Faro, Lagos, Vila Real, Faro Beach – nothing beats Portugal’s Algarve region.

Faro, Lagos, Vila Real, Faro Beach – nothing beats Portugal’s Algarve region.

Hi everyone, my name is Scott. Welcome to Planes Trains Everything and welcome to Faroh Railway Station in Portugal. Over the next 3 days, I’m going to be doing some adventuring around the Algav region of Portugal. For example, today I’m heading east on a train. Tomorrow I’m going to be heading west on a train and the day after I’m heading south on a ferry. So, there’s a bit of everything. On this adventure, I’m going to be having a look at some of the older things that I’ve seen before that I love. Some new things as well. Hopefully, you guys will come along with me as well and enjoy the journey. What I’m really happy about is these things. These old clapped out trains. They’re still running, but only just. These trains are dirty. They’re noisy. They’re uncomfortable, but they do have character, and they’re going to be phased out over the next 6 to9 months. I believe the whole line is being electrified. So, this could be the last time I get to try travel on one of these babies. So, let’s go find our train. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. F real Santo Antonio. I’ve got a little soft spot for this place and I’ll explain later. It has changed a bit since I was last here and that’s because of the electrification of the line. Yeah, there’s a bit of work being done around the station. First things first though, it is 11:00 and I haven’t had breakfast yet. And from memory, well, there used to be a little over there. It’s now called an inter marsh. Let’s go and uh get some breakfast. So, I managed to get a couple of croissants, um couple of yogurts, bottle of water cuz it’s going to be a warm one today. And I was looking for some iced coffee, you know, but um no, no iced coffee, right? I’m just walking up to the end of the line here for a reason. And here we are. And it feels a bit weird being here. This is the end of the line. And why is this weird? Because this is where I started this journey, which is in my book here. Villa Real Sto Antonio all the way through to Ho Chi Min City. It’s in this book. Yes, it is a shameless plug. You can get it through Amazon. There’s a link below and you can also get it through the merch store as well. But this is where all started. I tell you what, it’s changed a bit as well because not only do we have the overhead lines in place for the electrification, but there used to be all these beautiful eucalyptus trees along the track there as well. They’re long gone. Oh well, I guess that’s what you call progress, huh? No matter where you go these days, you find one of these. Yep. Flex bus are everywhere. I’ll tell you that would be a challenge. Portugal to Vietnam by flex bus. I’m not quite sure you can do it, but you could give it a try. Feel free to do it. I’m not going to touch that one with the barge bowl. Right. I’m looking for the ferry terminal cuz I want to do a quick excursion across the border into Spain. Well, I certainly don’t remember the ticket office being in these cabins, but uh yeah, this is where you buy your tickets over to Spain. Naturally, I’ve just missed a ferry by 10 minutes naturally, and they’re every hour. So, um I’ll head into the old town, have a look around, and then be back for the 12:30 sailing. That is a stunning building. And here we are in the center of town. I remember the the groovy stonework here. Uh lots of empty seats and uh something’s been going on here. I just don’t know what it is, but it ain’t going on now. Right. It looks there’s loads of shops down this way. I’m not sure Deli’s Belly is a good name for a restaurant cuz Deli Belly is something you don’t want to have when you’re traveling. A strange name for a restaurant. Maybe they’re just warning customers in advance so you don’t go back later and sue them. I don’t know. if there’s any in the UK. I remember sitting outside this place actually demolishing an ice cream and I think I use the excuse needing to keep your calorific intake up to a certain level. I still use that excuse. I went past Ali Hop again and got myself a new hat. Old Cascade here is starting to show its age, but I’ll hold on to it for sentimental reasons, you know. Right back to the ferry port cuz I’ve got a ferry to catch. