Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
O Castelo
(Rua do Castelo 11; 11am-4am winter, from 10am summer)
Introducing Faro's smart O Castelo,
which doesn't miss a beat. It's all things to all people: a bar-restaurant-nightclub- perform-
ance space. Start your day here with a coffee, grab a light meal or cheese platter with san-
gria for lunch, or take in the summer sunsets over a cocktail. In summer the outside
morphs into a party and performance space and there are regular concerts. Its location, al-
most 'on' the historic walls of the old town, is superb.
BAR, PERFORMING ARTS
Teatro Lethes
( 289 820 300;
www.teatrolethes.pt
;
Rua Lethes)
This tiny and exquisite Italianate theatre hosts
drama, music and dance performances. Adapted into a theatre in 1874 (from a building
dating to 1603), it was once the Jesuit Colégio de Santiago Maior. Ask the tourist office
for a list of what's on; outside performance times knock at the door. Other performances
are often held in the modern Teatro Figuras.
THEATRE
GETTING YOUR HEAD (& BODY) AROUND THE ALGARVE
The Algarve - both coastal and inland - comprises different areas. The coastline itself is 155km long and can be
roughly categorised into distinct areas: the leeward coast (Sotavento), from Vila Real de Santo António to Faro, is
largely fronted by a chain of sandy offshore
ilhas
(islands); the central coast, from Faro to Portimão, features the
heaviest resort development; the increasingly rocky windward coast (or Barlavento), from Lagos to Sagres, cul-
minates in the wind-scoured grandeur of the Cabo de São Vicente, Europe's southwesternmost corner; the Costa
do Ouro (Golden Coast) borders the Costa de Sagres (Bay of Sagres), while the Costa Vicentina stretches for
110km north of Sagres and is part of the windy, wild national park, Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e
Costa Vicentina. Elsewhere, in the hilly, thickly green interior, are two high mountain ranges, the Serra de
Monchique and less-visited Serra do Caldeirão.
Information
EMERGENCY & MEDICAL SERVICES
289 892 000;
www.hpalg.com
; Urb Casal de Gambelas, Lote 2, Gambelas)
A private
Hospital de Gambelas
(
hospital.
Police Station
( 289 822 022; Rua da Polícia de Segurança Pública 32)
Around 100m southeast of Praça
da Liberdade, before the Youth Hostel.
INTERNET ACCESS
