Faro is a city and municipality in southern Portugal. It is the seat of the district of Faro and capital of the Algarve region. The Algarve and Faro district cover the same territory. Although most people think that the Algarve is a sunny place all year round, it has four well-defined seasons in terms of temperature and rainfall. However, the region is in general the warmest region of mainland Portugal. The warm climate, the beaches and the sunny weather, makes Faro district a very popular summer resort. Roughly 5 million tourists per year, including domestic tourists from Portugal and other European areas, like the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, Netherlands and Germany, flow into the Algarve from May to September.
In recent years the numbers of visitors travelling through the airport has increased as more and more low-cost airlines fight to offer cheap flights to the Algarve. The transport facilities to and from Faro airport reach easily Faro's downtown, and include a wide availability of taxicabs and the city bus line which has scheduled departure times of regular bus service at the airport's bus stop.
With a medieval wall and a large number of monuments the town is worth a visit. Don't run to the beach immediately. The main sights include: the Cathedral (Roman-Gothic origin), Nossa Senhora da Assuncão Convent (Renaissance), São Francisco Church (16-18th centuries). There are also a number of museums to visit: Infante Dom Henrique, Regional Ethnographic and Ramalho Ortigão.
Faro is also the home of the Ria Formosa lagoon, a nature reserve of over 170 square kilometres and a stopping place for hundreds of different birds during the spring and autumn migratory periods. The beach is almost seven kilometres from the city, and is a long sandy spit reached by crossing a bridge.
