Most people see Faro from a plane window, a rental-car queue and the motorway to somewhere else.
That's a pity, because the Algarve's capital has a walled old town with storks nesting on the gates, a chapel lined with the bones of more than a thousand monks, and a lagoon full of flamingos and empty island beaches a short boat ride from the centre. This list of things to do in Faro is built for the way most people actually meet the city: with a day, a long layover or a night at either end of an Algarve trip.
It's split into the old town, downtown, the Ria Formosa and the best day trips by train. For each pick you get 2026 prices and opening hours, how long to allow, and what to skip if you're short on time. Where competitors' prices are out of date, or something has closed, we say so.
We've put it together from official and operator sources checked in October 2026, and from the questions travellers actually type into Google before they land.
Short on Time? The Best Things to Do in Faro
- Two hours in the old town: walk in through the Arco da Vila, then climb the cathedral's bell tower for the view over the lagoon (€5).
- The strange one: the Capela dos Ossos at the Igreja do Carmo (€2, closed on Sundays).
- The lagoon: a Ria Formosa islands boat tour from Faro, with almost 3,000 reviews.
- A beach island: the Deserta and Farol catamaran trip, two islands in about 3 hours.
- Dinner, sorted: a Portuguese tapas tour of Faro, rated 4.8.
What's Changed in Faro in 2026
- Milreu's Roman ruins are closed. The site at Estoi, a favourite half-day trip, has been shut for works since April 2026 and was still listed as closed in October.
- Praia de Faro has a new bridge. The old single-lane bridge to the beach was replaced by a two-lane bridge with walkways in January 2025, so ignore advice to walk the last stretch.
- The tourist tax went up. Faro now charges €2 per person per night from March to October and €1 from November to February, from age 16. Older guides still say €1.50.
- The Algarve trains are electric. Since 19 July 2026, trains run straight through from Lagos to Vila Real de Santo António, and fares have changed: Faro to Tavira is now €3.60.
- The museum costs more than blogs say. The Municipal Museum is €4, not €2, and the cathedral is €5.
Things to Do in Faro's Old Town
The old town, Vila Adentro, sits inside its medieval walls between the marina and the lagoon. It's small: you can walk across it in ten minutes, and most of the sights below are within a few streets of each other.
1. Walk Through the Arco da Vila
The front door to the old town, with a stork's nest on top.
The Arco da Vila is a neoclassical gateway built in 1812 by the Genoese architect Francisco Xavier Fabri, for the bishop Francisco Gomes do Avelar. White storks nest on top of it.
Look up before you walk through. Then keep going.
The arch opens straight onto the cobbled lanes of the old town. The tourist office next to it houses a small interpretation centre on the arch and the city's history, opened in 2015; ask there whether it's open on the day, because its hours change.
Tip: come back in the evening light. The arch faces the marina, and it's the classic photo of Faro.
2. Climb the Bell Tower of the Sé
The best view in Faro, for €5.
The Sé de Faro stands on the site of a Roman temple, then a mosque, and became a church after the Christian conquest in the 13th century. English troops sacked and burned it in 1596, during the Earl of Essex's raid.
The church itself is worth ten minutes. The tower is the reason to pay.
From the top, you look over the old town's rooftops, the marshes and the islands of the Ria Formosa out to the sea. One ticket also covers the small museum and, in the orange-tree courtyard behind, a tiny bone chapel that most visitors miss.
Cost: €5 adults, €3.50 reduced. Hours: Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (5 p.m. from November to February), Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Closed on Sundays, with last entry 30 minutes before closing.
3. Face the Bones at the Capela dos Ossos
Faro's most-photographed room is just outside the old town, behind the twin towers of the Igreja do Carmo.
The Capela dos Ossos, finished in 1816, is lined from floor to ceiling with the skulls and bones of around 1,245 Carmelite monks. It's small, quiet and a little unsettling, and it takes about 15 minutes.
