Things to do in Faro

Attractions, tours and experiences in Faro, Portugal, ordered by how much they are worth your time — and flagged where you should book ahead.

• Ilha Deserta — nature. An uninhabited barrier island ending at mainland Portugal's southernmost point.
• Arco da Vila — landmark. A neoclassical arch over a Moorish gate — the ceremonial way into the walled old town.
• Sé Catedral de Faro — historical. Thirteenth-century cathedral rebuilt after 1596; climb the bell tower past the stork nests.
• Capela dos Ossos — cultural. A chapel lined with 1,245 skulls and the bones of over a thousand Carmelite friars.
• Praia de Faro — beach. The city's Atlantic sandbar beach — ocean on one side, the Ria Formosa lagoon on the other.
• Museu Municipal de Faro — museum. Roman mosaics and Moorish finds in a sixteenth-century convent cloister behind the cathedral.
• Mercado Municipal de Faro — market. Two floors of market: Ria Formosa fish and shellfish below, produce and cafés above.
• Teatro Lethes — entertainment. An Italianate nineteenth-century jewel box in a converted Jesuit college, still programming.

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