Faro: the gateway to the Algarve

Often rushed through by visitors heading to the Algarve beaches, Faro safeguards a walled historic center and a natural lagoon that deserve a stop in their own right, not merely an airport layover.

The Cidade Velha is easily explored on foot in a couple of hours.

The Cidade Velha, the historic nucleus still enclosed by medieval walls, preserves cobblestone alleys and the Cathedral of Faro, built in the thirteenth century atop a former mosque itself once built on a Roman temple.

The Arco da Vila, the main gate of entry to the old city, was rebuilt in neoclassical style in the nineteenth century over foundations of Moorish origin, and still hosts a white stork nest at its summit.

The Ria Formosa Natural Park, a system of lagoons and barrier islands protecting the coast from Faro to Tavira, is explored with short boat trips to the isolated beaches of Ilha Deserta.

The Municipal Museum, housed in a sixteenth-century former convent, displays Roman finds and an extraordinary mosaic depicting the god Neptune discovered in city excavations.

The storks that have nested on the Arco da Vila for generations seem to have chosen Faro with the same practical instinct as many travelers: a convenient stop before moving on elsewhere.

The Ria Formosa, visible just behind the walls of the old town, reminds us that this same stop hides an ecosystem that by itself would justify the visit.