Faro Old Town: food tour, wine and tapas, Segway or a plain walk?
Updated October 18, 2026 · 6 min read
Most people come to Faro for the lagoon and the islands, and leave the town itself for the free hour before the airport. That undersells it. The Old Town is a walled quarter small enough to cover on foot, and it is the one place on this coast where a guide can add something you cannot read off a sign. The question is whether it is worth paying for one, and which kind.
What is on offer
The guided options fall into three groups: food walks, wine and tapas tours, and the Segway rides. They overlap in the streets they cover and differ in what you do there.
Food walks. The Old Town guided walking food tour lasts three hours and costs €98 per person (4.9 stars, 111 reviews). The operator describes a crash course in Portuguese gastronomy and local history, with four restaurants and traditional food from the Eastern Algarve. A second option, the food tour with 10 tastings, is 2.5 hours at €124.56 with drinks and city highlights, a small group and local wine and beer. It has only four reviews, so there is not much to go on.
Tapas and wine. The Portuguese tapas guided tour costs €88 for three hours (4.8 stars, 125 reviews) and the operator says the products come from various regions of Portugal, not only the Algarve. The city-centre wine tasting and tapas tour is €98 for 3.5 hours at four venues (4.7 stars, 40 reviews).
Segway. The Cultural Faro Segway tour lasts 90 minutes and costs €64 (4.9 stars, 72 reviews). The operator names Largo da Sé, the 18th-century Jewish cemetery and the Arco de Repouso among the stops. There are also evening versions with cocktails at a local bar: the sunset Segway tour at €65 (5 stars, 11 reviews) and the night Segway tour at €80 (4.9 stars, 16 reviews).
Side by side
| Tour | Duration | Price per person | Rating | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Town walking food tour | 3 hours | €98 | 4.9 (111) | Four restaurants, history |
| Portuguese tapas tour | 3 hours | €88 | 4.8 (125) | Wine and tapas |
| Wine tasting and tapas at 4 venues | 3.5 hours | €98 | 4.7 (40) | City centre |
| Food tour with 10 tastings | 2.5 hours | €124.56 | 4.9 (4) | Small group, drinks |
| Cultural Faro Segway tour | 1.5 hours | €64 | 4.9 (72) | Monuments, by Segway |
Is it worth the money?
These are not cheap tours. At €88 to €125 per person, a food walk costs more than most of the boat trips in our guides. Part of that is food: check on the booking page how much is included before you decide whether it replaces a meal. If you only want to see the Old Town, a Segway ride at €64 for 90 minutes covers more ground for less, and it is the better pick if the heat or tired legs rule out three hours on foot.
The case for the food walk is that it combines two things: the history of the town and a meal chosen by someone local. The tapas tour puts the weight on wine and small plates instead, and it is the cheaper of the two.
When to just walk
If you have an hour and no appetite for a group, walk it. The Old Town is a walled quarter, so it is easy to see where it starts and ends. The small boat tour with a local guide passes the Old Town walls from the water, and one hour on a boat plus one on foot is a short but complete first look at Faro.
If your plan is the other kind of day, the lagoon and the islands, go to the Ria Formosa islands instead and keep the evening for dinner in town.
For food beyond the Old Town, there is the Olhão fish market and food tour at €94 for four hours (4.5 stars, 15 reviews), built around the Mercado de Olhão.
All of these are collected under Faro Old Town and food tours.