Is it worth it? Yes, at €2.
The same ticket also lets you into the church itself.
Hours: Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 5:30 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Important: there are no tourist visits on Sundays, and it closes over lunch, which catches a lot of day-trippers out.
4. See the Roman Mosaic at the Municipal Museum
The Museu Municipal de Faro fills a 16th-century convent, the Convento de Nossa Senhora da Assunção, and its cloister is worth the ticket on its own. The star piece is a Roman floor mosaic of the face of Oceanus, the sea god.
It's the best rainy-hour plan in the old town.
Cost: €4 adults, €2 for ages 13–26, students and seniors, €1 for children 3–12. A €5 ticket also covers the Regional Museum of the Algarve. Hours: Tuesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., weekends 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays.
5. Walk the Old-Town Walls at Sunset
The Largo da Sé, the square in front of the cathedral, is lined with orange trees and the long white front of the bishop's palace, the Paço Episcopal. It's free, and it's at its best late in the day when the tour groups have gone.
From there, walk down to the sea walls on the lagoon side of the old town. They're short, but the view over the marshes at sunset is the calmest moment you'll get in Faro, and there are bars on the walls if you want a drink with it.
Downtown Faro and the Marina
Outside the walls, the downtown is where Faro shops, eats and drinks. It's all flat and walkable, and the train and bus stations are next to the marina.
6. Stroll Rua de Santo António and the Marina
Rua de Santo António is Faro's main pedestrian street, paved in patterned black-and-white stone. It's busy with shops and cafés, and it leads down to the Jardim Manuel Bivar, the palm-lined garden by the marina.
Honest verdict: the street is pleasant, not special.
Turn off it, though, and the side streets are where Faro gets interesting. The Igreja de São Pedro, a few blocks north, has a tile-covered interior that most visitors walk past. And at night, the bars on Rua do Prior and Rua Conselheiro Bívar are where the city goes out.
7. Eat Your Way Through the Mercado Municipal
The Mercado Municipal de Faro is a modern hall rather than a historic one, but it's where locals buy their fish, fruit and cheese. It's open every day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., though individual stalls keep shorter hours, so come in the morning.
What to order in Faro:
- Grilled fish and clams from the lagoon, simply cooked.
- Cataplana, a seafood stew made in a hinged copper pan, for sharing.
- Almond and fig sweets, an Algarve tradition.
The bread, olives and butter brought to your table, the couvert, aren't free; send them back if you don't want them.
If you'd rather someone else picked the places, this Portuguese tapas tour of Faro lasts about 3 hours and is rated 4.8 from 125 reviews.
8. Watch the Sunset From a Rooftop Bar
The rooftop bar of AP Eva Senses, the hotel on the corner of the marina, is open to non-guests and free to enter. You get the marina below you, the old town to one side and the lagoon stretching out to the islands.
It's the easiest sunset in Faro: no ticket, no boat, five minutes from the station.
Things to Do in the Ria Formosa From Faro
The Ria Formosa is a protected lagoon of salt marshes, channels and sandy barrier islands that runs east from Faro towards Tavira. It's the main reason to stay in Faro for more than a few hours, and most boats leave from the pier at the Portas do Mar, by the old town walls. Our Ria Formosa guide covers the whole lagoon.
9. Take a Ria Formosa Boat Tour
If you only do one thing beyond the old town, do this.
A boat tour is the easiest way to see the lagoon in a short visit. You'll weave through the channels between salt marshes and sandbanks, usually with a stop on one of the islands.
Short tours of about an hour start from around €25, and island tours run to around €40. Morning trips have calmer water; evening trips have the light.
The Ria Formosa islands boat tour from Faro is the most-reviewed on GetYourGuide, with almost 3,000 reviews and a 4.7 rating.
