Day Trip To Praia De Faro: Golden Sands And Local Charm

In this post, we’ll share our experience of a day trip to Praia de Faro (Faro Island Beach), including how to get there, what to expect on the beach, and where to find affordable eats. Whether you’re a fellow senior traveler or just looking for a relaxing beach day in the Algarve, here’s what you need to know about visiting Praia de Faro.

We are Jeff and Sandra, ‘senior nomads’ adventuring our way around the world. And when I say ‘adventuring, I mean exploring, we aren’t into adrenaline sports. And when I say the world, I mostly mean North America and Europe. If you are looking for someone who’s an expert on SE Asia or central/south America, we isn’t that. For more depth on the backstory and factors that led us to retire early and travel, you can read the post “But what are we doing?”

How far is Faro from the beach?

From the I Love Faro sign at the Faro Marina it’s 6 mile drive or a four mile ferry ride and walk.

Click this link to get the google map driving directions
Click this link to get the google map walk & ferry ride directions

What is the easiest way to get to and from Faro?

Praia de Faro is situated on an long skinny island called Ilha de Faro, also known as Península do Ancão. Praia de Faro is connected to the mainland by a causeway and one lane bridge so you can drive there or take the number 16 bus. (Note: The bus will drop you off on the mainland and then you walk across the causeway about 12 min (0.6 miles)

A more interesting way though, is the ferry from the old town area of Faro. The ferry dock is located near Faro’s castle walls and the Municipal Museum, about a six minute walk (0.3 miles) from the I love Faro sign.

From where we stayed on the west side of town it didn’t make sense to take the ferry both ways – we were 1.5 miles from the ferry dock so we’d either have to walk to it (or Uber it) so we opted to Uber out to the island and then returned to Faro by ferry. For reference, we were staying very near Forum Algarve and the Uber from our accommodations to Praia de Faro was €9.90

Can you walk to the beach from Faro?

When we did our research for our stay in Faro, we read numerous sites that said you could walk to Praia de Faro, but we wouldn’t recommend it! Given proper motivation you could walk anywhere but the walk to Praia de Faro is not for the faint of heart. From the I Love Faro sign at the Faro Marina, it would be a 2 hour, 6 miles walk, along some busy roads, and the road is not very pedestrian friendly at all.

picture we took of a seashell at praia de faro

Ferry Costs

A return ticket (round trip) is €3.90 per adult or you can buy a one-way ticket for €2.30. (As of March, 2024, the Euro is around US$1.08 so about US$4.25 for the return ticket and approximately US$2.50 for the one-way. )

I didn’t time the ferry ride but several people have said it takes about 30 minutes. It sure didn’t feel that long to me. The ferry dock at Praia de Faro is located almost at the end of town, about a half mile from where the causeway comes in.

Probably the easiest way to buy tickets is on board. Try to have as close to exact change as possible, the purser has some coin but mostly it looked to be what he’d collected from other passengers. Once the ferry gets underway they’ll come around and collect the fare and give you your ticket (important if you’re buying a return, not so much if you’re just going one way). The website references buying tickets at the ticket office but we didn’t see anything at Praia de faro that looked like a ferry ticket office, so……

Exploring Praia de Faro Beach

Arriving by ferry

When you arrive at the ferry dock at Praia de faro there are a couple of restaurants / snack bars, a public restroom and a small market stall selling the sort of things tourists like to buy. More importantly for me that day, they had a cooler full of drinks and that cooler does not play; that was the coldest bottle of water I’ve purchased in recent memory. I’m guessing that as summer picks up and the turnover rate increases it won’t be so cold but we visited in March so it was pretty quiet and the water had been chillin for a while.

picture we took of the iron sculpture at praia de faro

Arriving by car

Since we arrived by car via the causeway we started our tour of Praia de Faro started at the ‘main square’ near the Escultura de ferro (iron sculpture) which is surrounded by restaurants and snack bars. We, of course, went straight to the beach.

Reminded us of the marl beaches of the Florida Keys

The sand is a golden hue and much larger grains than we Oregonians are used to. This is not the fine sand you’re used to in the Caribbean or the US west coast, this is closer to the marl beaches of the Florida Keys. The number of shells was also a nice surprise as we are used to seeing few shells and mostly scraps at that. The beach at Praia de Faro yielded dozens upon dozens of intact shells in an incredible variety of hues and patterns.

picture we took of the sand and seashells at praia de faro

Walking the beach

We walked about a quarter of a mile on the sand just above the surf line; admiring the views and the shells before parking ourselves on the sand to take in the activities around us. We saw surf lessons going on from apparently two different places (different colored t-shirts) at widely disparate skill levels. The larger group were mostly learning to stand up on their boards while a smaller group who had the standing up part well-sorted worked a little further out.