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. How seriously cool would it be to have a boat and just sail around the Mediterranean? What a life. What a YouTube channel. Nah. Every time I see something, it looks like paella. I have to stop and have a look at it. I must be suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Just in case you’re in doubt as to what country you’re in. Right, there’s the ferry. Congratulations enough. I did this uh little ferry trip when I uh was doing my Portugal to Vietnam journey and uh the ferry port was around the corner there. We’re about a mile away from where I was dropped off originally. Never trust Google Maps, but I was checking. Jeez, that was loud. I was checking Google Maps as well, and it still shows the old jetty as being over there. That’s the one they use. Not anymore. They don’t use this one here. Okay, we are in Spain. How exciting. The thing is, however, Spain is 1 hour ahead of Portugal. And I have two options. I can A change my watch to 1 hour ahead or B not change my watch. And what I’m going to do is not change my watch. And that’s for two reasons. Firstly, if I change my watch, I’ll probably forget and not change it back. I can secondly the uh the fairies back leave on the hour so it makes no difference whatsoever. What I would like to do however is try and get a paella. If I’m in Spain I may as well do it. I was in Benadorm recently and I struck out severely. Could not get a paella for one. They only seem to sell them for two. So here in Spain again at Ayamonte. I’m going to see if I can get a paella for one. If not, it’s back to Portugal. Poor old Ali Hop’s been relegated to the backpack. It’s now the crocodile paisley. Look, cuz it is warm. It is warm here. because I’m in Spain now, my Wi-Fi isn’t working. Um, so I’m going to stick to the coast here because I haven’t found a single landmark that I recognize. I wouldn’t say I’m lost. I’m just slightly misplaced. This is a more newer part of town here. I want to the old part of town and somehow it’s down there, but I don’t actually remember us passing that kind of bay. There’s kind of a bay where I think there’s a marina or that’s where the the ferry used to dock. I don’t remember passing that. So, that’s why I thought we were on the south side, but we could be actually on the north side. I guess we’ll find out cuz as long as I stick to the shore, I can’t get too lost. At least I’ll be able to find the ferry terminal again. Just when I was starting to think I might have been dropped off at some random port in Spain and not the one I wanted, I recognize this place. And I also recognize all these restaurants and cafes here. That’s where Project Paella will be taking place later. One thing the Spanish do very well, and that is churches. Tell you what, it’s looking pretty busy down there. Busy if you want shade. Plenty of space if you’re out in the sun. I’ll need shade. I might even have a we beer. What do you think? Yeah. It’s not as if I can catch the next ferry cuz it’s just gone by 5 minutes. So, yeah. Let’s have a little beer, I think. Cheers. Just when I thought the heat might have been getting to me and I was forgetting what I’d done just a few years ago. No, no. I’ve managed against all odds to get Wi-Fi reception. Check Google Maps and it still shows the original route of the ferry from Villa Rial. It’s on the south side of this bay or river. Now it’s stopping on the main river itself from the north. That’s what totally threw me. Thank you, Google Maps. I know where I am now, though. I’ve now presented myself with a bit of an issue. The plan was to catch this ferry in about 35 minutes. However, these places down here are selling seafood. What do I do? What do I do? There are some absolutely beautiful buildings here, but I need to go up this way. The thing I wanted to see was this the bull ring. I don’t agree to this sport as such, but I know it’s part of Spanish culture. I would like to go in and have a look once just to have a look. I’m not interested in the actual performance itself, but n this is locked up like Fort Knox. No way of getting in this one. Okay, 20 minutes before the ferry leaves. I reckon I might be pushing my luck to try and catch that ferry, which means I have an hour and 20 minutes to kill until the next one, which means that gives me time to get paella. Now, when we get back to Villa Rial, I want to go down to the beach and I’d like to stop somewhere on the way back to Faroh as well. So, I’ve got plenty of things packed in. Just a case of juggling the time around. Right, let’s get back down to the marina area where there’s more food. Right. So, yeah, there’s no way I’m going to catch this ferry now. So, I’m going to chill. I’m going to relax, baby. And I’m going to look for paella. Good news and bad news. I can’t find paella anywhere. Okay, maybe it’s just not popular in this part of Spain because we are