Faro City Hotels
City Hotels in Faro
Faro is the administrative capital of the Algarve, the seat of the regional university and the location of the airport, yet it is routinely overlooked by visitors who pass through the city without stopping on their way to the beach resorts. This is a missed opportunity. Faro has a genuinely attractive old town, a surprisingly rich cultural life, excellent restaurants, and a waterfront position on the Ria Formosa that makes it a rewarding place to spend a night or two, particularly at the beginning or end of a trip.
The old town, the Cidade Velha, is enclosed within medieval and Renaissance walls and entered through the Arco da Vila, an imposing nineteenth-century gateway built over a Moorish horseshoe arch. Within the walls, cobbled streets lead to the thirteenth-century Se cathedral, from whose bell tower there are views across the rooftops and the lagoon. The Bishop's Palace, the former Convent of Nossa Senhora da Assuncao, which now houses the municipal museum, and a number of restored townhouses give the Cidade Velha a coherent and tranquil character. In the evening, when the day trippers have gone and the cobbles are lit by lanterns, the old town is genuinely atmospheric.
Accommodation in Faro is weighted towards the budget and mid-range segments. Three and four-star hotels are the norm, with the Hotel Faro, a four-star property overlooking the marina, being the most prominent. Its rooftop pool and bar offer panoramic views across the Ria Formosa and are open to non-residents for a fee. The Hotel Eva, part of the SANA chain, is another central option with waterfront views. Guesthouses, hostels and rental apartments are plentiful in the old town and the commercial centre, with prices ranging from twenty euros for a hostel dormitory to around one hundred for a comfortable double in a four-star hotel.
Faro's marina district, between the old town and the commercial centre, is the focus of the city's eating and drinking scene. Restaurants along the waterfront serve fresh fish from the Ria Formosa, and the pedestrianised shopping streets of Rua de Santo Antonio and Rua do Prior are lined with cafes, pastelarias and small restaurants. The city has a genuine, everyday Portuguese dining culture that is absent from the resort towns, and prices are consistently lower. A grilled fish lunch with wine and coffee for under fifteen euros is entirely achievable.
The Ria Formosa is Faro's great natural asset. The lagoon system stretches east and west behind a chain of barrier islands, creating a vast tidal wetland that is home to flamingos, spoonbills, storks and a rich marine ecosystem. Boat trips depart from the Faro waterfront to the lagoon islands, including the Ilha Deserta, a car-free barrier island with a long, empty beach and a single restaurant. The Centro de Ciencia Viva, an interactive science centre on the waterfront, and the Quinta de Marim environmental education centre on the edge of the lagoon are both worth visiting.
Faro's cultural facilities include the Teatro Lethes, a small nineteenth-century theatre modelled on La Scala, the Museu Regional do Algarve, which documents rural Algarve life, and the Capela dos Ossos, a bone chapel in the Igreja do Carmo that is one of the more macabre tourist attractions in southern Portugal.
The city's proximity to the airport, literally a ten-minute taxi ride, makes it ideal for early flights or late arrivals. For visitors arriving too late to drive to a resort or departing early the next morning, a night in Faro avoids the inconvenience of airport hotels while providing a genuine city experience. The railway station and bus station are both central, offering connections across the Algarve and to Lisbon.