car hire Faro

Faro is the transportation hub and capital of the Algarve, Portugal’s southernmost region. It started out as a bustling port city, but fell on disastrously hard times when the town was pillaged, wrecked, and burned by a major invasion (the Earl of Essex in 1596), followed by two devastating earthquakes in the 1700s. Faro modestly rebuilt itself in the ensuing centuries, until the opening of its airport in 1960 really put it over the top. The Algarve is now Portugal’s most popular resort travel destination.

Rua Francisco Gomes and Rua Santo António are two streets in the middle of town that should satisfy your shopping desires. If you’re looking for crafts, Carminho, on Rua Santo António, is a good bet. Faro boasts a lively nightlife scene as well. The array of cafes, clubs, and bars on Rua do Prior is a reveler’s dream, and many clubs keep their doors open well into the wee hours.

Side trips to less crowded attractions are a good way to take a break from the beachfront lifestyle. Just a short drive 20 kilometers north, through pine woods and fig groves, São Brás de Alportal awaits. Replete with gardens and all manner of flowers, this is one of the Algarve’s most peaceful towns. Tavira is a 30-kilometer hired car drive from Faro, and often known as “the Venice of the Algarve” for the way it’s located on the banks of the Ségua and Gilão Rivers.

The national park at Ria Formosa Lagoon is a special side trip as well, where a spectacular community of birds and other wildlife reside on a nature reserve of over 170 square kilometers.

For an educational primer on the region’s past and culture, check out the Museu Ethnografico Regional. The museum features photographs and displays shedding light on the Algarve before the resorts sprung up, when it was a quiet fishing village.

You can quickly pick up your rental car at the car hire counters found in the Faro Airport’s Arrivals area.