Faro Airport to Tavira
About 37 km east of the airport — the opposite direction to the big resorts. Reach it by coach or train via Faro, or take a taxi or transfer straight there.
Tavira, FaroPanarria / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0Tavira sits east of Faro astride the Gilão river, a quieter town of tiled churches, a Roman-founded bridge and a castle keep, with the island beaches of the Ria Formosa reached by ferry.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Tavira, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €45). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €5) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €5 | €45 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €10 | €45 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €20 | €45 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €5, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
Cheapest overall at roughly €5–9 including the airport bus, but you change at Faro and eastbound coaches thin out — check the return times before relying on it.
Where to catch it: Line 16 to Faro bus terminal, then an EVA eastbound coach (or FlixBus line 1043) toward Tavira from the same station.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
Call it €50–70 for the 30–40 minute trip, rising a little at night and on weekends. Drops you right in the centre, unlike the train which arrives out at the station.
Where to catch it: Taxi rank outside arrivals; the ride east skirts the airport's own approach road before joining the A22.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
A set fare from around €45. Since Tavira runs against the main resort flow, a booked car spares you the coach change and the wait at Faro terminal.
Where to catch it: Meet your driver in arrivals; child seats can be added when you book, useful heading east with a young family.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
Roughly €25–50/day. Good base for exploring the eastern Algarve — Cabanas, the Ria Formosa and the Spanish border are all within easy reach.
Where to catch it: Pick up at the airport counters; it's a straight run east on the A22 or the slower coastal N125.
Best for travellers who want to exploreTavira & Faro in photos
Buying tickets in Faro
Faro airport is linked to the city by the Próximo bus, principally route 16 (with route 14) to the bus terminal and centre, taking about 20 minutes for a single fare of roughly €2.80 paid to the driver. The airport has no train station of its own; the nearest is Faro railway station in the centre, about 6-7 km away, from where regional trains serve the wider Algarve. Carry some cash for the bus, though contactless is increasingly accepted.
Taxi scams & safety in Faro
Faro is low-key, but still use the marked taxi rank outside arrivals rather than any driver approaching you. Metered taxis into Faro city are short, typically around €10-16, a little more at night, on weekends, or with luggage and tolls, so confirm the fare basis before setting off. Uber and Bolt both operate at Faro airport and are often cheaper and more transparent than a metered cab; request the car in the app and meet it at the designated ride-hail pickup point.
Getting from FAO to Tavira
Tavira lies about 37 km east of Faro Airport — the wrong direction, as far as the Algarve's transfer machinery is concerned. Nearly every airport bus points west, toward Albufeira, Vilamoura and the long resort strip. Head the other way, toward the salt pans, the tiled churches and the ferry over to the island beaches of the Ria Formosa, and you'll find no direct service waiting for you. To go east you first have to get yourself into Faro and start the journey again from there. That one fact shapes every option below, so it's worth understanding before you land.
Into Faro first: the coach-or-train shuffle
There is no through bus from the terminal to Tavira, so the cheap way is a two-step affair. Take the Próximo line 16 into central Faro — €2.80 paid to the driver in cash — then change at the bus terminal onto an eastbound EVA coach or the FlixBus line 1043, both of which stop at Tavira. Counting the airport bus, the whole trip lands somewhere around €5 to €9 and takes roughly an hour and a half once you factor in the wait between legs. The regional train is the other onward option from Faro, running the Algarve line east to Tavira, though its station sits a short walk out from the old centre rather than dropping you by the river. Either way, the catch is frequency: eastbound departures thin out through the day and even more in the evening, so check the last connection before you commit to this route, especially if your flight arrives late.
A metered taxi, straight out on the A22
If the change at Faro sounds like more effort than a holiday should start with, the taxi rank outside arrivals will run you east in one go. The ride skirts the airport's own approach road before joining the A22 motorway, and reaches Tavira in about 35 minutes — reckon on €50 to €70 by the meter for up to four, a little steeper after 9pm and at weekends, with a modest toll on top. The real advantage over the train is where you end up: a taxi sets you down in the middle of town, by the Gilão river and the Roman-founded bridge, rather than at a station on the edge. Confirm the driver is running the meter before you pull away, and refuse a larger cab you don't need — the bigger tariff adds up on a trip this length.
A pre-booked car that skips the Faro change entirely
Because Tavira sits against the main resort flow, its onward public connections are the weak link in any budget plan — and that is exactly where a private transfer earns its place. Booked online for your landing time, it erases the coach change and the wait at Faro terminal, carrying you door to door for a fixed fare from around €45, up to about €65 depending on the season and group size. Your driver meets you inside arrivals, the price is agreed before you fly so there's no meter to watch, and child seats can be added when you book — genuinely useful if you're heading east with a young family and don't fancy juggling car seats through a bus change. For anyone who has picked Tavira precisely because it isn't the resort belt, arriving without a two-leg public journey is the point.
Renting a car for the eastern Algarve
Tavira also makes a natural base for exploring the quieter end of the coast, and that tilts the maths toward a hire car. Rental desks are in the arrivals area, with rates that swing between about €25 and €50 a day according to season and how far ahead you book. From the airport it's a straight run east on the A22, or the slower, prettier coastal N125 if you're in no hurry. Once you have your own wheels, the whole eastern Algarve opens up: the beach village of Cabanas next door, the lagoon channels of the Ria Formosa, and the Spanish border town of Vila Real de Santo António are all within an easy drive — reaches that are awkward or slow to string together by coach.
So the choice comes down to what your days here look like. If Tavira itself is the whole holiday — the market, the castle keep, the ferry to Ilha de Tavira — the €5-to-€9 coach or a single taxi does the job, and you'll rarely miss having a car in a town this walkable. But if you're planning to chase beaches and cross into Spain for a day, pick up the hire car at the terminal and drive straight out east while everyone else queues for the westbound bus.