We got to see some folks fishing in the surf although we didn’t get to see anything caught in the hour we were sitting there. The weather for our visit was near perfect for a beach day, it ranged about 20 – 22C (68 to 71 in American) with a little occasional overcast.

The visitor mix appeared to be a fairly even split between locals an tourists – we saw as many puffy coats as bikinis and as many folks in long pants as we saw in shorts.

Where to Eat in Praia de Faro

When we decided to move on we headed to the ‘top’ of the beach where there is a nice boardwalk. Walking on sand is tough on the hips and knees, the boardwalk is easy. As we strolled along the boardwalk of Praia de Faro beach we noticed a consistent theme with the many restaurants; menu boards that listed the dishes on offer but no prices. Huh. I suspect there may be a kind of ‘dynamic pricing’ thing that goes on there.

picture of a menu board at Wax - praia de faro

We continued on Av Poente up past the square where we had started until we decided “That place looks good, let’s get something to eat and chill for a while”.

It was a good choice. Quiosque da Costa was where we ended up. Casual, very friendly staff, good prices, good quality food. No table service; order at the counter and pick it up when they call your name. We each had a parma ham and cheese baguette (not really a baguette like we think of them; in Americans terms it was closer to an outdoor roll or a stadium roll), a can of Fanta for me and a can of ice tea for her plus a family size bag of Ruffles to share for just barely over US$20. Total. The tostas, sandwiches and baguettes ranged from €3.95 up to €6.95. We were towards the higher end at €5.85 each. At the present exchange rate, March, 2024, that’s a decent sized sandwich for under US$6.50. Back in Bend, Oregon that sandwich at a food truck would have included a small bag of chips but it would have also cost US$12.95 or more.

We sat there and people watched until the not super comfortable chairs inspired us to move on.

We got back on the boardwalk – Ilha de Cima – for a bit and wound up in a little neighborhood of small houses and past a sign about a sea horse preserve. The boardwalk is a public right-of-way, we saw folks on both 2 wheel and 4 wheel scooters carrying shopping bags and such but the boardwalk runs between the rows of houses and it honestly felt like walking in someone’s back yard. We turned back when the feeling of being in someone’s backyard got to be too strong.

A Quick Note on the Seahorse Preserve

Back in 2001, a Canadian researcher named Janelle Curtis found out that the Ria Formosa – that’s the lagoon system where Praia de Faro sits – was basically seahorse central. We’re talking 1.5 to 2 million of these little guys, both short-snouted and long-snouted varieties. Pretty cool, right? But now the seahorse populations are having a rough time nowadays, bordering on extinction, because of illegal fishing and trawling in these waters. You can learn more about the preservation efforts by clicking on this link to the University of Algarve site

We headed up Av Nascente past the municipal park and campground, arriving at the ferry dock on Praia de Faro a few minutes after 15:00. The schedule had the next ferry listed as 15:35. Well, that wasn’t what happened…. By the time it showed up it became the scheduled 16:05. The good news is, so what, LOL, it’s not like we were trying to make a connection.

After arriving back to Faro we had a pretty good walk to look forward to so we made a stop at Vanilla to get fortified with a cappuccino and a scoop of Ferrero Rocher gelato.

When to Visit Praia de Faro

So, when’s the best time to visit? Well, we were there in early March and found it pretty darn nice. Not too hot, not crowded. If you’re like us and prefer things a bit quieter, spring or fall might be your sweet spot. Summer’s going to be busier and hotter, which could be fun if you’re into that beach party vibe. Mid – Winter? Probably pretty quiet, but hey, a sunny winter day at the beach beats a lot of alternatives, right? Just pick what suits your style – there’s no wrong answer when it comes to beach time!

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Tips for Visiting Praia de Faro

There are several hotels, hostels and short term rental options on the island but you’ll pay for the privilege. Unless you’re really committed to beach life it’s probably more cost effective to stay in town and commute.
Parking at Praia de Faro is very limited, it is a tiny strip of sand after all – leave the car at the hotel and uber, bus or ferry over
Carry cash (small bills) for the ferry ride fare
May attention to the menus – several we saw did not list prices

Well, folks, that about wraps up our day at Praia de Faro. Was it worth the trip? You bet! For a couple of senior nomads like us, it hit all the right notes – easy to get to, beautiful beach, affordable eats, and just enough going on to keep it interesting without being overwhelming. If you’re in Faro and fancy a beach day, we’d say give it a go. Just remember to bring some cash for the ferry, maybe pack a snack, and don’t forget to wiggle your toes in that golden sand for us!