down by the Spanish border after all. The good news is I found a place that sells beer. I’m also getting calamari, just so you know. Oh. Oh, yeah. That hits the spot. Yeah. That was really nice calamari and beer. One slight problem. There’s a little sign about this big by the door. Cash only. Why do they not put that on their menu? Right. So, I’m on the hunt for an ATM and I think I might have found one. €7 to withdraw cash. Absolute ripoff. This is one expensive calamari. Although it was good calamari, it’s an expensive one. I was through €40. I don’t want to get caught like that again. Um, the meal itself is actually a bargain. €250 for a beer and €10 for the calamari. So, the meal itself is cheap when you add on the extra €7 for the cash. H, right. The big question is, of course, where are we? Aha. Right in front of me, that’s the landmark I’m looking for. And that looks like that looks like the ferry, which leaves in approximately hopefully 25 minutes. On closer inspection, that is not our ferry. It’s more like a converted fishing troller. No, ours lands there. In fact, what I’m going to do is I’m going to try and get a position on the port side. I want to check out this uh this bay, this river where we should have birthed in the first place. That’s what totally threw me when we arrived. I do get the feeling that in the last what five, seven years, whatever it is, they’ve invested a bit of money here turning this into a proper international ferry port. Before it was just basically a jetty. Now they’ve got the actual port building there that’s all done up. We’ve got this boardwalk done as well. It actually doesn’t look too bad. And it’s nice and close to the city center before, as we’ll see. It was a way down there though. I better buy a ticket. Back at Villa Reala asked for a return, and they said they only sold one ways, so I better get one here. I was traumatized by that €7 charge. That’s what it is, right? Let’s get this ticket. One ticket purchased. And that could be our ferry coming now. Okie dokie. Back in Villa Rial. But there’s one thing I would like to see before we head back to the station. And it’s down here a couple of kilometers. It’s going to be a warm walk, but let’s do it. Jeez. Oh, when I first saw that, I thought he was real. You may be wondering, where on earth am I going? I’m starting to wonder that myself. Yeah, not many people walking along here. Only Mad Dog Mansion here. We’re nearly there. I just spotted a large can of cat food back there. It was empty, of course. The tin was empty, but uh someone’s been using it as bait for fishing. I wonder if that would work. And this is what I’ve come all this way for. A beautiful beach. Okay, I’m here at the beach and the big question is, will I make it back to the railway station in 30 minutes? I kind of doubt it. I don’t want to push myself, especially in this heat. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to miss the train. Let’s just aim for the one after that. In the meantime, let’s enjoy this beautiful scenery. The plan this afternoon was to stop in a town called Tavver, which is kind of halfway between Villa Rial and Faroh. And I’d seen it a couple of times and it looked really nice and I looked online and it looks like a lovely place to visit. And that was the plan to maybe stop there for an hour and then continue on to Faroh later. But if I’m going to miss the 4:30 train, the next train will be at about 5:30. That means I’m going to be getting there at about 6:00. Um, maybe, maybe not. It depends. Well, that is officially 4:35 and that is officially when the train leaves. So, there’s no way I would have made it. I’m just on the outskirts of Villa Royale now. Tira, I’ve decided to postpone that for a while. Again, this is the third time I think I’ve been past the place and thought I’d like to go there. Uh, tomorrow I’ve got a full day, so I will not be able to squeeze it in. We’re on day three. The flight doesn’t leave Faroh until about 4:00 in the afternoon. And apart from a ferry trip, which I’m planning, there’s nothing much else on the agenda. So, I might try and squeeze it in in the morning. So, watch this space. Yeah. So, we’re heading into uh Villa Rial now. Got about an hour until the next train. I’m just going to take it easy. This is definitely one beautiful art deco building. This is the third time I’ve been here to Villa Real Santo Antonio and I love the place. It’s great. I love the place. But would I come back now? Possibly I would. But once these go, I’d like to see what new sleek electric trains I have running on this line and that would be it, I think. Uh but uh