Next summer, we plan to fly into Faro, Portugal, and stay there for about 4 days before driving to Costa delSol. What is there to see in Faro? What other towns would you suggest we visit in Portugal? How are their beaches?

Has no one been to Faro??

With great respect for you one reason you may not have gotten many responses is that Faro is somewhat off the beaten path for most folks I suspect. Furthermore, the question arises as to why would someone fly into such a place unless they wanted to go there for some specific reason? That said, I guess it seems odd that you would make these arrangements and then be forced to ask what there is to do.
I'm not trying to be flippant or critical...just being honest. If you don't get answers here you might start by looking at the following website (there is an English version)
http://viajar.clix.pt/pt/dst3266.php

Didn't stay in Faro, but I was nearby in Albufeira. The beaches in that part are nice and some, like Praia De Rocha, have interesting rock formations scattered throughout the beach. Some nice little towns along the way, like Albufeira.

We stayed at the Sheraton Algarve, which is a large resort property, about 40 Km from Faro. Pricey, for the area, but well worth it.

One note you may want to be aware of, a bartender at out hotel was telling me that he found it much cheaper to fly into and out of Seville, Spain than either Faro or Lisbon. Under European driving rules, Faro and Seville are about 2 hours apart.

Intrepid - I think this is why I am posting this message. I want to get suggestions (thanks Ryan). We want to be in Malaga the 3rd week of August for their fair, so we need to do Portugal first. The only city I know of in Portugal that is on the coast is Faro. Furthermore, with great respect, I am really beginning to wonder about this board.

As many people here know, I do long trips in Europe, often as much as 5 months at a time. I am a total planner and nearly always have every night booked. I generally do a lot of research and find that I rarely make mistakes about how long I will want to stay in a particular place.

That said, one of the few times I was ever wrong was planning two nights in Faro. We arrived about noon, saw everything we wanted to see, found the place a total bore, and checked out the next day -- one day less than planned. However, I should add that I'm a Floridian and not into going to the beaches at all -- so there was no reason to stay there for that for me.

Thanks Patrick - then what towns would you suggest in Portugal that are not too far from Spain? I was looking at the Sheraton Algarve, and since Ryan said it was nice, guess we will stay there and just tour around. We will have a car. Would Lisbon be too far?

If you do fly into Faro, it would be fine to spend your first night there. It's a pleasant little town with nice pedestrian areas. You could recove from jetlag then be on your way to the Algarve. i wouldn't spend more than one night there but it's not awful. Just small and not surrounded by a lot of other interesting places.

Sorry, I'm not much of a Portugal expert having only been there once. My favorite town was Porto. Sintra was also nice. Lisbon isn't exactly close, but we drove from Lisbon to Faro and as I mentioned above arrived in Faro before lunch, so it isn't all that far. Actually, when we left Faro early we went to Cadiz, Spain, and loved it!!

loritaly--- I assure you I have no desire or intent to appear critical, but one can't help to think why would anybody post "I am going to XYZ. Tell me why". You ask for suggestions in Portugal, but offer little to no range as to who are "we", why do you "have to go to Portugal", or what does "we" mostly enjoys of a vacation destination.

that said.....I spent some time in Northern Portugal, in a town called Viana do Castelo and enjoyed a very relaxing, beautiful beach called Efife. Strongly recommend both.

I spent 2 weeks in Faro and the Algarve in general. Some of the beaches are flanked by 100 ft. high golden cliffs. Best of all I found the Portugesse people to be very friendly and in one case a local went so far out of his way to help me I couldn't believe it. He asked for nothing in return. You will enjoy the area and the people without a doubt.

Oh Maria, please tell me how to word my posts correctly.

Thanks to those who understood me. Cadiz is another place on our list of towns to see.

loritaly-- If I may, it's Maira, not Maria (hope you don't mind).