Faro a town you should not skip when you are in the Algarve.
I have been coming to the Algarve, Portugal, since I was 5 so I thought it was about time to talk about the towns there.
Today I will be talking about what to see and do in the old town of Faro and outside of the wall.
A lot of people skip Faro but it is definitely worth a visit. I hope I can convince you after reading this blog.
Faro isn’t big but you can make a day trip out of it by shopping, grabbing some food and visiting the old town.
Inside the wall
The Old Town
The old town is partly surrounded by a wall. To get into the old town you can walk through the Arco da Vila gate. Next to gate you can find the information centre.
Arco da Vila gate
Walk straight ahead and you will walk to the town square where you will find the Sé (church) and the Paço Episcopal.
You can walk into the Sé and even climb on top of the church for a nice view.
Paço Episcopal
Then you can walk a little bit more further up until you see the Museu Municipal.
The museum is in the old convent of Nossa Senhora da Assunção. Here you can find local archeological findings.
Museu Municipal
Train
In front of the Arco da Vila you can hop on a little train that goes to all the sightseeing spots. The tour takes around 45 minutes and it’s only 2,75 euro.
Outside of the walls there is also a harbour with the Maritime museum, the Igreja do Carmo (church with the city of bones), museu Etnográfico and much more.
Outside the wall
The Igreja do Carmo (church with the city of bones)
I thought this church was pretty cool. You will find lots of churches with blue tiles but not everywhere you will find bones displayed. It’s pretty small but I think its worth a visit.
If you want to see a panoramic view of Faro and the sea you should go to Ermida de Santo António do Alto.
Food
Inside and outside the wall you can find lots of restaurants where you can eat.
You can go eat at expensive restaurants but there are also lot of cheap and good ones!
Shopping
If you love shopping you should definitely need to visit the forum Algarve shopping center is only a 2-minute drive from the city. Here you can find the continente supermarket, a food court and lots of shops like Zara, Timberland, Levi’s, etc.
But if you rather stay in Faro you can do that too because there are enough shops to look at. You can find the shopping street of the city center at Rua de Santo António. Don’t forget that a lot of shops close for a couple of hours during the day.
Parking
Park at Largo de Sao Francisco. It’s free and it has lots of paces.
So it is definitely worth walking around the city of Faro.
Is there something I have missed that you could definitely visit/see in Faro?
Looks like such a beautiful place to visit! We’ve only visited Lisbon so far in Portugal, but Faro is now on our list too!
Author
Happy Faro is now on your list too 🙂 Did you like Lisbon? I really liked!
audibly GASPED when i got to the pictures of all the bones!!! aside from that, faro looks so sweet & charming hahah
Author
How cool are those bones?! Yeah Faro is indeed very sweet and charming 🙂
Although it’s small, Faro does have a lot of character and charm. Like the architecture of the city and looks to have a lot of history. The Igreja do Carmo looks interesting but might be a bit too creepy for me!
Author
You can also just visit the igreja do Carmo inside and skip the bones but it’s indeed a bit creepy but also interesting! 🙂
Love your pictures. The architecture is beautiful. Now thinking about going. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Author
Thank you and happy I got you thinking about going now 🙂
I visited the Algarve for the first time last month and loved it! We didn’t spend much time in Faro but after seeing all your photos it seems like we should have set aside more time to explore the old town!
Author
Happy you loved Faro! Maybe a good excuse to go back some day?! 😉
We have been dreaming of getting to Algarve to explore the area. We will definitely not skip this as it looks so cute!
Author
Awesome! Make sure you spend at least a day there 🙂 Also I will be posting more about the Algarve so you should come back when you start planning your strip. I hope you get there soon!
Oh, nu baal ik nog meer dat we afgelopen maart niet even toch nog naar Faro zijn gegaan! We zijn er natuurlijk geland en hebben onze auto erop gehaald en naar Carvoeiro vertrokken. We hebben van alles gezien in die week maar Faro helaas niet. Er is toch ook zo’n grote markt of vergis ik mij nu?
Author
Oh dat is spijtig! Maar een goed excuus om terug te gaan en andere plekken van de Algarve te ontdekken, toch?! 😉 Maar daar is inderdaad een grote markt. Toen wij er waren was er ook een klein festival aan de gang met veel eten.