I have been lucky enough to visit Faro in Portugal twice in the last year, (most people, including me, have only used Faro Airport to get to a beach destination on the Algarve). A relative moved there last year so it was a great excuse to visit him (he won’t be photographed!) and his family and a great excuse for me to have an amazing City Break in October and December with fabulous beaches thrown in! Let me take you for a wander and you’ll see that it’s worth a stopover, day visit, or a city break.

A typical back street in Faro. You will walk for miles.

There is a gorgeous street scene around every corner, the architecture is stunning but do take good walking shoes or sneakers. I temporarily wrecked my back walking 15k a day on cobble streets the first time I visited!

I always stay at Hotel Faro because it’s slap bang in the middle of the city with restaurants, shops, ferry ports and the Old Town just a hop and a skip away. It’s also perfect for me for a bit of R&R as it has a small gym, steam room, sauna and a rooftop pool and restaurant. The view at sunset is sublime and anyone can pop in for a drink up there.

View from Hotel Faro’s rooftop bar and restaurant.

If you’re really lucky and it’s breeding season (this photo was taken in early December) you might get the shock of your life and see Storks trying to build a next on top of the roundabout outside your bedroom window! Apparently, they are breeding nearly all year round now because of global warming. You’ll see their enormous nests in a mo. These two gave up after a couple of days!

Although Faro doesn’t have a beach you can walk to, there are two ports in Faro with ferries, boat trips, catamarans, and the lot, to take you on a sea trip, island hopping tour or a beach visit. I went by ferry to Faro Beach which has the Atlantic on one side and water like a lake on the other side. It’s quite busy with lots of cars and not brilliant for eating or lounging. But it’s still worth a visit. On the other hand, Deserta Island is well worth a visit. It really is deserted, and it has an eco restaurant with fabulous food and, again, calm water on one side and great walks along the empty beach on the other. There are loads of trips to take and I still have more to discover but if you want to go to Deserta go by ferry rather than one of the 3-stop boat tours as you don’t get long enough there. And it’s much cheaper!

The Old Town of Faro is full of ancient cobbled streets and local restaurants and is just wonderful to wander around day or night (the city is really safe if you’re a solo traveler). The entrance is absolutely stunning and just look at the size of the stork nests on the right at the top of Faro Cathedral.

Another must-visit is The Capela dos Ossos ( transl. Chapel of Bones). The small chapel behind the main church is built of the bones of more than 1,000 Carmelite friars and contains 1,245 skulls. It was way too morbid to take photos but you can see it on my vlog, link below.

Faro is a very arty city……. from a mini film festival to a Biennale Immersive Art Show, I just kept bumping into things to do and things to see! The Biennale was in the Old Town in this empty building, and I accidentally stumbled upon it. So keep your eyes and ears open for what might be going on when you visit. The locals and hotel staff tend to be really friendly, helpful and full of good advice!

The food in Faro is just fabulous. There are local restaurants with local fish and local dishes all over town and I really liked the look of the ones in the old town at night. Out of season, there seem to be some really good deals. One of my favourite places, when I was eating alone, was a fish restaurant near the hotel called Escama. Double yum!

Shopping! How can I not mention shopping! Faro is full of shops that sell only one thing like just fish in a can, socks, telephone covers etc. It’s so cool and there’s such a wide choice of things to come home with! I am still eating my tinned sardines and wearing the sox in every colour of the rainbow! The clothes in town are a bit old-fashioned but Forum Algarve is well worth a visit. It’s a beautifully designed outdoor shopping mall with most major stores…… from Zara (dress below!) to high end shops such as Coach. And it’s open till 10.00 pm. A quick note on Uber, which I used for my out of town visits such as this Mall: they are very cheap in Faro and very prompt.

I spent a long weekend here at the beginning of December to celebrate an early Christmas with my rellies. It was very pretty and still warm enough for just a jacket at night and a boat trip during the day!

I haven’t been to Portugal for decades so this find, thanks to family ties, has made me fall in love with it again. The great thing about Faro is its proximity to Lisbon, Seville, and Cadiz. I can’t wait to jump on a train or a bus to visit each one of them and there are still boat trips to places like Benagil Caves that I haven’t done. So cousin beware, I will be back over and over again! Faro is a very special small city, so don’t miss it even if it’s just for a day trip from the Algarve. And if you want to see more just click here for the vlog I did after my first visit to Fabulous Faro.

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FABULOUS FARO