Travel Warning When Parking in Tavira
If you’re driving in Tavira or anywhere in Portugal, assume every marked space requires payment, even if signage isn’t obvious. Always actively look for a meter (they may be hidden around corners), and if you do get a fine, deal with it immediately.
Here’s the reality:
- Online payment may not work for tourists
- ATMs often require a Portuguese bank card
- Town Hall will not take payment
- The fix? Look for a “Pay Shop” (often a small newsstand or kiosk)
It’s not intuitive. But once you know, it’s simple!
This isn’t about the €7 fine – it’s about the process. Tavira is stunning, but the parking system for visitors is not exactly user-friendly. Know this before you go, and you’ll avoid wasting half a day chasing a solution.
So what do you think happened that has never happened to us before on any other trip? It’s something quite annoying, especially when you’re carefully paying attention so this doesn’t happen. Last clue: it can become quite expensive if not dealt with while you’re still away. What do you think it is?
Unfortunately, we got a parking ticket.
We went to Tavira city centre to browse the town, take in the sights and enjoy our favourite café when we found a few parking spots that were available near the Roman Bridge.
There was an SUV parked there already so we parked right behind it looking around for signage, but all that we could see was a plain blue parking sign.
Later, when we were on our way back to our vehicle, when we noticed two official looking gentlemen in uniforms by our vehicle & one in front of ours… we arrived to find them putting a ticket on each windshield.
I said “Oh gosh we’re so sorry!” and made a point of looking around where we were parked and said I didn’t see any signs that we say have to pay to park, which they looked around and I could tell they couldn’t see any either. Then I asked where you would pay so we would know… the one gentleman had to walk away along the street and then pointed around a corner to a parking metre, where it can’t be seen at all.
They could see my point, but had already written the ticket, so we thanked them and moved along. When I looked at the fine, it was luckily only €7 but we didn’t know where to pay it. The instructions on the fine said to pay online or by phone or you could make an ATM payment. The fine increases to €150 if not dealt with right away!
Where Do You Pay?!
We tried online, couldn’t be done, we had the idea to go to where we’d rented the vehicle from to ask for advice & she was so helpful, saying we could pay it right outside their door at the ATM and even tried to help but it wouldn’t work. She then suggested to go just up the road to the bank.
First, we tried the bank’s ATM and there was no option except to get your balance or make a withdrawal. We went inside and they said you need a Portuguese bank card or credit card to pay it, which we don’t have.
The bank then sent us to the Town Hall in Tavira & said we could pay the fine there. We took an Uber to the Town Hall the next morning, and they said no, they don’t take payments but to go to a “pay shop”. Mr. MRT (My Return Ticket) said “Can you show me what you mean?” They walked out the front door and pointed about 10 steps away… to a newsagent stand?
He went to the stand, that only looked like it sold newspapers, magazines, cigarettes but sure enough, when asked, they took the payment without question. We would never have guessed that was how to deal with the ticket.
Hopefully this doesn’t happen to anyone else but this will help if it ever does occur in Tavira.
