Things to do in Faro, with only few hours
When your flight to Lisbon is cancelled last minute its easy to panic. Will my trip be ruined? What am I going to do? The solution in this case was to fly to Faro, a city hundreds of miles to the south in the Algarve. Most people know Faro as the airport they fly into for their week all inclusive in the Algarve, with their only experience of the place being the bit of tarmac between the airport arrivals hall and the transfer bus to their hotel. Now this is where I put my sales rep hat on and suggest you visit Faro. Whether you choose to go for a day out as a change of scenery or as we did and use it as an added stop on your trip to Portugal. Its a small little place with the main sights being set within a 10 minute walk of each other. I'm going to focus on the things that we saw/did these include the Marina, Cathedral, Carmo Church featuring The Chapel of Bones.
We landed into Faro airport around 10am on a Saturday, now at the time of writing this Brits traveling abroad to EU countries are met with the delightful new passport control system. If you have had the 'privilege' of experiencing this you know the pain I'm talking about. Nearly two hours passed between stepping off the plane and exiting the airport. We had a 4pm train to Lisbon booked so a 15 minute Uber to the city centre was the option taken. Faro as a city essentially has the focal point of a Marina with historic buildings and tight twisty streets leading away to the outskirts. Take a wonder through these streets and you will find shops and local restaurants to enjoy. The marina is a great spot for an ice cream and drink with plenty of spots to choose from. Although the railway passes next to the marina and the airport flight path is right above your head at this point so its worth keeping in mind that you wont always get the moment of peaceful relaxation that you pictured when procrastinating at work the previous week. That is unless you happen to be one who enjoys to channel your inner Francis Bourgeois or Flight Radar 24 user.
After your lunch and ice cream head back into the city and if you haven't done so already check out the Cathedral and Carmo Church. The Cathedral is a bit of a hidden gem just a 5 minute walk from the marina passing through the old city gate. Featuring the interior of the cathedral, a courtyard full of fruit trees, a small temple of bones and perhaps the signature piece a climbable tower. The top of the tower offers views looking across the surrounding part of the city, the wetlands and the airport. The Carmo church is probably the most recognised place to see in Faro, through the back of the church is home to the Chapel of Bones. The Chapel is quite small but home to more 1,000 bones and is both eery and fascinating to see. The main church often isn't appreciated so since you have to pass through to get to the Chapel its well worth taking your time to take a look around.
Faro is a great little place and is perfect for a day trip or a few hours and since its connected by rail & air to both Lisbon and Porto its really easy to start or end your trip here.
Comments