I’m glad I’m able to ride one of these today or in both directions, of course. And tomorrow, I’m not going to tell you where we’re going tomorrow. Um, I think it’s these as well. So, uh, yeah, I’m getting my money’s worth while I’m here, but the next time I’m here in Algarve, these will be scrap probably. Oh, and it’s air conditioned as well. This will do nicely. In fact, the train uh from Faroh this morning was also air conditioned, but I had a memory of these not being air conditioned, and boy, they are like ovens. Last night. Yes, sir. I had a decision to make. It’s 7:20 p.m. and I’m not hungry just because of the heat, I think. So, option A, go back to the room, have a wash, relax, and then not feel like going out again. or B, go down to the marina, have a look around, then go back to the room, have a wash, relax, and then not feel like going out. So, we’re going down to marina to have a little look around. I may as well. I’m on my feet. I stopped so that guy could do his group photo. I’ve eaten here before and the food was pretty good. Let’s see the menu now. Aha, they do paella. Servings of two only. I’m actually thinking very quite seriously about going back there at some point and having a pizza. You know, they’re only about £14. That’s about £12 for a pizza. Maybe they make their profit on the beer. Who knows? Okay, decision made. It’s pizza and a beer. One slight problem. Will I be able to get a table? It was looking pretty busy back there. I guess there’s one way to find out. Okie dokie. Here we are. Wish me luck. As you can imagine, outside is absolutely packed. There’s tables with reserve signs on them and the whole lot. However, once you get inside, loads of room. So, I’ve actually got a table here right by the door. A little bit of a breeze coming in. Right, let’s check out this menu. There’s a very nice atmosphere here. The sun’s setting over the marina there. We’ve got someone playing the guitar. There’s the gentle hum of conversations everywhere. Everyone’s having a good time and I’m having a beer. I guarantee I’m the only Scotty Nomies here. That’s for sure. I’m looking around and I’m the only poor son on his own. Cheers. Two observations. When I arrived here, there were no free tables whatsoever. But as soon as I sat down, quite a few of them become free. Obviously, my arrival encouraged people to leave. Secondly, I found these ladies kind of looking at me and pointing and smiling. And I thought, they could be subscribers, but more likely the boys still got it. You know what I’m saying? No, no, it was actual gelato um counter behind me. That’s what they were smiling and pointing at. Oh, well. This pizza is good. That was pretty nice. It came up to £19.95. £20. Was that about £18? £17. Pretty darn good. Um yeah, I’m going to head back to the hotel now because I can feel myself starting to fade. Um shower, relax, bed. I’ll see you in the morning. So 67 per night isn’t too bad for the center of Faroh. It’s about two blocks from the station, and that was the reason why I booked this. Also, cuz it had a good rating on Booking.com. Uh there are some which are cheaper, but they have uh not as good ratings. There are some which are a lot more expensive and have like five star reviews, that kind of stuff. But this is kind of in the middle and it’s nice and convenient. The only problem I have with this place is it doesn’t have a TV. There is a TV in the shared lounge down there, but if you don’t want to be socialable or just sit down there, I’d rather have had one up here in my bedroom, but hey. So, I booked this through Booking.com, but not directly. I did it through Air France KLM’s flying blue affiliation link. That way, I get my status points with Booking.com. I earn air miles with KLM, and I paid for it with a Barclays Mastercard, which means I earn a well. One thing I haven’t shown you is the view. It’s nighttime. So, what I’ll do is I’ll do one of these transition shots that I do from nighttime to daytime. And I’ll see you in the morning. Good morning, everybody. 9:25 in the morning. 