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Portugal Travel Guide: Faro & The Algarve

Lagos, The Algarve © Jean Kugler

Faro/Loulé

• Gateway to the Algarve.
• Relax on excellent local beaches.
• Lively ex-pat nightlife scene.
• Loulé - bustling market town with local handicrafts.
• Portugal's major tourist resorts.
• Guaranteed winter warmth.
• Golf, tennis, riding and water sports.

Faro, on the southern tip of Portugal with a population of about 40,000, is the small provincial capital of the Algarve. It serves as the gateway to the many resorts that dot the surrounding area. While it cannot compete with those resorts’ locations and facilities, it is not without its own attractions.

Loulé is 18km inland from Faro and, not being a resort, is one of the few places in the area that offers a whiff of the region’s pre-tourist-boom atmosphere. It is accessible by approximately hourly bus from Faro and train.

The international airport, 6 km to the northwest of Faro, is where most tourists enter the town from, alighting at the harbor. The harbor is the city's hub, and it's a short walk east from there to the main modern shopping and dining street of Rua de Santo Antonio. For night life, go north from the harbor to Rua do Prior for clubs and Conselheiro Bivar for outdoor cafes and bars.

Great Gifts From Portugal

The beach of Praia de Faro is the town's biggest attraction. You can take a ferry there from the jetty beside the Old City, or 'Cidade Velha'. Not much of old Faro remains due to earthquakes in 1532 and 1755, and an English army in 1596. However, some fine buildings built after the 1755 earthquake are worth seeing. The old walled neighborhood of Cidade Velha at the southern end of the harbor is where the town began as a Moorish settlement. Christians replaced the mosque with the Se, or cathedral. The nearby Museo Arqueologico displays some impressive ancient Roman artifacts.

Don't miss the bizarre secret in the back yard of the Igreja do Carmo church, near the central post office on Largo do Carmo: the Capela dos Ossos, or Chapel of Bones, is decorated with the remains of 1,200 monks, viewable for EUR 1. Loulé has the same history of occupation by Romans and Moors as most other towns in the Algarve and has a museum of archeological relics of that era, the Museo Arqueologico.

For goods from Faro with a real local flavor, visit the morning market on Largo de Sa Carneiro in the north-east, open between 6.30am and 1.30pm. Loulé is also a good place to get traditional local handicrafts - you can actually watch the craftswomen and craftsmen at work.

Faro Tourist Office

Rua da Misericordia 8-12 (tel. 289 803 604)

Air

There are frequent scheduled, charter and no-frills flights to Faro from many destinations all over Europe.

Getting to Faro

Train

Faro Station (tel. 289 801 726). If in Lisbon, dial 218 884 025. Four trains a day from Lisbon on about a five-hour journey costing EUR 12.50 one-way.

Car

From the west, take Route 125. From Spain, get onto N125 going west.

Bus

There is a bus every hour from Lisbon, taking 4 and a half hours and costing EUR 13.50.

Accommodation

Featured Accommodation

Featured Hotel

Hotel Monaco
4km from the beach and 3km from the center of Faro, 64 well-furnished rooms. All major credit cards accepted. Cable TV, private bathroom & swimming pool.

Book Accommodation in Faro

Hotels in Portugal - Bookings

Hostels in Portugal - Hostelworld.com

Hostels in Spain - Hostelworld.com

Hotels in Portugal - Almeida Hotels

Eating

Dois Irmãos
Largo Terreiro do bispo, 14
Prices for main course: EUR 8-18
Tel: 289 823 337 - reservations recommended.

Drinking

Diesel Bar Travessa Sao Pedro, off Rua do Prior.

List your restaurant/bar/hotel contact Advertising

Internet Cafe

PapaNET
Rua Dr Justino Cumano 38
Tel. 289 804 338 Mon-Fri 10am-7pm

Local football teams

Sporting Clube Farense and Louletano.

Founded 1910 Stadium name: Estadio Algarve. Seats 30,000

The average high June temperature for Portugal is between 22C and 26C.
Get more weather information in Portugal

More Tourist Information on Portugal

Aveiro Braga Cascais Coimbra Estoril Faro-Loulé Guimaraes Leiria Lisbon Belém Porto Nazaré Obidos Sintra Tomar
Viana do Castelo

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