10. Visit Ilha Deserta, Mainland Portugal's Southern Tip
Ilha Deserta, officially Ilha da Barreta, is a long, empty sand island at the southern edge of the lagoon. Its tip, Cabo de Santa Maria, is the southernmost point of mainland Portugal.
There's no village. There's no road. There's one restaurant.
That's O Estaminé, which runs on solar power and is open all year, so book a table if you want lunch. The rest is boardwalks, dunes and a long, empty beach. Animaris runs the boats from Faro, and a return trip costs at least €10.
Our pick: the Deserta and Farol catamaran boat trip, which stops at both islands in about 3 hours and has over 1,000 reviews.
11. Ferry Over to Ilha do Farol and Culatra
If Deserta is too empty for you, Ilha do Farol is the opposite: a little settlement of holiday houses around a lighthouse, with beaches on both sides. Next door, Culatra is a working fishing village with sand streets and no cars.
Public boats run from the Portas do Mar pier, with most sailings in summer.
It's the cheapest way onto the islands, but the timetable is seasonal and sparse outside July and August. Check the times at the pier the day before, and don't miss the last boat back.
12. Spot Flamingos by Solar Boat or on Foot
The Ria Formosa is one of Portugal's great birdwatching sites: more than 20,000 waterbirds winter here, and flamingos are present all year, in their biggest flocks from October to March.
From the water, this solar-boat birdwatching trip is silent, lasts about 2 hours and has 400+ reviews.
On land, walk the Caminho do Ludo, a flat trail of about 7 km through the salt pans west of the city. Allow 3 to 4 hours, and take bus 14 or 16 to the Ludo stop. If you'd rather ride than walk, the Ria Formosa Segway and birdwatching tour covers the same ground and is rated 4.9.
13. Swim at Praia de Faro
Faro faces the lagoon, not the sea, so its beach, Praia de Faro, is on a sand spit across a bridge near the airport. One blog says there's no beach in Faro. There is; it's just not in town.
It's a long, straight Atlantic beach with restaurants and the lagoon behind.
Getting there: buses 14 and 16 run from the centre in about 20 minutes, for around €2.80 on board, and you can pay by contactless card. Bus 16 runs far more often. Lifeguards are on duty from 1 June to 30 September. For more sand, see the best beaches in the Algarve.
14. Go Dolphin Watching From Faro
Most Algarve dolphin trips leave from Lagos, Portimão or Albufeira, but you don't need to leave Faro for one. Boats run out through the lagoon inlets into the open Atlantic, where dolphins feed.
Sightings are never guaranteed, and the open sea can be rough. If you get seasick, take something before you go.
This dolphin and wildlife watching trip from Faro lasts about 2.5 hours and is rated 4.8 from over 700 reviews.
Tip: Got a Layover? Faro in Six Hours
Wondering what to do in Faro with a long layover? The airport is only 6 to 7 km from the centre, and bus 16 gets you there in about 20 minutes. There's no train station at the airport.
A six-hour plan: bus to the centre (20 minutes), walk through the Arco da Vila and climb the Sé tower (1 hour), see the Capela dos Ossos on a weekday (30 minutes), lunch near the marina (1 hour), then a one-hour Ria Formosa boat trip before heading back. Leave at least two hours for the return trip and security.
Day Trips From Faro
Faro is the best-connected town in the Algarve: the coastal train runs east and west from the station by the marina, and buses go on to Spain. These are the easiest day trips.
15. Shop the Fish Market in Olhão
Olhão, just east of Faro, is the Algarve's biggest fishing port, and its two red-brick market halls on the waterfront are the best place in the region to see what comes out of the sea each morning.
Go early, then wander the cube-shaped houses of the old fishermen's quarter.
Getting there: the train from Faro costs €1.60. Olhão is also where many island ferries leave from, if you've missed the Faro boats.
16. Spend a Day in Tavira
Tavira is the prettiest town in the eastern Algarve: a river with an old stone bridge, whitewashed houses, church towers and a small castle with views over the rooftops. From there, a ferry runs to Ilha de Tavira, a long island beach.