35 minutes before our train leaves. Yesterday, we headed east. Today, we’re heading west. Where are we going? I know where I’m going. I am going to Spar cuz I’m going to get some supplies and then I’m going to go across there to the station. Spar successful. Right, let’s get to this station. I was just speaking to a very nice man at the uh station. He works for uh Portuguese railways and I asked him when are the electric trains starting to run? I don’t know, couple of months maybe. that seemed to be a bit hit and miss. But yeah, I’d read somewhere online maybe by the end of 2025. So yeah, I think it’s the infrastructure is just about finished. And he said yes, he will miss these old trains. Air conditioning. Heat. Heat. Welcome to Lagos. I need to check some train times while I’m here at the station for tomorrow. Yes, I was looking for train times to and from Tivera because I’m trying to do Tiverra tomorrow morning and then do the ferry trip which I promised you. But uh it could be a bit of a a logistical challenge that one. Watch this space. Russia in my gosh. There’s a whole line of these people selling tickets on, I don’t know, grotto and cave tours. I’m seriously tempted, you know, that seriously tempted cuz that’s all I’ve got planned today. Like gosh, what am I going to do? Wander around? I might do one. Depends on the price, I guess. Unfortunately, due to a lack of Wi-Fi reception, I can’t check online how much these cruises are. So, I may have to interact with a human being. Oh, no. But you’ve got the choice of jet skis. You can do kayaks. None of the above will be done. That’s for sure. Or you can do zodiac boats. That sounds all right. Yeah. On the way back, I might look into that. There’s a constant flotillaa up and down this river and they’re all day trips going to the grotto and the caves and everywhere else. I don’t think getting on board is a problem. There’s so many to choose from. How lovely is this? Yeah, the Spanish and the Portuguese really knew how to build beautiful churches. Heat. Heat. I always like to take it nice and easy where I’m somewhere new working out what the story is with zebra crossings. I mean, in the UK, for example, if you approach a zero crossing, you’re supposed to stop. Here in Portugal, it’s kind of, yeah, they will stop, but only if you’re actually stepping onto the uh the pedestrian crossing. It’s kind of a willy, will he not? Let’s put it to the test. Well, that worked out pretty well. I’ve come up with a theory in Italy. You know how the Italian drivers don’t stop for anyone, even other Italian drivers. If you want to cross a road, always cross with a nun. They will never run over a nun. Guaranteed. I used to have a kayak. Didn’t get to use it much because it was an inflatable kayak. Uh the reason why it was inflatable is because it was easy to carry around and not having a car. You had to rely on public transport to get down to Dross and these kind of places. But uh when I did get to use it, it was great fun. Great fun. The problem is on the west coast of Scotland it can get a bit breezy and if you have a kayak an inflatable kayak it tends to get moved around a lot by the wind and so it’s very hard to control and let’s face it 5 days out of seven it’s pretty blowy around uh the f of clay for example as it is here it’s a bit blowy here as well I’m trying not to lose my new um aliho hat you know yeah probably the best place I ended up was Bird Island which is just off the coast of Ardson That was an amazing experience. Had the camera with me. This is back in the days before planes trains everything. I might try and dig out the footage if I can find it. But uh saw a seal. I nipped across in front of a CMAC ferry which was probably dangerous. And when I ended up on Bird Island, I decided to have a picnic and the birds objected and they were all dive bombing me. It was great fun. Aha. There are the grotto. Right. I’m going to go down to the beach there, have a look at some of these grotto close up. I think from memory there’s tunnels. So, uh, I should be able to get to a couple of them anyway. And then after that, I might think about lunch or one of these beer things cuz it’s really humid today and really warm. Yep. Me and beaches. But when it comes to beaches, this is not a bad one. Yeah. Back there somewhere. You can nip behind that headland and end up in the next beach. That’s where I’m heading. I must say here on the beach, I’m feeling a little bit overdressed. Let’s put it that way. But checking out some of the tans, they’re doing a really good job here. Um, I noticed there was a couple back there probably putting on factor 500. They looked as white as anything and I thought, you have to be British. You have to be British. And it must be their first day on the Algarve. Good luck. And here’s another tunnel. One eye on slippery rocks. One eye on the waves lapping by my feet. That’s a cool looking bridge. I wonder if you can get up there. Anyway, I think this is where the fun ends. I’m not convinced you can get onto that bridge there. The fact there’s no one actually on it. Probably health and safety, you know. But let’s find out anyway. I do like the occasional grotto. You know what I mean? Right, let’s go up these stairs and find out what the story is with that bridge up there. 