Faro-Loulé
Portugal City Travel Guide: Faro & The Algarve
City Guide I
Turismo I Arrival
I Accommodation
I Entertainment
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Lagos, The Algarve
© Jean Kugler |
Faro/Loulé
- Gateway to the Algarve.
- Relax on excellent local beaches.
- Lively ex-pat nightlife scene.
- Loulé - bustling market town with local handicrafts.
Faro, on the southern tip of Portugal with
a population of about 40,000, is the small provincial capital of
the Algarve. It serves as the gateway to the many resorts that dot
the surrounding area. While it cannot compete with those resorts’
locations and facilities, it is not without its own attractions.
Loulé is 18km inland from Faro and, not being a resort,
is one of the few places in the area that offers a whiff of the
region’s pre-tourist-boom atmosphere. It is accessible by
approximately hourly bus from Faro and train.
The international airport, 6 km to the northwest of Faro, is where
most tourists enter the town from, alighting at the harbor. The
harbor is the city's hub, and it's a short walk east from there
to the main modern shopping and dining street of Rua de Santo Antonio.
For night life, go north from the harbor to Rua do Prior for clubs
and Conselheiro Bivar for outdoor cafes and bars.
The beach of Praia de Faro is the town's biggest attraction. You
can take a ferry there from the jetty beside the Old City, or 'Cidade
Velha'. Not much of old Faro remains due to earthquakes in 1532
and 1755, and an English army in 1596. However, some fine buildings
built after the 1755 earthquake are worth seeing. The old walled
neighborhood of Cidade Velha at the southern end of the harbor is
where the town began as a Moorish settlement. Christians replaced
the mosque with the Se, or cathedral. The nearby Museo Arqueologico
displays some impressive ancient Roman artifacts.
Don't miss the bizarre secret in the back yard of the Igreja do
Carmo church, near the central post office on Largo do Carmo: the
Capela dos Ossos, or Chapel of Bones, is decorated with the remains
of 1,200 monks, viewable for EUR 1. Loulé has the same history
of occupation by Romans and Moors as most other towns in the Algarve
and has a museum of archeological relics of that era, the Museo
Arqueologico.
For goods from Faro with a real local flavor, visit the morning
market on Largo de Sa Carneiro in the north-east, open between 6.30am
and 1.30pm. Loulé is also a good place to get traditional
local handicrafts - you can actually watch the craftswomen and craftsmen
at work.
Golf
courses in the Algarve.
Faro Tourist Office
Rua da Misericordia 8-12 (tel. 289 803 604)
Getting to Faro
Faro Station (tel. 289 801 726). If in Lisbon, dial 218 884 025.
Four trains a day from Lisbon on about a five-hour journey costing
EUR 12.50 one-way.
From the west, take Route 125. From Spain, get onto N125 going
west.
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There is a bus every hour from Lisbon, taking 4 and a half hours
and costing EUR 13.50.
From the Airport
There are trains from the airport to Lagos and Vila Real de Santo
Antonio on the Spanish border. There are buses to various destinations
from the airport and it is 20 minutes to Faro. A taxi should be
under 10 Euro to Faro, 60+ Euro to Lagos and 30+ Euro to Tavira.
Featured Hotel
 Hotel
Monaco
4km from the beach and 3km from the center of Faro, 64 well-furnished
rooms. All major credit cards accepted. Cable TV, private bathroom
& swimming pool.
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algarve.villaraffy.com
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Faro
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Monaco
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Galé Cerro Alagoa
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Dois Irmãos
Largo Terreiro do bispo, 14
Prices for main course: EUR 8-18
Tel: 289 823 337 - reservations recommended.
Diesel Bar Travessa Sao Pedro, off Rua do Prior.
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PapaNET
Rua Dr Justino Cumano 38
Tel. 289 804 338 Mon-Fri 10am-7pm
Local football teams
Sporting Clube Farense and Louletano.
Founded 1910 Stadium name: Estadio
Algarve. Seats 30,000. The stadium now hosts music festivals as well as sports events.
The average high June temperatures for Portugal is between 22C and 26C.
Get more weather information for Portugal
Faro-Loulé
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