Walking tours and lightweight backpacking are the best ways to discover Faro, an earnest Portuguese provincial capital. Best of all is the old walled town with quiet, cobbled streets and blocks of 16th, 17th, and 18th century buildings. Follow the 'centro' signs to the Praca D. Francisco Gomes next to the peaceful harbor. Here honeymooners enjoy the romantic gardens of Manuel Bivar, at the end of which stands the Vila do Arco. Stepping through this imposing archway into the old quarter transports visitors to a time of Portuguese medieval castles and conquests.

Portugal's lavishly adorned Nossa Senhora do Carmo church is an experience not to be missed -- its unique bone chapel contains the skeletal remains of as many as 30,000 former monks. One interpretation of the inscription over the doorway is "Stop here and think of the fate that will befall you."

A small 13th-century cathedral was probably built on the historical site of a Moorish mosque. Near this is an 18th-century Episcopal palace and the current town hall. Faro's Archaeological and Lapidary Museum, a former convent, is full of fascinating artifacts from prehistoric to modern times. Vasco da Gama's ship, Sao Gabriel, is harbored within Faro's Maritime Museum, which also has an elaborate tuna-catching trap. Faro's Ethnological Museum inspires insight into the traditional lifestyles of this region.

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