Faro is the capital of the Algarve, whose airport, just west of the city, is the main gateway for the several millions tourists who visit the south coast resorts every year. Faro car hire has its main office at the airport. Your rental car is waiting for you at the park place of the airport. No need for transport to a nearby location.
Faro is built at the edge of a wide lagoon surrounded by wetlands and salt flats, 10 km from a vast beach splintered into sandy islands, some of which emerge and disappear with the tide.
Faro was an important Moorish city which was captured by Afonso III in the dying days of Arab rule in Portugal. It continued to flourish until 1596 when, under Spanish occupation, the town was sacked and burnt by the British.
In 1755 it was again destroyed. This time by a great earthquake, more famous for having reduced Lisbon to rubble. But despite this, an attractive walled old town and a few historic monuments survive, warranting an incursion into the heart of the city.
The centre of Faro is very easy to reach with your rental car of Faro car hire. Near the famous Marine you can easily park the car on the São Franchisco park place.
Nice places to visit in Faro are:
Capela dos Ossos (chapel of the bones). Like it is better known counterparts in Évora, the walls of this small, ghoulish ossuary in the crypt of the igreja do Carmo are lined with human bones and the grinning skulls of long deceased monks, reminding visitors of the certainty of their death. Largo do Carmo. Easy to park your car of Faro car hire.
Musea maritime (maritime museum). This museum housed in the harbour master´s office on the seafront, is dedicated to the industry on which Faro´s prosperity has depended for centuries – fishing. Models of numerous vessels demonstrate the evolution of the fishing boats and have been recreated with infinite care and detail. Rooms full of other equipment are also on display, including crab and cuttlefish traps and harpoons for spearing shark and tuna. Rua Comunidade Lusiada. Easy to park your car of Faro car hire.
Sé (Cathedral). A jumbled mixture of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque of no great architectural distinction. However, the 17th and 18th century azulejos in the side chapels on both sides of the nave are worth seeing. The darkened interior can also be deliciously cool on a hot day. Largo da Sé. Easy to park your car of Faro car hire.