year. July and August fill the beaches, the marinas and the villa rentals, and the roads behave accordingly. The golf season runs almost the other way: October to May is when the courses at Quinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo, Vilamoura and Monte Rei are at their best, the weather is kind and the coast is calm. A great many private arrivals here belong to the second season rather than the first.
For a golf group, the arrival is a practical problem rather than a glamorous one. Eight people, eight sets of clubs and eight cases do not fit in two saloons, and finding that out on the pavement at Faro is a poor start to a week. Tell us the load and we bring the right combination of vehicles, so the clubs travel with the people rather than following in a van an hour later. See group travel.
Summer arrivals have their own rhythm. Villas rather than hotels, a Saturday changeover, children, and often a boat at Vilamoura in the plan. Give us the villa address and the berth and we will build the day around both.
From June 2027
The Grand Prix comes back to Portimao
Formula One returns to the Algarve in 2027, at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve above Portimao, with a second year to follow. It is an hour west of Faro on an ordinary day and a great deal more than that on a race weekend, when a rural road network designed for a quiet stretch of coast has to absorb a full Grand Prix crowd.
That makes it the one weekend of the Algarve year where the usual advice is reversed. Plan early, expect the drive to take longer than the map suggests, and agree pick up points away from the immediate circuit approach. Our page for the race carries the dates and the access detail: see Portuguese Grand Prix.
Onward
Around an Algarve trip
Request a quote
Tell us the arrival
Date and time, tail number or operator, passengers and luggage including golf bags, and the villa, hotel or berth. If you are coming for a race weekend or a changeover Saturday in August, say so, because both change the plan. We come back with a clear price and an honest drive time. Nothing is booked or charged online.
Prefer to talk? +44 2030 048300 or WhatsApp, at any hour.
Questions people ask
About Faro transfers
Are these your own cars?
No. Our own fleet and our own chauffeurs are in London and Manchester. In the Algarve cars are arranged through operators we know, and one person at Odyssey holds the whole movement together.
Can the car come to the aircraft?
Where the airport permits it for your movement. Otherwise the car waits at the general aviation door. We confirm the arrangement before you land.
We are eight with golf clubs. What happens?
Two vehicles, chosen for the load rather than the headcount, with the clubs travelling with you. Tell us the number of bags when you ask for the quote and it is a solved problem. See group travel.
Is there a night curfew at Faro?
No. The airport is open around the clock, all year, which makes it one of the more flexible arrivals in southern Europe.
Can you drive us on to Lisbon or Seville?
Yes. Lisbon is about two and a half to three hours on good motorway; Seville is a little over two hours with a border and a time zone in between. See long distance.
Can you arrange the aircraft or a boat?
Yes. See private jet charter and yacht charter.