Faro-Loulé
Portugal City Travel Guide: Faro & The Algarve
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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.
- Population approximately 42,000.
Faro, on the southern tip of Portugal with a population
of about 42,000, 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 and is where the town began as a Moorish settlement. Enter
through the neoclassical Acro da Vila part of the reconstruction
of Faro after the earthquake in 1755 overseen by Bishop Francisco Gomes.
Christians replaced the mosque with the Se, or cathedral, which
had previously been a Roman temple. Across from the cathedral is the Paco
Episcopal (Bishops's Palace), built in the 18th century with some
fine azulejos. The nearby Museu Municpal (Museu Arqueologico) (Tel:
289 897 400) is housed in the Renaissance Convento de Nossa Senhora da
Assuncao and displays some impressive ancient Roman and Islamic artifacts.
The Museu Regional Do Algarve (Tel: 289 827 610) on Praca da Liberdade
displays local Algarve handicrafts.
Don't miss the bizarre secret in the back yard of the Igreja de Nossa
Senhora 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
There are abundant scheduled, charter and no-frills flights to Faro from
all over Europe. Portugalia and TAP Fly from both Porto (via Lisbon) and
Lisbon.
Faro Station (tel. 289 801 726). If in Lisbon, dial 218 884 025. Four
trains a day from Lisbon on about a three or four-hour journey. There
are local trains to Albufeira (30 mins), Lagos (105 mins), Loule (20 mins)
and Vila Real de Santo Antonio.
From the west, take Route 125. From Spain, get onto N125 going west.
Search and Book Car Rental
There is a bus every hour from Lisbon, taking 4 and a half hours to five
hours and costing under 20 Euros. There are local buses to Albufeira,
Lagos, Olhao, Portimao and Vila Real de Santo Antonio (via Tavira). EVa
bus company runs a service to Sevilla in Spain via Huelva.
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 12 Euro to
Faro, 60+ Euro to Lagos and 30+ Euro to Tavira. Please note these prices
are estimates.
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.
Book this hotel
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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.
List your restaurant/bar/hotel contact Advertising
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, but has become something of a white elephant as neither
of the two local clubs can afford the upkeep.
The average high June temperatures for Portugal is between 22 degrees Centigrade and 26 degrees Centigrade.
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