Temos de dar a volta à praça para evitar o trânsito.

Both can mean we have to, but ter de + infinitive is especially common and standard in European Portuguese.

So:

• Temos de dar a volta... = We have to go around...
• Temos que dar a volta... is also possible, but ter de is often the safer choice for Portugal Portuguese learners.

If you want to sound natural in European Portuguese, learning ter de + infinitive is a very good habit.

Here, dar a volta means to go around, to make a detour, or to take the long way round.

Literally, it is something like to give the turn/round, but you should learn it as a fixed expression.

In this sentence:

• dar a volta à praça = go around the square

This expression can also appear in other contexts, for example:

• dar a volta ao quarteirão = go around the block
• dar a volta = turn around / go around / make a detour, depending on context

Because dar a volta is the full expression. The noun volta normally needs the article a here.

So you say:

• dar a volta
• not usually dar volta in this meaning

It works a bit like learning a chunk rather than translating word by word. For learners, it is best to memorize:

• dar a volta a/algo = to go around something

Because dar a volta a takes the preposition a, and praça is a feminine noun that needs the definite article a.

So:

• preposition a
  • article a = à

That is why you get:

• dar a volta à praça

This contraction is very common in Portuguese:

• a + a = à
• a + o = ao
• a + as = às
• a + os = aos

Examples:

• ao mercado = to the market
• à escola = to the school
• às ruas = to the streets

You usually learn the gender together with the noun:

• a praça = the square/plaza

Since it is feminine, anything that combines with its article must match that gender. That is why the contraction is à and not ao.

It is important to memorize nouns with their articles:

• a praça
• o trânsito
• a volta

This makes grammar much easier later.

Praça usually means a public square, town square, or plaza.

It is not usually the same as the English square in the geometric sense. In this sentence, it refers to a place in a town or city, often an open area surrounded by streets and buildings.

So dar a volta à praça suggests moving around that square by road or on foot, depending on context.

Para + infinitive is a very common way to express purpose in Portuguese.

So:

• para evitar o trânsito = in order to avoid the traffic

This is exactly the same basic idea as in English:

• We have to go around the square to avoid the traffic.

Other examples:

• Estudo para aprender. = I study to learn.
• Saí cedo para não me atrasar. = I left early so as not to be late.

Portuguese often uses the definite article where English might not.

So:

• o trânsito = literally the traffic
• but in English we usually just say traffic

This is very normal in Portuguese. You will often see articles with general nouns:

• Gosto de café. / Gosto do café. depending on meaning
• O trânsito está mau. = Traffic is bad.

In this sentence, o trânsito is the natural Portuguese way to refer to traffic in general or the traffic in that situation.

Yes. Trânsito usually refers to traffic, especially road traffic, but it can also refer more broadly to circulation, movement, or transit depending on context.

In this sentence, the natural meaning is clearly road traffic:

• evitar o trânsito = avoid the traffic

In Portugal, you may also hear expressions like:

• engarrafamento de trânsito = traffic jam
• sinais de trânsito = traffic signs

Because Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed.

The verb form temos already tells you the subject is we.

So both are possible:

• Temos de dar a volta...
• Nós temos de dar a volta...

But the version without nós is very natural and common.

Portuguese does this a lot because the verb ending usually shows who the subject is:

• tenho = I have
• tens = you have
• temos = we have

Yes, or at least it fits European Portuguese very well.

The strongest clue is temos de + infinitive, which is especially typical and frequent in Portugal Portuguese.

A Brazilian learner would also understand the sentence perfectly, but in Brazil people often use ter que + infinitive more often in everyday speech:

• Temos que dar a volta na praça para evitar o trânsito.

That said, your original sentence is excellent European Portuguese.

It can mean either, depending on context.

The phrase itself just means go around the square. The sentence does not explicitly say whether the people are:

• walking,
• driving,
• cycling,
• or using some other means of travel.

However, because it says para evitar o trânsito, many learners would naturally imagine a road situation, so driving around the square or taking a detour around the square feels especially likely.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• Temos de = We have to
• dar a volta à praça = go around the square
• para evitar o trânsito = to avoid the traffic

So the structure is:

• ter de + infinitive for obligation
• followed by the action
• then para + infinitive for purpose

A simple pattern to remember is:

• [subject] + ter de + infinitive + para + infinitive

Example:

• Tenho de sair cedo para apanhar o comboio.
• I have to leave early to catch the train.

Yes, contornar a praça could also mean to go around the square.

However, dar a volta à praça is a very natural everyday expression, while contornar can sound a bit more formal, more specific, or more descriptive depending on context.

So:

• dar a volta à praça = very natural, everyday
• contornar a praça = also correct, but a bit less conversational in some situations

For a learner, dar a volta a is a very useful expression to know because native speakers use it a lot.