Centro Historico
The old city, or cidade velha, is a well-preserved section of town off the harbor with cobblestone streets and 18th century portuguese and moorish-influenced architecture. it is great place for a peaceful and almost private walk back in time in an area that has been virtually untouched by modernity.
Rio Formosa
Take a boat trip into the rio formosa - a nature reserve that stretches along the tip of portugal into spain. a two and a half hour trip costs â¬20 in 2007 and includes a 40 minute stop-over on an island. the boat leaves from a jetty by the centro historico.
Praia de Faro
This beach is several kilometers long and so should never get crowded, even in the height of summer. most of the beach is gently sloping though it can take a sudden dip in places. there are the usual beach-side stalls and a public lavatory, but no showers. praia de faro is just past the airport, the airport bus stops there and costs â¬1.65 in 2009. a lot of people with early check-outs and late flights seem to go there on their last day.
Faro Jewish Heritage Centre
Oficially established in 1851, the Faro Jewish Cemetery is the only remaining vestige of the first post-Inquisition Jewish presence in Portugal. It served as a burial place for a thriving 60 family community also known as "Little Jerusalem". The Jews of Portugal fled the Inquisition from the end of the XVth century and settled in Gibraltar and North Africa. After the devastating 1755 Lisbon Earthquake their descendants have been invited by the Marquis of Pombal to help rebuild the economy. Although the community is long gone, the Cemetery still remains to remind citizens and travellers of its former glory. The Faro Jewish Heritage Centre features over one hundred graves in Sephardi style, with beautifully engraved slabs instead of headstones. Although the land has been purchased by the Jewish community in 1851, the first burial, that of Rabbi Toledano, dates back to 1838. Apart from the Cemetery, there is also a museum, housing many objects linked to the history of the Jews of Faro, like the furniture from one of the two non-existent synagogues of Faro or the facsimile copy of Gacon's 1478 Pentateuch in Hebrew - the first book ever printed in Portugal!