Can someone tell me the directions to IKEA in spain from the algarve.Any reccomendations? Any idea about what the prices of goods are like? service? how easy it is to get there from the algarve,? and other info will be most appreciated/
ANIL

It's a doddle.................

You leave Carvoeiro, get on the moterway and keep on going until you cross the bridge over into Spain.
From there keep on going on the moterway, and follow the signs for Seville.
When you reach the outskirts of Seville you hit a sort of ring road. Ikea is obvious from the road, and you just follow the signs for the carpark.

It'll take you about 2 hours.

Shopping there is exactly the same as Ikea here in the UK. (If you shop in Ikea you will know what that means!!!)
Prices translate fairly well, and may be slightly cheaper.

You can go on the Ikea website and get both stock, prices and directions to the store.

We hired a large estate when we went there....it was necessary.

You may not know, but there is also a Ikea in Lisbon.

Seville is worth visiting anyway...but a word to the wise....
The rush hour and getting out of Sevilla is a gridlocked nightmare, and if you drive back around sunset, you get the low sun in your eyes all the way home!

Great day out though....enjoy!

Bruce.


Many many thanks for a prompt response. I will definetley save lot of time looking for directions from the algarve. I need to refurbish the new apartment i have just bought. Have you been to the ikea in lisbon ? what is that like, and how long will it take from the algarve ? Are there similar shops in the algarve,I heard there is transport company doing the rounds and buying what you order. do you know their contact details or know what they charge, and what are the delivery times, delivery runs etc ?

I appreciate your help, and if any other members can anwers my enquiry please do so , i appreciate all the help i can get.

Thanks to you all.


Anil
London

There are a couple of ways of doing this Anil.

You can traipse up and down the Algarve, basically following the N125, and picking up what you can at places like Conframa at Algarve sopping in Guia, and the new shopping centre near Portimao Hospital.
You can conbine that with a trip to Ikea. As I said, Seville is about 2 hours, I guess Lisbon, about 2 and a half.

It really comes down to what sort of stuff you seek, and your time frame.

Our experience...and Im sure somebody will shoot me down here, is that you can get traditional Portuguese furniture, which tends to be dark and heavy, quite easily.
The other , cheaper end, in our experience is just that....cheap. Fine if you are furnishing just to let.

You can get some lovely modern stuff, but you will pay more for it than you will in the UK. We bought some lovely modern Portuguese pieces to give that modern Portuguese feel. But they weren't cheap!

Because what we wanted was modern, hopefully stylish, and minimalist, we did the majority of our shopping here in the UK...mostly in Purley Way near Croydon Surrey.
The advantages were that you could get some amazing deals in places like DFS, including 12 month interest fee credit.

One common thing in both countries is that most furniture you order is NOT ex-stock, and there is anything up to a 3 month lead time.
That is a total pain if your shop in Portugal, and dont live there.

What we did was to shop mainly in the UK. Collect it together here in Surrey, and then ship it all out as a container full with a company called UK-Algarve removals who do weekly runs from here to the Algarve.

It cost a thousand to ship all we had, but we saved well over twice that by shopping the way we did.

We then were able to top up with pieces bought locally, and by shooting over to Seville IKEA.

Hope this is usful to you.

I've used both the IKEA in Lisbon and the one in Seville. Lisbon is quite a bit further and you'll have to pay road tolls which, depending on the size of vehicle you take, can add a fair bit to the cost of the journey.

The stores are no different, my personal view is therefore no point going to Lisbon because Seville is the same but closer and no road tolls.

I only went to Lisbon out of ignorance, i.e I didn't realise there was one in Seville until after I'd been to Lisbon!

ROB, BRUCE

Many many thanks to you both for very informative advise. I think i will opt for seville option. Do you guys know of transport company which do weekly runs to seville and ikea.

ANIL

www.algarvefurniture.com does the Seville Ikea run. There is a Bo Concept shop in Faro. Modern, better design and quality than Ikea but also more expensive. www.boconcept.com