7 & 9 Seater Car Hire Faro Airport: Minibus & Minivan

If you are landing at Faro Airport (FAO) with the whole family or a group of friends, a standard five-seat hatchback rarely cuts it once you add suitcases, a pushchair and a week's worth of beach gear. A 7-seater people carrier or a 9-seater minibus from Farohirecar Faro gives everyone a proper seat and keeps the boot free for luggage, so nobody travels with a holdall on their lap on the way to Albufeira or Vilamoura.

The first thing to settle is group size versus luggage. A 7-seat MPV like a VW Sharan or a SEAT Alhambra carries seven people, but with all three rows up the boot shrinks dramatically — fine for a couple of soft bags or the airport shopping, not for seven full suitcases. If you are six or seven travellers with full cases, fold the rearmost seats flat and treat the car as a roomy five-seater, or step up to a 9-seat minibus (Renault Trafic, Ford Tourneo or Mercedes Vito) which keeps a generous load area behind the last row. As a rule of thumb across the Portugal fleet, plan for one large case per two passengers if every seat is occupied.

Child and booster seats matter here. In Portugal, children shorter than 135 cm must travel in an appropriate restraint — an infant seat, child seat or booster suited to their height and weight — and under-3s may not travel without one. Bring your own familiar seat if you can, or add child seats to your booking; reserve them in advance because the popular sizes sell out in the Faro summer peak. Rear- facing infant seats must never go in front of an active airbag.

For longer Algarve trips, comfort on the A22 "Via do Infante" motorway is what separates a good hire from a cramped one. The A22 runs east–west across the region and is electronic-toll only with no booths, so make sure your minivan comes with a toll transponder if you plan to use it — the free N125 coastal road is the slower alternative. A torquey diesel or a smooth automatic takes the strain out of motorway cruising to Lagos in the west or Tavira and Seville in the east, and the higher driving position of a people carrier makes the roundabouts around Faro far less stressful with a full car.