cubsur is the expert on this but I do know it won't be easy. Although the maps show a railway to Sines it is a freight only line. Best I can see is two routes.

Faro(-Albufeira-Tunes)-Grandola IC train with bus Grandola-Sines. This seems to work twice a day leaving Faro at just after 0900 and 1300 on Mondays to Fridays taking about 4 hours all in. But the bus timetable online is dated 2009 so may be wrong. Both have bus connections on to Sonega - according to the timetable dated 2006!!

Portimao(1500)-Lagos(1520) - Sines(1750) direct coach daily. Logically this should go via Sonega but it doesn't show a stop.

Many thanks Steve, I'll have a look when not at work! I did think I'd look into hiring car one way, as I'm hoping to stay in that region for month or two.

I will check my file - I have the printed timetables for those routes buried somewhere.

cubsur - I thought you'd have something. There may also be a link at Ermidas but few trains and the outdated bus timetable suggest a very long wait.

Tilly - are you actually staying in the Algarve or looking at Faro airport? Getting there from Lisbon airport would be simpler.

Found - my system works!

That 1500 bus from Portimao to Sines is the only direct service between the Algarve and that area. It whizzes through Sonega without stopping. And you would have to get from Faro to Portimao, the connecting bus from Faro leaves there at 1230 arriving at 1415.

Sonega itself has 3 buses each weekday to/from Sines (four on schooldays) but there is no weekend service at all.
My Cercal - Sonega - Sines bus timetable is dated 2006, but as it is also on the bus company website I have to assume it is correct:

http://www.rodalentejo.pt/XlsHtml/h077.pdf

The Portimao - Sines - Lisbon coach stops in Cercal Alentejo at 1720 from where there is a bus to Sonega at 1750 on schooldays, but not until 1923 otherwise, weekdays only of course. I don't know if there are taxis at Cercal.

Otherwise you sail through Sonega and get to Sines at 1750 as said, then have to wait until 1830 to retrace your steps to Sonega.

Rede-Expressos, the national coach network, has one indirect daily journey from Faro to Grandola at 1115 arriving at 1610. And guess what, the local bus to Sines leaves at 1610 with over two hours to wait until the next one. But see below.

Going most of the way by train might work. Grandola railway station is about a mile from the centre of the town and the bus station.

Trains leave Faro at 0712, 0920 and 1320 daily, arriving in Grandola at 1017, 1140 and 1530 respectively. On weekdays, buses leave Grandola for Sines at 1158 (a bit tight off the 1140 arrival) and 1610. On Saturdays there is only one bus, at 1658. On Sundays and Holidays you can catch the 1700 train from Faro to Grandola arriving at 1902 and with heart in mouth hope you catch the only bus to Sines which leaves at 1928.

Train fare Faro to Grandola is €14,50

Full timetable for RodoAlentejo buses between Grandola and Sines is on this page

http://www.rodalentejo.pt/XlsHtml/h943.htm

Alternatively, Rede-Expressos coaches leave Grandola for Sines on weekdays only at 1700 (thus connecting with that 1610 arrival from Faro) , 1900 also on weekdays only and 2130 every day. http://www.rede-expressos.pt is their website for confirmation. It takes an hour with them to get to Sines. I noticed that when I input Faro to Sines on the Rede-Expressos website nothing was offered, so my assumption is that you would have buy two tickets. The good news is that the whole journey by coach/bus will be about 24 Euros.

And that''s all I know!

This is one of those times when I might suggest flying into Lisbon and heading south to Sines from there.

Thank you so much for your help, Steve's right Cubsur, you are an expert - I struggled to find anything mentioning Sines, obviously not looking in the right place!

After spending winter months in the Algarve over a few years and failing to learn the language, I've decided to have a go at travelling a little further afield and hope to learn whilst working in exchange for food and lodging. I can be picked up from Sines or Sonega, so I planned on having a holiday in Carvoeiro first (treat to myself following redundancy), then go to the Alentejo until returning to the UK early December (apart from a week in November when I'm dog/cat/house sitting back in Carvoeiro).

Thanks again

Good luck and I hope it works out. Come back if you need to know more but I have never been to Sines - looks a bit too industrial for me!

seems to be a cross between Felixstowe and Milford Haven ports, not really touristy. But probably a better place to learn the language, it's very easy to not speak it on the Algarve but there you will have to!

Thanks for comments. I believe location is Porto Covo area.

Best Wishes
Tilly

Ah.....

the good news is that's a much prettier place.

the bad news is that it's even harder to reach by public transport, seems to have only a couple of buses a day to Sines.