Things to Do in Faro — Best Attractions & Day Trips

Faro is the capital of the Algarve and the region’s main airport hub, which means most visitors pass through it rather than stop in it. That’s a mistake. The walled old town is compact and well-preserved, the Ria Formosa lagoon system directly outside the city is one of Portugal’s best natural environments, and the eastern Algarve — accessible by short train ride — is considerably quieter and more interesting than the western resort strip. See our Faro city guide for transport and neighbourhood context.

The Old Town (Cidade Velha)

Faro’s old town is enclosed by medieval walls and entered through the Arco da Vila, an 18th-century arch with a stork nest on top. Inside the walls the scale is small — a few streets, a cathedral, a museum — but the atmosphere is genuinely different from the modern city around it.

Sé Cathedral (€3.50 to climb the tower) is a mix of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque elements, heavily restored after the 1755 earthquake. The tower view over the lagoon and old town is the best vantage point in Faro. The Museu Municipal next door has Roman archaeological finds from the local area.

Igreja do Carmo and its Bone Chapel are a 15-minute walk from the old town. The church is a large neoclassical building from the 18th century — well-proportioned and worth seeing. The bone chapel behind it (€2) is built from the bones of approximately 1,245 monks. Not morbid in the way it sounds; the Portuguese tradition of ossuary chapels is a genuine memento mori practice rather than spectacle.

Ria Formosa Boat Tours

The Ria Formosa is a 60km lagoon system running along the Algarve coast, separated from the ocean by a chain of barrier islands. It’s a protected natural park and one of the most important wetlands in Europe.

Boat tours leave from the Faro marina and run to:

• Ilha Deserta — an uninhabited barrier island with no permanent structures except a single restaurant. The beach is long, clean, and uncrowded even in August. One of the better beaches in the Algarve. Ferry €10–15 return; tours €20–30.
• Ilha da Culatra — a fishing village with no cars, a lagoon beach, and excellent clams. The village feels genuinely separate from Algarve tourism.
• Flamingo routes — smaller boat tours specifically for birdwatching. Greater flamingos are present year-round in the lagoon. Year-round boat tours €15–25.

Book tours at the marina kiosk or through local operators in Faro’s main streets. In peak summer (July–August), book a day ahead.

Praia de Faro

A long Atlantic spit beach accessible by bus from central Faro (around 20 minutes, bus 16). In summer it has beach bars and parasol rentals. The water is colder than the lagoon side beaches — this is open Atlantic — but the beach itself is spacious and not as crowded as beaches around Albufeira.

Day Trips from Faro

Tavira (30 minutes by train, €3 each way) is the most architecturally intact town in the eastern Algarve. Two-arched Roman bridge, several good churches, excellent fish restaurants near the river. Worth a full day.

Olhão (15 minutes by train, €2 each way) has two early-20th-century covered markets — one for fish, one for produce — that are among the best in the Algarve. The fish market opens early and winds down by early afternoon.

Cacela Velha (30km east) is a small village with a Moorish fort perched above a lagoon. No tourist infrastructure beyond a café. One of the quieter corners of the Algarve. Best reached by car.