• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Panama
      • Portugal
      • Colombia
      • Northern Cyprus
      • Belize
      • Spain
      • Mexico
      • France
      • Indonesia
      • Vietnam
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Countries Portugal

Faro, Portugal, Is Not What I Expected

Exploring Europe’s Sunniest City

Live And Invest Overseas by Live And Invest Overseas
Mar 20, 2023
in Portugal
0 0
0
A beautiful beach in Faro, Portugal

Adobe Stock/Jrmy

274
SHARES
3.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

I was wrong about Faro, Portugal.

Before I ever saw the city, I convinced myself it was boring.

My rationale?

It had an international airport, so I concluded it was overrun by mass tourism and should be avoided.

Not true at all, I discovered!

Yes, the tourists fly in, of course, but Faro has kept a strong Portuguese identity and its lively center, with a marina, jacaranda trees, and stately buildings, is a tonic for the eye.

The place has character and a keen sense of history. It’s not a clone of anywhere else and the smart money, domestic and foreign, is arriving to boost the economy.

Until recently, an area to the west of Faro dubbed the Golden Triangle attracted most of the attention on this stretch of coast and foreigners with money tended to invest there.

The Golden Triangle is bounded by the resort town of Vilamoura, the gated communities of Vale do Lobo and Quinta do Lago, and finally, the village of Almancil.

Now, more real estate investment is coming into Faro itself and the city has a confident, expansive air. It’s at its best in May, when the jacarandas are in bloom and the occasional stork scuds across the sky.

I have a soft spot for Faro because it was my home throughout two COVID-19 lockdowns. The city was deserted but the shoreline was alive and helped to keep me sane. I used to stroll down to the lagoon edge, close to the marina, and watch crabs scuttling over the mudflats or spoonbills flying in.

I can’t view Faro as just any other city. But by any objective criteria, it’s a fine town. As befits the capital of the Algarve, Faro has much to offer, from a medieval town center to a university, from excellent restaurants and cafés to live concerts.

Because it receives more than 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, Faro is often dubbed Europe’s sunniest city. The climate is mild in the winter and rarely gets scorching hot in the summer.

The average annual temperature in Faro, Portugal, is around 64°F (18°C). Sea temperatures are often glorious, rising to 72 to 75°F (22 to 24°C) in August and September.

Museu Municipal de Faro, municipal museum Portugal
Museu Municipal de Faro
Image Source: iStock.com/homydesign

So, What Will Keep You Entertained Here…?

For starters, you can just soak up the atmosphere of this southern, sunny city. In Faro, you’ll find storks nesting on the tops of churches, outdoor food markets with everything from Algarve honey to mangos, narrow cobbled alleyways and anarchic street art, even one mural dedicated to the pandemic.

The Old Town, within medieval walls, has a cathedral where you can climb up the tower for views over Faro, the coast, and nearby islands.

What makes Faro stand out, either as a home or as a travel destination, is the Ria Formosa natural park, an atmospheric stretch of coast which is one of Portugal’s most important wetlands.

It starts just west of Faro and stretches for about 60 kilometers, up to Cacela Velha at the eastern end.

The Ria Formosa includes a long string of barrier islands that run parallel to the mainland, and the result of this topography has a great variety of habitats and exceptional biodiversity.

There are saltpans and marshes, lagoons, woods, and farmland. More than 300 species of birds, including waders ducks, and herons, have been sighted in this wetland, and in many places flamingos abound.

Get Your Free Portugal Report Today!

Simply enter your email address below and we'll send you our ​FREE REPORT — Portugal: The World’s #1 Retirement Haven.

What To Enjoy …

From Faro, a variety of tours are on offer to explore the marine environment. There are boat trips to the Ilha da Barreta, also known as Desert Island, and to the island of Culatra. You can also sign up for a dolphin-watching tour.

One excellent option is to visit the Ludo Park, a wildlife reserve close to the perimeter fence of Faro airport. The park is a great introduction to the Ria Formosa, and I advise devoting a big chunk of a day to it.

Start early, ideally, to benefit from the cooler temperatures of the morning.

One signposted entrance to Ludo Park, for pedestrians and cyclists, is on the right side of the road to Faro Island, before the bridge that crosses to the island. It’s a magical place to have so close to the city, and here you can often see flamingos feeding.

If you have in mind a much lazier sort of day, head for the Chelsea café in the pedestrian part of town. This busy establishment serves the best cheesecake in Faro.

The Algarve Regional Museum in central Faro is colorful and informative, and well worth a visit.

