Faro Travel Guide

  • Portugal’s most underrated resort town

    Often passed over as tourists head from the airport to nearby resort towns, Faro is well worth visiting in its own right. Full of wonderfully preserved sights and well-maintained parks and plazas, this is a city that deserves final destination status after a long flight.

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  • Food

    Discovering Faro and the surrounding area also means enjoying a memorable culinary experience, thanks to exquisite cuisine featuring fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients for authentic dishes based on Mediterranean and Portuguese culture.

    From "Frango Piri-Piri" to grilled fish, not forgetting the sweet delights of "Pasteis de Nata" and "Bolo de bolacha", there's something for everyone. The 2 Passos restaurant, with its exceptional location in the heart of the Ria Formosa Natural Park, offers a varied selection of fish and tapas, as well as homemade desserts and ice creams.

  • Sights

    Perhaps the most fascinatingly macabre attraction in Faro, the Capela dos Ossos is a chapel built from the bones and skulls of over a thousand monks. Located behind the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo church, this ghoulish sight is not to be missed.

    A 16th-century convent now houses Faro’s Museu Municipal, an elegantly domed museum displaying some of the area’s most interesting artefacts. Notable pieces are a 3rd-century mosaic uncovered at a building site in 1976 and local Islamic relics from the 9th to 13th century.

  • Outings

    Quietly meandering cobblestone streets and squares surrounded by medieval walls make up the Cidade Velha, or Old Town. Lucky tourists spot storks nesting in the bell tower of the ancient Sé, Faro’s cathedral flanked on either side by the town hall and the Bishop’s Palace.

    When travellers have explored the city to their hearts’ content, they head to Praia de Faro, the town’s beach. The endless stretch of sand is a popular spot for windsurfing, sailing or just plain relaxing.

     

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