The train from Faro costs €3.60, and Tavira is small enough to see on foot.
If you have the time, stay a night instead; our Tavira travel guide has where.
17. See Benagil Cave From the Water
The Algarve's famous sea cave is about an hour's drive west of Faro, near Carvoeiro. Since August 2024, you can only see it from a licensed boat or on a guided kayak tour: landing on its beach and swimming in are banned.
From Faro, the simplest option is a tour with transport. The Benagil, Marinha, Seven Valleys and Algar Seco tour from Faro is rated 4.95 from over 1,500 reviews. Our Algarve boat tour guide compares the boats, and our Praia da Marinha guide covers the beach on the same trip.
18. Cross the Border to Seville
Seville, in Spain, is about 200 km east of Faro. By bus it takes about 2 hours 35 minutes, with FlixBus and Rede Expressos running several times a day.
As a day trip, it's long.
You'll spend over five hours on the road for four or five in the city, so we'd rather go for a night. If a day is all you have, this Seville full-day tour from the Algarve picks up in Faro and does the driving.
How Many Days in Faro?
One full day covers the city; two lets you add the lagoon and an island.
The old town, the Sé, the Capela dos Ossos and the museum fit into a single day on foot. Add a second day for a Ria Formosa boat trip or Ilha Deserta, and a third for Tavira or Olhão by train. Most visitors then move on to a beach base further west; our Algarve itinerary shows how to split a week.
Getting From Faro Airport to the City
By bus, taxi or transfer, in about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Bus 16 runs from outside arrivals to the centre every 30 to 60 minutes, more often in summer, for around €2.80 on board. Bus 14 runs on the same route only a few times a day.
- Taxi: about €10 to €18 to the centre, with a 20% supplement at night and at weekends.
- Private transfer: Welcome Pickups meets you in arrivals, which is worth it with kids or a late flight.
Getting Around Faro
On foot in the centre, by train or bus beyond it.
Faro's old town, downtown and marina are flat and walkable, and the train station, bus station and island ferries are all close together by the waterfront. You don't need a car for anything on this list except Benagil without a tour. If you're carrying on along the coast, though, DiscoverCars compares the rental desks at the airport, and the A22 coastal motorway has been toll-free since 2025. Our guide to driving in Portugal covers the rest.
Heading to Lisbon? The Intercidades train takes about 3 hours 20 minutes and costs €24.55, and the faster Alfa Pendular takes about 3 hours for €30.50. Our Faro to Lisbon guide compares the train, bus and car, and our Lisbon travel guide picks up from there.
Best Time to Visit Faro
May, June and September, for warm weather without the July and August crowds.
Faro averages highs of about 29°C (85°F) in July and 23°C (74°F) in October. Winter is mild and quiet, which suits the old town and birdwatching: the flamingo flocks are at their biggest from October to March. Island boats and beach lifeguards are summer-only, though, so come between June and September if the beaches are the point. Bring a light jacket for the boats whatever the month; our Portugal packing list has the rest. For the whole country, see the best time to visit Portugal.
Where to Stay in Faro
Stay inside or just outside the old town, near the marina, so you can walk to dinner, the boats and the station. A night in Faro works well at the start or end of an Algarve trip, but it's not a beach base. Note the tourist tax of €2 per person per night from March to October, paid at your hotel.
- Budget: Hostel Casa d'Alagoa (8.4 on Booking.com), private rooms and dorms in a restored house on a downtown square, or Hostellicious (8.5) on Largo de São Pedro.
- Guesthouse: Le Jardin Secret de Faro (9.2), a small guesthouse in the centre, or Faro Clara Suites (9.2).
- By the marina: Occidental Faro (8.4), on the square between the marina and the Arco da Vila, or AP Eva Senses (8.5), with the rooftop bar from item 8.
