Faro

Was there last June with wife. Not on a bike trip. Nothing much to see and all day to see it in. A market on the road for visitors and that was about it. Nice viewpoints down to sea nearby.
No mountains in the vicinity for a scenic drive. If you travel to nearby towns, you may see large hotels, small hotels, hotels in every colour under the sun, and that's about it.
 
Been every year since 2004. Is certainly worth a look at least once. It is hot, the camping area is very dusty and the toilets sometimes leave a bit to be desired. I know people who have been and vowed never to go again, but for myself and a group of like minded friends it gets under your skin and if you treat it for what it is it can be a good experience.
For 45 euro entry fee you get camping, entry to competitions, T-shirt, badge, food vouchers for selected meals and occasionly a free gift. It does get very busy on site but bearing in mind there can be around 15,000 people there (+/-) there is very little trouble. A lot of punters fly down..Faro airport is a 10 minute walk to site but i prefer to ride there. If your choice is to ride assuming you give it a go i can recommend some great campsites.
If you want an insight to Rally enter Faro Rally on You-tube and also Moto Club Faro on f/book.
 
+1 on above probably met the op above, as been there over 20 times as used to live close to Faro, take it for what it is, a great blast, pissed as a newt every-night, cool music, take no clothes as not worth it, old teeshirt, shorts and a pair of boots to walk around in, it is dry dusty, and take some bog roll, if you are staying inside, as the loos run out quick, people are about the friendliest you will ever meet, trouble virtually non existent as they have their own security, all serving Commandos, and outside you have the GNR Police, close by walking distance is Faro beach, some nice fish restaurants, and good views to Ria Formosa nature reserve, you can have a trip from Faro marina on a little boat, you have a free bus just outside the petrol station facing the airport, and as op above says, go and judge for yourself, groups vary year to year, Iron Maiden was hard to beat, billy Idol was ok also.
 
I can only echo hairysteve`s comments Faro is like Marmite, you`ll either love it or hate it.
I too have been a regular for many years, and even won the raffle prize of the holiday to daytona in 2006 (the 25th year).
The rally has suffered a decline in the last 10yrs with the number of attendees declining, and the lack of top headline bands being the most obvious due the economic situation across Europe. In the early year we would stay over for the sunday night club party, but the drunken antics of a lot of people especially Brits travelling with a tour organised by a particular custom bike magazine put paid to non club members being allowed to attend the event on sunday, with both the club itself and locals actively detering anyone staying over on the sunday, services such as water and toilets stop being maintained from sunday afternoon. so we generally pack up the bikes sunday morning, then once the event closes at 3pm move offsite, many move to the campsites at Quatiera or Ohlao.
The Food on the Faro rally site is somewhat dissapointing and with use of any form of cooking stove frowned upon, its recommended that you consider spending your time offsite stopping off at a local resturant, which there are many over near the University, or theres a food hall at the forum Algarve where even a basic Bitoque can be found. Other cafes etc can be found across the main road in Montengro. Many of us can be found frequenting a cafe/Resturant just off site that we call "Tatianas" on Rua Auqullino Riberio a 5-10 min walk from the campsite, with Wednesday night being the time that we gather there for a few beers prior to the official rally start. Its possible to ride to faro without camping gear and buy whatever you need for the duration of the rally at the Jumbo supermarket (www.jumbo.pt) down at the forum algarve
As an anicdote post Faro many brits heading north to the ferry, stop off at Chaves the weekend after where their rally is held alongside the river https://www.facebook.com/cmotardchaves There are other Portuguese rallies worthy of consideration such as Gois http://www.goismotoclube.pt/ (which is the 2nd largest rally in Portugal) held 15-19 August.
As most Portuguese clubs hold their rallies on the same weekend each year its easy to plan a tour of rallies both pre and post Faro if thats your thing, a list of Rallies can be found at http://motardfm.org/calendario-de-concentracoes-e-eventos-motards/ and http://fmp-live.pt/ A lot of the portuguese clubs also have active Facebook pages where detailed info of each event can be found, just check out the Friends of Moto clube faro on FB, and you should find links to many other clubs.
 
With reference to above comments, i did actually travel to Faro rally with said custom bike magazines organized trip from 2004-11 and never to my knowledge had any issues with staying over for after rally party but having said that i only did it once in '04 due to having to leave for return trip. Altho' as mentioned the toilets cease to be serviced from Sunday am and there is very little to do on site but there is a huge Sunday ride out through Faro itself headed by the Moto Club Faro President. The beach and other attractions are still there when rally winding down so still plenty to do...
We do have a relaxing few days at Camping Olhao afterwards before heading to Camping Markadia and several other sites en route to Santander for boat home.
Approach the trip/rally with an open mind and you may find it a great experience even if you only go once..
 
Just a simple thought as well, if you are riding all the way down there, either have new tyres and oil, as it is bloody warm on the way down, and you leave plenty of gum on the road being loaded up, and given that there is loads of Police on the roads at that time, you will not be riding much if you have been on the lash, so just fly in, loads do, it is only 500 metres from the airport, get off the plane head to petrol station on the left, the site is just around the corner 300 metre walk towards the beach, then your first beer as you walk in to get your tickets, although the bands have gone down a bit, it still is a bloody good Thursday till Sunday, you can stay till Monday no problem at all, then fly home, but book flights now as otherwise, you will pay treble, you can also fly in to Lisbon, get a hire car and drive down the A1 then the A22 its about 3 hour quiet drive, then leave the car parked at the back of the airport until you need it.
 
The best part of Faro rally is the journey, do the EN2
19966266_QkFtR.png
 
Went to this last year, still recovering from it lol We was trying to relocate 2up and came across the festival completely by accident. Was amazing, something like 36k bikes on the last official day and we were there till Tuesday in hammocks. Flying in is popular because its literally over the road, but the journey is so good, some of them roads are wow... plus get to do picos twice and you just skip in the free motorhome carparks on the way down if you want a good spec, everyone just leaves their tent and stuff after. Bands were good, so were the strippers, food, strippers, most people we met were awesome, even had a few bike gangs kicking off with the police before it started this year at the beach, was very entertaining gorgeous weather, so many different bikes from mopeds, trials, tourers, to sidecars, choppers, tons of beemers etc etc I'd go again
 
The best part of Faro rally is the journey, do the EN2
19966266_QkFtR.png
Theres a portuguese language guide book I`d recommend for the Estrada Nacional 2 http://ascari.pt/prod_detalhes.php?prodid=7204 which has recently been updated with a 2nd edition.
Although its written in Portuguese its easy to follow, there are detailed maps, tourist info, places to see, lists of accomodation, resturants etc listed along the way km by Km.
I`ve been badgering the publishers to get it translated into english, especially since it was recently mentioned on an American daytime TV show.
The publishers have also published a couple of other similar guidebooks for other areas of Portugal

As for the Faro Rally, theres more to it than just the trip there and back, this is where flying in/out doesnt do it justice
 


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