Faro

Storks, bones and a lagoon boat in one day

See Faro in a day: walk in through the Arco da Vila past its storks, climb the cathedral tower for the Ria Formosa view, wander the Cidade Velha, then see the Capela dos Ossos at the Igreja do Carmo. Lunch near the marina, and spend the afternoon on a boat to Ilha Deserta or Culatra.

Walk in through the Arco da Vila in the morning, looking up at the storks on top, and climb the cathedral tower while the air is clear. From the top you can trace the salt pans and channels of the Ria Formosa out to the sand islands. Wander the 18th-century lanes of the Cidade Velha afterwards, then cut across town to the Igreja do Carmo and the Capela dos Ossos, with its walls of monks' bones.

Lunch near the marina on grilled fish or a cataplana. In the afternoon, take a boat into the lagoon: Ilha Deserta suits a swim and a walk along empty sand, while Culatra has a small fishing village with no cars. If the boats are not running, ride bus 14 or 16 out to Praia de Faro instead and walk along the spit. Come back for an evening stroll on the pedestrian lanes around Rua de Santo António, and end the night with a drink on Rua do Prior, the town's bar street.

Cataplana and the lagoon catch

Order cataplana, a seafood stew of clams, prawns and fish steamed in a hinged copper pan, made to order for two, and Ria Formosa clams cooked à Bulhão Pato with garlic and coriander. Most sit-down restaurants are in the pedestrian streets around Rua de Santo António; look for menus written in Portuguese first.

Faro eats from the Ria Formosa. The lagoon's clams turn up in amêijoas à Bulhão Pato, cooked with garlic, olive oil and coriander, and its fish land on charcoal grills all over town. The dish to share is cataplana, a seafood stew steamed in a hinged copper pan that is opened at the table; most versions mix clams, prawns and fish with tomato, peppers and a little chouriço. Order it for two and allow time, since good kitchens cook it to order.

The pedestrian streets around Rua de Santo António hold most of the sit-down restaurants, some aimed squarely at visitors, so look for menus written in Portuguese first. For cheap, honest food, small family places in the side streets serve a fixed lunch with soup, a main and coffee, and the café at the Pingo Doce supermarket at Tridente feeds students and workers at low prices. Algarve sweets are built on almonds, figs and carob; pastry shops sell little marzipan fruits and Dom Rodrigo, egg-yolk threads wrapped in foil.

Islands, Estoi and the eastern Algarve

Use Faro as a base for the Ria Formosa lagoon and the eastern Algarve. Boats from the marina jetties run to Ilha Deserta and to Culatra, a roadless fishing island, while kayak and birdwatching tours cover the salt pans. Ten kilometres north, Estoi has the Roman villa of Milreu with its fish mosaics.

Faro makes a better base than its airport reputation suggests. The easiest escape is the lagoon itself: boats from the jetties near the marina run to Ilha Deserta, a long, empty sand barrier, and to Culatra, where a small fishing community lives without roads. Birdwatching and kayak tours explore the channels and salt pans, which draw flamingos and waders. Ask at the tourist office or your guesthouse which operators are running that day.

Ten kilometres north, Estoi has the Roman villa of Milreu, where mosaic floors of fish and sea creatures survive beside the ruins of baths and a temple that later became a Christian basilica. The 19th-century Estoi Palace next door is now a hotel. By train, Olhão is about 10 minutes east, with its fish and produce markets on the waterfront, and Tavira is about 40 minutes, a quieter river town with a Roman-style bridge. Trains continue to Vila Real de Santo António on the Spanish border in about 70 minutes.