Faro Airport to Faro Old Town
Only about 8 km from the terminal; the Próximo line 16 bus reaches central Faro in around 20 minutes, and a taxi or Uber is quick and cheap over such a short hop.
Faro Old Town, FaroArne Müseler / Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 deFaro's walled old town (Cidade Velha) sits behind the Arco da Vila gate — cobbled lanes, the cathedral and cloister, storks nesting on the rooftops, and the marina and lagoon a short walk away.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Faro Old Town, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €22). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €2.8) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €3 | €22 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €6 | €22 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €11 | €22 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €2.8, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
Fare is €2.80 paid to the driver, cash only. The bus takes a loop through Montenegro village, so it's slower than the direct road but ends right by Faro's bus terminal and old town.
Where to catch it: Walk out of arrivals, turn left past the short-stay car park; the stop is just beyond the kiss-and-fly drop-off.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
Metered at roughly €1.02/km within Faro, plus a €1.60 luggage charge — reckon on €15–18 to the old town. A small surcharge applies at night and on weekends.
Where to catch it: Marked taxi rank directly outside the arrivals hall; there's usually a line waiting outside peak times.
Best for small groups in a hurryTaxi
Often the cheapest door-to-door choice at around €7–10, but drivers get scarce in peak summer and fares surge — check the price before you confirm.
Where to catch it: Request the car and walk to the kiss-and-fly zone by the bus stop, where app pickups are allowed.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
A flat fare fixed when you book (about €22–30). Overkill for such a short ride unless you value skipping the rank with a lot of luggage.
Where to catch it: Your driver is waiting just inside the arrivals doors and walks you straight to the car, so there's no taxi queue.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsFaro Old Town & Faro in photos
Buying tickets in Faro
Faro airport is linked to the city by the Próximo bus, principally route 16 (with route 14) to the bus terminal and centre, taking about 20 minutes for a single fare of roughly €2.80 paid to the driver. The airport has no train station of its own; the nearest is Faro railway station in the centre, about 6-7 km away, from where regional trains serve the wider Algarve. Carry some cash for the bus, though contactless is increasingly accepted.
Taxi scams & safety in Faro
Faro is low-key, but still use the marked taxi rank outside arrivals rather than any driver approaching you. Metered taxis into Faro city are short, typically around €10-16, a little more at night, on weekends, or with luggage and tolls, so confirm the fare basis before setting off. Uber and Bolt both operate at Faro airport and are often cheaper and more transparent than a metered cab; request the car in the app and meet it at the designated ride-hail pickup point.
Getting from FAO to Faro Old Town
Of all the places people fly into Faro for, the Old Town is the one that barely counts as a journey. The walled Cidade Velha — the cathedral, the cloister, the storks on the rooftops and the Arco da Vila gate opening onto cobbled lanes — sits about 8 km east of the terminal, with the marina and the Ria Formosa lagoon a short walk beyond. You could be through the gate in a quarter of an hour. So if you skipped the resorts and pointed yourself at the city itself, the good news is simple: you're almost there. The only real decision is whether to spend €2.80 or ten-odd euros getting the last few kilometres, and this route is short enough that the answer rarely matters much.
Line 16 into town: €2.80, cash to the driver, roughly 20 minutes
The Próximo line 16 bus is the local workhorse and the cheapest way in. Walk out of arrivals, turn left past the short-stay car park, and the stop is just beyond the kiss-and-fly drop-off. The fare is a flat €2.80 paid to the driver, and it's cash only — sort out a few coins before you leave the terminal, because there's no card reader to fall back on. Buses run about every 15 minutes on weekday daytimes, dropping to roughly every 30 minutes in the evenings and at weekends, so a late arrival can mean a wait. The catch is the routing: line 16 loops through Montenegro village rather than taking the direct road, which stretches the 8 km into closer to 20 minutes. In exchange it ends right by Faro's bus terminal, a two-minute stroll from the Old Town gate — no connection, no second fare, no dragging cases across the city.
Taxi, Uber or Bolt for the door-to-door version
Over a hop this short, a car is quick and cheap enough that plenty of people skip the bus without a second thought. The marked taxi rank sits directly outside arrivals, usually with cabs waiting outside the peak hours. Fares are metered at about €1.02 per kilometre within Faro, plus a €1.60 luggage charge, which works out to somewhere around €15 to €18 for the old town — call it twelve minutes on the direct road. A small surcharge kicks in at night and on weekends, so a red-eye landing costs a little more.
Uber and Bolt tend to undercut the rank, often landing near €7 to €10 for the same ride, which makes app pickup the cheapest door-to-door option most of the time. Order the car and walk to the kiss-and-fly zone beside the bus stop, where app collections are allowed. The one thing to watch is high summer: drivers thin out when the charter flights pile in, and fares surge, so glance at the quoted price before you confirm — on a busy August afternoon the app can briefly cost more than the metered cab at the rank.
Does a pre-booked transfer make sense over 8 km?
A private transfer puts a driver inside the arrivals doors who walks you straight to the car with no rank to queue for — genuinely useful if you've landed with a stack of cases, a pushchair and a tired group in tow. Welcome Pickups and the local Algarve firms charge a flat fare fixed when you book, roughly €22 to €30, which holds whatever time you touch down. That said, be honest with yourself about the distance: for a twelve-minute ride you can already cover for €7 to €18, the transfer premium mostly buys you the convenience of not thinking about it. Over such a short hop it's overkill unless heavy luggage or a fixed price genuinely settles your nerves. Save the pre-booked car for the longer runs out to Albufeira or Lagos, where the flat fare actually undercuts a metered taxi and the time saved is real.
Which to pick when you land
If you're travelling light and don't mind carrying coins, take line 16 — €2.80 and it drops you at the gate. If it's late, the bus gaps have stretched to half an hour, or you just want to be in a wine bar in the Cidade Velha as fast as possible, open Bolt or Uber and expect single figures, or grab a metered cab at the rank for a predictable €15 to €18. Whichever you choose, one bus fare or one short taxi is the whole trip: no train to find (Faro's station is in the city, not at the airport), no changes, no connections. For once, the getting-there is the easy part.
