Faro, Algarve: the capital everyone flies over
Most people who pass through Faro never see what gives the city its character. Instead, they hire a car and drive straight on to Albufeira or Vilamoura, as if they'd flown into JFK and rushed off to New Jersey. Faro doesn't offer sunburned pub hopping or 'authentic' restaurants with menus laminated in six languages. Rather, it has a walled old town, a functioning marina, orange trees dropping fruit onto the cathedral steps, and residents who, to be frank, are rather proud of the place. The only way to experience the city is on a free walking tour, since everyone else's Uber avoids it.
A city built by Romans, renamed by Moors, and saved by its own swamp
Ossonoba is the old name for Faro, a Roman port that traded in fish, oil, and grain, and where people probably complained a lot about the humidity. In 713, the Moors captured it and eventually renamed it Santa Maria Ibn Harun, a name the Portuguese gradually simplified over the centuries into 'Faro'. King Afonso III reclaimed the city for Christian Portugal in 1249, and Faro then remained for several centuries as an important but unremarkable trading port. The earthquake of 1755, which destroyed Lisbon and most of the Algarve's coastline, also affected Faro, except that the sandbanks of the Ria Formosa lagoon absorbed the brunt of the tsunami for the city. Faro survived well enough for the capital of the Algarve to move here the following year from a ruined Lagos, and for the next decades Bishop Francisco Gomes de Avelar rebuilt the town center in the neoclassical style still visible today. In short, the lagoon saved a bishop's career, and he made good use of it.
Through the Arco da Vila and into a walled town with a stork problem
All Tripvalory tours begin at the Arco da Vila, the entrance Faro has used to welcome visitors since 1812. Bishop Gomes de Avelar commissioned the arch, designed by Italian architect Francisco Xavier Fabri, and a statue of St. Thomas Aquinas has looked down on tourists ever since. Before you pass through, look up: storks nest in it, with nests the size of armchairs, and no one in Faro seems surprised, which suggests they have tolerated it for a long time.
Beyond the gate lies Vila Adentro, the walled old town that local people still call by its old name rather than the neater 'Cidade Velha' on maps. Your guide takes you to the Sé, Faro's cathedral, completed in 1251 and repaired so many times after the 1755 earthquake that it now combines several centuries of architectural styles, then on to the Museu Municipal, set in the cloisters of a former 16th-century convent. You leave through the Arco do Repouso, the 'Gate of Rest', allegedly named because Afonso III took a breath here after retaking the city in 1249, and pass the Palacete Belmarço, one of the large townhouses built during the post-earthquake reconstruction.
From shopping streets to a chapel built out of actual monks
From there, the tour shifts from cathedrals to everyday life, passing through Faro's streets where pedestrians shop and by Teatro Lethes, a 19th-century theatre still in use, as proof it kept going even after the history books moved on. The final destination is the one everyone remembers, whether they want to or not: the Igreja do Carmo, and behind it, the Capela dos Ossos. Constructed in 1816 using the bones of over a thousand exhumed Carmelite monks, the walls and ceiling are arranged with skulls and femurs in a pattern that is surprisingly orderly for a building made entirely out of the remains of dead people. The inscription over the door amounts to something like 'stop here and consider the fate that awaits you', a message that is not subtle but gets the job done.
Faro today
Faro never demolished any of those structures—whether Roman foundations, a Moorish name no one pronounces correctly on the first attempt, an earthquake the city mostly avoided by luck, or a chapel decorated with the remains of its own dead—so it simply built the next one right next door. That's why a two-hour walk through here takes you from a 13th-century cathedral to a working theatre to a room filled with monks without ever resembling a visit to a museum. It is a capital city that, in fact, carries out the country's business, which, compared with some of its seaside neighbors, is almost a personality.
Are you ready to discover Faro like a local?
Find the red umbrella at Arco da Vila, right by the marina and beside the tourism office you would otherwise walk past; it will guide you. It is typically a proud 'farense' who's been doing this for so long they have opinions on which café makes the better pastel de nata. You can reserve for free on Tripvalory.com, select a time and a language that suit you, and then pay whatever amount you consider fair after the visit ends. You don't need a card, and no one assesses your tip.
All the questions you've had about free tours in Faro, tips, and whether Tripvalory is in fact a secret guide-training cult (it isn't).
- To book a tour on Tripvalory, select a date, choose the number of people, and click book. You won't come across a payment screen at the end because there is no payment involved at that stage.
- Hold on, is it really free, or is it free in the sense that airlines have hidden fees? It's free to book; the tour is tip-based—you walk around, you enjoy it (or you don't), and then you pay your guide whatever amount you think fits. We recommend 5 euros per person as a starting point, not as a toll charge.
- If you enjoyed the tour but are bad at math under pressure, make a rough estimate, since no one will be there with a calculator. Your guide can handle a slightly generous estimate.
- If the tour wasn't, in fact, very good, don't leave a tip or leave nothing at all. That's exactly what the system is designed to do. It provides the only fully honest evaluation a person can make without having HR get involved.
- Will I have to pay anything beforehand? No, because our tours are pay-what-you-wish; the only thing you stand to lose by booking is two hours of your holiday.
- You'll know your booking is confirmed when you receive a confirmation email with the details; if the email doesn't appear, check your spam folder before assuming the internet has swallowed it, since that happens more often than people admit.
- Do I need to set up an account? No, all we need is your name, your email address, your phone number, and the number of people who are coming, so the guide won't have to stand under the Arco da Vila, looking at strangers and trying to work out who has booked.
- May I take my children? Yes, and you can bring up to two children at no additional cost, so the younger ones will be free even though the tour itself is not required to be.
- May I take my dog with me? Yes, pets are allowed on the Faro tour. Those cobblestones in Faro are famously unconcerned about paws.
- Is the route suitable for a wheelchair or stroller? Although the Faro route is listed as accessible, the cobbles in Cidade Velha are still cobbles, so accessibility doesn't mean they are as smooth as glass, but you can still navigate them.
- If you have to leave early, tell your guide before you go. They won't be offended; they'll appreciate knowing where their group really is.
- What if it rains? The tour still runs, because
- this is Portugal, not a snow day. Are the guides really local, or is the term 'local' being used here for marketing purposes? In this case, they are genuinely local. The company refers to the guide as a lifelong 'farense', which is how people born and raised in Faro refer to themselves, and this is evident in the kind of detail given about which bakery is actually good. What is the difference, then, between taking a paid Faro tour with a large group and using a headset? In our case, the groups are smaller, there is no headset, and the guide's income depends completely on your satisfaction with the tour, which leads to a more attentive tour than when he is paid the same no matter how the tour goes. If I need to cancel because my plans change, then yes, the cancellation is free. You have to give sufficient notice so that your guide doesn't end up with a red umbrella for a group that isn't coming. With enough notice, your guide isn't left holding a red umbrella for a group that isn't coming.