Oh, Sun – I’ve truly missed you. Now that I am sitting here, back in rainy Berlin, I can’t even imagine that we’ve just got back from the beach yesterday. I’ve never been to Portugal and it’s been a while since I’ve had a pretty chill vacation to be honest, as we always try to squeeze in as much as possible. This time, however, we had 5 days to chill, explore and keep it a little more low key than usually.

We flew into Faro on Friday morning and after a 3,5 h flight we were kindly greeted by nice weather and lots of sun. It was suppose to rain over the weekend so we got extremely lucky with the weather, considering the forecast. From the airport, its only a short 20 minute bus ride (bus16) until you reach the bus terminal, which is directly located next to Faro habor. Our hostel was just a short walk away, so we decided to stroll to the old town until we reached Le Penguin hostel, right across from Mercado Municipal. The staff is really friendly, the hostel clean and the atmosphere is perfect for meeting new people and having a drink (or two) at night, before heading out to one of the numerous bars in Faro.

Before we were able to check in, we had a “light” lunch at Primavera restaurant, which is located right next to Mercado Municipal. I have to say, you get so much more for a really good price (especially for getting amazing sea food). Only downfall is that you cannot really read their Portuguese menu, but it was fun just randomly trying stuff out – delicious.

In the afternoon, we were finally able to explore the little city of Faro and walked through tiny and colorful streets and along the harbor. I especially enjoyed the view from the top of Faro cathedral, as you can oversee the entire habor and the ocean as well. I think I’ve said it before, but best way to get to know a new city is to just start walking around, getting lost in the streets and exploring as much as possible. I totally fall in love with the colours, patterns of houses and vibes the tiny streets in these cities give me.

In the afternoon, we enjoyed some Sangria in one of many café’s in Faro Old town and made our way back to the hostel. It’s actually pretty cool, because there is something going on every single night (ok mostly it involves playing Ring of Fire/Kings Cup and BBQ). If you are into socializing a little bit – here is your chance for sure.

The next day, we decided to do a little boat trip and drove over to Ilha Deserta, which is an island ca.45 minutes away by ferry. If you want to buy tickets you can just walk up to the shops in the morning and they will give you the next possible departure time there is. Bring food and something to drink as there is only one restaurant Estamine (we didn’t bring enough, but the food was definitely nice).

The island is great for taking pictures and going for a swim, for us, however it was a little bit too cold that day, so we just chilled on the beach for a little while. If you are not able to swim, the island can get a little boring after a while to be honest, especially if its not super warm already and you have no place to hide away from the wind. But it is very beautiful, you can do some bird watching if you wish and walk around to just take in the wonders of nature.

In the evening, we joined the hostels BBQ (really good!) and went out with people from the hostel afterwards. Even though Faro isn’t very big, they have a pretty good street full of bars/clubs. We went to the shot bar, which has i don’t know how many different shots with random names on their wall. Dangerous, I am telling you (ha!). So, if you make it to Faro, you can definitely have a great time going out. It’s a student city, so there are lots of young people and the parties are suppose to be crazy (so we heard).

I’ll write an additional post about Lisbon (where we went Sunday and Monday) via bus, but returned to Faro on Monday evening. We came back to Faro pretty late in the evening (train was overbooked, had to hunt down a bus to get back haha) and went straight to the hostel garden to pre-drink and go to Fabrica dos Sentidos.

So, how to explain what Fabrica is? It’s an art gallery/flea market/club/bar/playground – short, it’s crazy! There is so much to explore, you can have a drink and just chill, play table tennis, look at the art pieces and much more. It kind of reminded me of Szimpla in Budapest just all in one big room. If you make it to Faro you have to check it out. Only downfall is the 20 minute walk in a deserted area, but if you go with a few people it’s not a problem.

After a few days of semi warm weather, the last day was finally dedicated to the beach. Together with one of the British guys we met in the hostel, we went to Praia de Faro, which is an ok beach easily reachable by bus (takes approximately 20 minutes). Word to the wise, if you can, bring your own food. We experienced the restaurant there not to be very good, but maybe that was just us.

So, beach day also marked our final day in Faro. Looking back, Faro wasn’t naturally our first choice when we were looking for flights, because Lisbon and Porto always pop into mind first. But I am truly glad, that we decided to fly over to Faro as well. The city is lovely and it was a really chill and relaxed couple of days there. Until next time, dear Faro! You did well.