At the end of the day, one traditional destination in town is the rooftop terrace bar at the Hotel Faro, a favored spot to watch the sun set over the lagoon. Then, for later, there’s always the nearby Columbus bar, a Faro institution famous for its cocktails.

If shopping is your bag, then Faro and the surrounding area has much to offer. Pride of place must go to the Mar Shopping Center, a 20-minute drive to the northwest of Faro on the road to Loulé. This has everything from IKEA to a cinema.

In Faro itself is the Forum Algarve shopping center, which contains an Auchan hypermarket. The municipal market in the town center has stalls selling a range of food, from fresh fish and octopus to local oranges.

You’ll find English-speaking realtors, lawyers, and accountants working locally. Faro also has a good public library, with helpful assistants.

The Cost Of Living In Faro, Portugal

The cost of living is lower in Portugal than it is in the United States. Prices are rising faster than they have done in recent years, but this is an international phenomenon.

Wages are low in Portugal, so for a range of services from cleaning to gardening, you can expect to pay less than you would in many other European countries.

Portugal offers an extraordinary range of nationally produced wines at reasonable prices, and other local produce, such as oysters, are available at a comparatively modest cost.

Train fares are low, particularly for senior citizens: passengers over 65 who can show an ID travel half-price. An Algarve train line runs from Vila Real de Santo António on the border with Spain to Lagos in the west.

Typical monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment here will be in the range of 800 to 900 euros.

If you’re looking to buy a home in Faro, a budget of 500,000 euros would buy a three or four-bedroom house. A two-bedroom apartment in the city costs about 250,000 euros.

Buying Real Estate In Faro, Portugal

There are no restrictions on foreigners buying property in Portugal, and the Algarve has plenty of English-speaking realtors and lawyers to help with the process.

My experience when I bought a house in the eastern Algarve last year was that transaction costs amounted to 7% of the purchase price: 6% went on government property taxes and other fees, while a lawyer took 1%.

Hiring a lawyer was a personal choice, not a legal necessity

Health Care In Faro, Portugal

Portugal has a tax-funded public health care system, the Serviço Nacional de Saude (SNS).

Most essential medical services are free of charge. Patients need to cover a percentage of medicine costs at the pharmacy. The SNS does not generally cover dental care.

Private health insurance is also available in Portugal, with costs varying from several hundred euros a year to thousands.

Faro, Portugal, has both a state hospital, the Geral Hospital de Faro, and a private hospital, the Hospital Particular do Algarve, in Gambelas.

Doctors in the Algarve often speak English.

Overall, Faro offers an attractive combination that appeals to many. On the one hand, it has all the amenities of a small city and then right on the doorstep are the beautiful wetlands of the Ria Formosa. Its international airport makes it an easy destination for visiting friends and family.

Sincerely,
Stephen Powell
Portugal Letter Contributor

Tags: cost of living in portugalfarofaro portugallife in farolife in Portugalportugal health care
Share114Tweet67
Live And Invest Overseas

Live And Invest Overseas

Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

Related Posts

Payment of utilities for electricity and water: receipt, bills and a calculator.
Colombia

Worried About Soaring Utility Costs?

by Kathleen Peddicord
May 2, 2023
0

Worried about soaring utility costs? You're not alone. Over the past year, energy costs across the United States have increased...

Read more
Wooden footbridge to beautiful beach Praia do Camilo near Lagos

What I Love About Sunny Portugal

April 20, 2023
Porto, Portugal old town on the Douro River

Tipping in Portugal: The Dos and Don’ts

April 18, 2023
Lisbon, Portugal

Why We Love Lisbon, Portugal

April 9, 2023
An aerial view down at homes along the beach with an arrow pointing to bargain properties.

5 Countries Where Real Estate Is Still Incredibly Cheap

April 2, 2023
Cost Of Living In Lagos, Portugal Makes Cost Of Living In Panama Bite The Dust

Cost Of Living In Lagos, Portugal, Makes Panama Bite The Dust

March 24, 2023
Douro river in Porto, Portugal

Life In Porto: The City That Beats To The Rhythm Of Its Own Drum

March 16, 2023

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas ...

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we'll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.

Get Your Free Portugal Report Today!

​​Simply enter your email address below and we'll send you our ​FREE REPORT — Portugal: The World’s #1 Retirement Haven.

LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2023

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2023 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Download your FREE report on

The Best Places To Retire In 2023

New Year, New You, New Life Overseas

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

Get Your Free ​Portugal Report Today!
 

​​Learn more about ​​PORTUGAL ​​​and other countries in our free, daily Overseas Opportunity Letter​​​​​​​​​. Simply enter your email address below and we’ll send you our FREE REPORT — Portugal — The World’s Number #1 Retirement Haven