30° C and I’m walking upstairs. If in doubt, follow everyone else. There is a sign actually back there pointing 150 m to something. So, let’s find out what that something is. Now, it’d be absolutely great to go down there. Unfortunately, it’s off limits. Must be because of falling rocks. I think we should follow this boardwalk anyway. Just see where it leads to. Definitely getting my steps in today, that’s for sure. That is one secluded beach. I’m guessing there’s only two ways to get there. By kayak or by breaking the law. Now, that’s what I call a beach. Although, it’s probably frowned upon. I reckon we should go down there and have a look. What do you think? I know. Breaking the law. Breaking the law. Sorry, but that view was worth it. I was here in Lagos years ago, and I didn’t venture too far from the town itself. Boy, did I miss out on something. So, what do you think? Next time I’m here, don’t stay at a £67 uh guest house without private facilities. Stay at this place. Casa Pinhow. I wonder who owns that property. Actually, while I was uh just looking at the the name plate, uh a dog came up and sniffed me and I went, “Okay.” And then a man came, a young a young lad, probably in his 30s. Looked like a surfer actually. That was the way he looked. And he went in. I was so tempted to say, “Excuse me, any chance I can see your bridge?” But I thought, “Nah, his English, my Portuguese.” Nah. Yeah, it’s that time of the day when a boy’s thoughts start going towards food. Yeah, nearly 1:00 p.m. It’s been a little while. Might head back into town. See if I can get some uh lunch. Just having a we super bulk here at the moment. 5.2%. And my internet has started to work a bit reluctantly. These um 75inut cruisers start from about £15. It’s doable. I’ll think about it after I have my lunch. I must say that was rather nice. It was a char grilled chicken with a cream and mushroom sauce. Just goes to show you it’s not what I call the three peas. That’s all I eat when I’m on the road. Pizza, paella, and calamari. So, while I was enjoying my superbox back there, I had some limited access to Wi-Fi. Remember Wi-Fi? Yeah. And I was able to determine through Viacom that the starting price for these uh grotto cruisers are from £15. From £15. And I was thinking, well, I’ve seen the grotto from above. I’ve been in amongst the grotto down at the beach. Would seeing them from sea add any value to this video? Probably not. And I’m thinking, nah, maybe next time. Maybe not this time. Not only do they do really nice churches over here, they do pretty impressive police stations as well. Just checking the time here. It’s approaching 300 p.m. I’ve got about 15 25 minutes and there’s a train back to Faroh. If I don’t catch this one, I’ve got an hour and a half. So, I reckon I might just catch this one if I can get to the station in time. I was actually on the lookout for somewhere that sold gelato. I just kind of fancied it, you know. And um nah, couldn’t find anything anywhere. Found an ice cream place, but had so many people standing outside, I wasn’t sure if they were just watching or whether they were queuing up to be served. So, I thought, ah, I’ll get it somewhere else. And here’s the bridge. We’re not far from the station now. This is what I call retro tourism. The days before we had the internet and before we had Google Maps, you had to buy a street map and it was about an A3 size bit of paper and it was folded up and it would never fold back the way it was unfolded. Remember those days? What I’m having to rely on here are landmarks to get my way back. But it’s easy enough here in Lagos. Station’s kind of over over there somewhere. Oh, you guys. And we’re back at Farrell. I need to check the train times for Tiverra because I might be able to do it tomorrow morning. Okay, I’ve got the train times and it’s a definite maybe. I’m going to have to sit down and crunch out these uh train times. But first things first, I’m heading back to the the guest house. I’m going to have a long shower cuz I am sweating. And uh I’ll go out later on. I will be going out later on cuz tonight’s the last night in Algarov. I got to do it. Okie dokookie. Showered and dressed it up and I’m ready to maybe get a little drinky poo and also a meal because it is now 7:45 p.m. Yeah, let’s do this. Before I left, I was checking Google Maps because my uh guest house Wi-Fi works fantastic, so I may as well use the Wi-Fi while I can. And I was looking at Google Maps and I thought, I wonder where the old town of Pharaoh is. And you