- Splurge: 3HB Faro (9.5), the highest-rated of our picks, with a rooftop bar.
Planning a longer beach stay? Our Algarve travel guide compares the towns, from Lagos in the west (see our things to do in Lagos) to Albufeira in the middle.
What Faro Costs in 2026
| Sight or trip | Price (adult) |
|---|---|
| Arco da Vila, Largo da Sé, old-town walls | Free |
| Sé (cathedral, tower and museum) | €5 |
| Capela dos Ossos and Igreja do Carmo | €2 |
| Museu Municipal | €4 (€5 with the Regional Museum) |
| Bus to the airport or Praia de Faro | about €2.80 |
| Ria Formosa boat tour, about 1 hour | from about €25 |
| Train to Olhão / Tavira | €1.60 / €3.60 |
| Tourist tax (Mar–Oct) | €2 per night |
Our guide to whether Portugal is expensive compares the Algarve with the rest of the country.
Plan Your Trip to Faro
- Book your hotel in or near the old town; see our picks above.
- Book your boat trip to the islands, especially in July and August.
- Arrange your airport transfer with Welcome Pickups, or plan on bus 16.
- Rent a car through DiscoverCars if you're carrying on along the coast.
- Get an eSIM such as Yesim before you land.
- Don't skip travel insurance: EKTA is one option, and our Portugal travel insurance guide explains what to look for.
Frequently asked questions
Is Faro worth visiting?
Yes, for a day or two. Faro has the Algarve's best-preserved walled old town, the Capela dos Ossos and boat trips into the Ria Formosa lagoon, and it's far quieter than the resort towns. It isn't a beach base, though: its beach is on an island near the airport, so most visitors stay a night or two, then move on.
What should you not miss in Faro?
The old town through the Arco da Vila, the view from the cathedral's bell tower (€5), the Capela dos Ossos at the Igreja do Carmo (€2, closed on Sundays) and a boat trip into the Ria Formosa. With a second day, add Ilha Deserta or Ilha do Farol, two sand islands reached only by boat from the old town pier.
Is 3 days in Faro too much?
Not if you use Faro as a base. The city itself takes about a day, a Ria Formosa boat trip or island beach fills a second, and the train makes Tavira or Olhão an easy third, for €3.60 and €1.60. If you only want beaches, three days is better spent further west, in Lagos or Albufeira.
Which is nicer, Faro or Albufeira?
They're different. Faro is a real working city with a historic old town and a lagoon, and it's quieter and more Portuguese. Albufeira is a resort, with cliff-backed beaches in town, far more hotels and loud nightlife on the Strip. For culture and a short stay, pick Faro; for a beach week, Albufeira.
Is Faro in the Algarve?
Yes. Faro is the capital of the Algarve, Portugal's southern coast, and its airport is the main gateway to the region. It isn't in Spain, though the border is under an hour's drive east. From Faro, Lisbon is about 3 hours north by train, and Seville is about 200 km east, or roughly 2.5 hours by bus.
What is there to do in Faro at night?
Eat late and drink in the old town and the streets just north of it. Rua do Prior and Rua Conselheiro Bívar have most of the bars, and the rooftop bar at AP Eva Senses by the marina is free to enter at sunset. Faro has bars rather than big clubs; for those, Albufeira is the Algarve's party town.
What can you do in Faro when it rains?
Head indoors. The Municipal Museum (€4) has a Roman mosaic and a convent cloister, the cathedral's ticket includes its museum, and the Centro Ciência Viva do Algarve is a hands-on science centre that suits kids. The Capela dos Ossos is short but works in any weather, except on Sundays, when it's closed to visitors.
Is Faro safe?
Yes. The US State Department rates Portugal at Level 1, its lowest advisory level, and Faro is a calm, small city. Use normal care with bags in busy places and on buses. The bigger risks are natural: strong sun in summer, rough sea on dolphin trips and the last island boat back.
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