know, I don’t think I’ve actually ever seen it or come to think about I’ve never actually gone looking for it. So, tonight we might go for a little adventure. See if we can find the old town of Faroh. What do you think? Yeah. And here we are in the bustling center of downtown Faroh. I’ve never been here before, but uh I think I should go exploring. I’m just waiting for a pasta. Now this says superb. Considering I had a super bulk at lunchtime, this ain’t superb walk. It’s probably high or something. Super pretty strong. That’s kind of what we’re doing. But anyway, Tira plan was to try and get to Tir tomorrow morning, then get here back to Faroh early enough to catch this ferry. I promised you it ain’t going to work. It just doesn’t work. So, it’s a case of going to Tavver or going on the ferry. And um the is going to always be there. The ferry will be there as well. There’s a reason why I wanted to include the ferry at the end of this video. You’ll be uh quite surprised to see this. So um yeah, I’ll have to come back and do the video for you at some point. But tomorrow it’s the ferry. Okie dokie. That was actually very nice tagelli. But um it wasn’t done quite the way the Italians would do it. It was not quite al dente enough. Slightly overcooked. But maybe that’s the Portuguese way of doing things. I’m going to wander around the town center here cuz like I said, I’ve never been to the town center of Pharaoh before. That’s dangerous. A couple of beers and uh I see electric scooters. Nah, not this time. Oh, now this looks beautiful. This must be the center of town. I was curious to know how much this hotel was per night. So, I went on to booking.com one week in advance. €253 per night. That’s not going to happen. Here in the Algar, they have a lot of these pedestrian level crossing kind of things. You just use your common sense and you cross over when it’s safe to do so. Can you imagine that? In the UK, they would have health and safety meltdown. I think the heat can drain you, especially when you’re not used to it. When you come from Scotland, you’re not used to this kind of heat. So, I’m actually drained 9:30 at night. Sadly, I might start heading back to the hotel. Good morning. Are you ready for a ferry ride? Yeah, let’s go. What a lovely morning. We are going to Pa de Faroh. Faroh beach. €235 one way. It takes about 40 minutes. And uh I plan to get the 9:30, but I’m here enough uh with time to get the 9:00. So I think we should get uh get moving. Huh. Slight confusion on the jetty. There’s like one very big queue, but it’s for three boats. Yeah, the biggest one is the the big boat there. Everyone’s going on that. I don’t know where that goes to, but it’s definitely not to the beach. 15 minutes to go. And there’s only me and two other people waiting to get on this bad boy. And this one here is a private private sailing. Welcome to Faroh Beach. There wasn’t much to film on that journey because it’s pretty flat. I mean, most of the land around here is about a meter above sea level. There wasn’t too much to film, but we’re here and we’re going to go exploring. And being 9:30, I’m going to find some breakfast. This is what I call a beach. And when I say this is a beach, I mean this is a beach. It just goes onto the horizon there and in the other direction on the horizon. This is a barrier island made up of sandunes and it just goes for miles and miles. I’ve only got about a mile and a half to walk, but I need to find some breakfast. Just looking at some of the houses here. Absolutely beautiful. I can think of worse places to live. Okie doie. Here’s the bridge that takes you over to the mainland. That’s the bus that goes to the airport and into the town center. But what I’m not seeing are places to have breakfast. I found a couple of cafes back there, but they were just basically selling drinks, and that was it really. I found a place. Omelette’s on its way. That was a nice omelette. Nice and simple. ham, cheese, uh, mushroom, and a latte to wash it down. Now I can take on Farrell Beach, but I don’t know if there’s a great deal to take on. It’s pretty quiet, pretty laidback, and based on the cleon tail from that cafe there, I think there’s a lot of retirees here. I think we should go up here and have a look at the beach again. And even if you’re That looks like a nice little cafe up there. May have to go there later. Uh for research information purposes, uh there is a bar. I know I’m letting down my nation of Scotland, but it’s only 10:30. A bit early for beer. Come on. Um but they do have a board you saw there, and they tell you the minimum maximum temperatures, high tide and low tide. And I thought that’s pretty efficient. a little cafe. This is a beautiful beach. Maybe not as beautiful as some of the beaches in Australia, for example, but it’s not bad. One thing I’ve noticed, there are very, very few people actually going into the water today. It looks a little bit choppy, but it’s swimmable. Uh, it was windy yesterday, so I think there’s a bit of a swell, but this is late August, so the water isn’t going to get any warmer. Uh, there’s someone back there thinking about it, and there’s someone there up to their knees. That’s about it, really. No, no, she’s decided not to go. So, the question is, what do you do if you’re not a sun worshipper and you come to a beach? I love beaches, by the way, but not for lying on and becoming brown. So, what do I do now? know that I’ve explored the beach for a while. I told you I was letting the team learn. To be honest, I expected Farrell Beach to have a little bit more life to it, but it’s um pretty quiet. I guess that’s the attraction. But there are a lot of retired people here. That’s for sure. And a lot of younger day trippers. I think that’s how it works. And I’ll tell you what, I thought there’d be a lot of kind of restaurants and bars and cafes and things. No, it’s mainly just cafes and that’s it. Pharaoh Beach is a sort of place where you have to slow down. You can arrive in a hurry, but you will have to slow down cuz that is the speed it operates at. It’s actually not a bad place to come to if you’ve got a late flight out of Faroh and you’re heading home. You could spend the day discovering the town center. But to be honest, I didn’t see a lot to justify an entire day there. That’s why they have so many restaurants and bars. But if you come here, you could come here by ferry. And the bus that goes from here to the airport also continues onto the city, etc. So, you could do a kind of a triangular route if you wanted to. Um, there is a regular bus, like I said, from here to the airport, but it’s only about 2 km thereabouts. So, I’m going to walk it. Um, I’ve got loads of time, but I’m going go for the walk and uh look for the scenery cuz I think I’ve just about exhausted all of the attractions here at Faroh Beach. Yeah, this side of the barrier island is the more child-friendly side. Nothing much happening here, but on the other side, loads of kids playing in the water. There’s no surf. That’s a place you go with kids. I am not known for doing things which are normal and this is a good example of it. Uh how many people in their right mind would want to walk 2 km from a beach to an airport? That sounds reasonable to me. The thing is the uh the path back there peters out and it becomes a bike track only. There is no way a pedestrian can walk this unless you want to walk on the other side of the road and that’s rather dangerous. At least I know I’m on the right road because uh that’s the restricted airport area behind that nasty looking fence. Why would someone randomly just dump a scooter here? There must be a geographical limit or something and this is it. Okay, I don’t feel quite so bad now. I just passed a woman heading in the opposite direction walking along this bike track and she bid me a hello. So, another mad British person and we’re on the outskirts of the airport area. In regards to this uh lane here, all the traffic seems to be away from the airport. I’ve been passed by someone on rollerblades. I’ve seen a jogger and someone on an e moped. So, anything goes on these. Right. Which way do I go for the terminal? I think it’s that way. This is where all the ebikes and scooters sleep for the night. And here we are somewhere exotic. The car park at Faroh airport with this Algarve adventure started 3 days ago. It’s been fun. It’s been hot work, but it’s been fun. And I wouldn’t like to come back. First couple of times I was here, I just scratched the surface. This time I did a more comprehensive check. Next time I would like to head into the hinterland and explore some of these hills which you can just see tantalizingly on the horizon. I’d love to go there and explore these hills. Anyway guys, thanks for coming along. Hope you enjoyed this little adventure. Have you been to the Algarve? Let me know what you think of the region. I think it’s absolutely wonderful. I’ll see you next time.

I travel east, west… and south to explore some old favourites and discover some new favourites too. Food, stunning beaches, lovely towns as well as trains and ferries. This is why people love the Algarve region.

Filmed August 2025 | Faro, Portugal.

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