Fuseta, Portugal - A Travel Guide
What started out as a last minute trip chosen mainly because of the reasonably priced flights & Airbnb turned out to be the mini break of our dreams & just what our souls needed to fully re-charge. If you're looking for a quiet get away with warm weather, delicious food, beautiful beaches & all at an affordable price without having to travel for 16+ hours to get there (& let's face it, who isn't?) Fuseta may just be the place for you!
In this blog I'll be focusing on location/ getting around, things to do/ see & food & drink - I'll add costings into each section where applicable.
The exchange rate at time of writing is £1 = 1 euro 16 cent
Please note at the time of travel/ writing (May 2023) the prices & exchange rates that I've given are as accurate as possible but these are of course subject to change. Prices p/p are based on adult prices.
Location/ Getting Around
To get to Fuseta from the UK my partner & I took the two & a half hour flight from London Gatwick to Faro airport in Portugal. From there we simply used the Uber app to jump in a taxi & within 30 minutes we had arrived in Fuseta, a small fishing town found in Portugal's Algarve.
With an approximate population of around 2000 people Fuseta is pretty small & this is one of the things that makes it so wonderful. Everything within the town itself is walkable. Our Airbnb was literally 400m from one of the beaches & some of the restaurants were even closer. There are tour boat & ferry connections at the fishing docks with a regular timetable taking you to neighbouring beaches & other towns including Olhão & Tavira.
Fuseta is made up of quaint cobbled streets lined with beautifully tiled houses, each one unique. The town is a little run down in places but in all honesty this just adds to it's overall character. The main parts we frequented in our short stay in Fuseta were the beaches, the square & the fishing dock as these seemed the places with best access to activities, food & drink.
- Return Flights London Gatwick to Faro Portugal = £67.74 p/p (hand luggage only)
- Airbnb = £234.11 (4 nights)
- Uber to/from Faro Airport to Fuseta = £20-25 (standard car)
- Return Ferry to Neighbouring Beaches = Approx. 2 euro 50 cent p/adult
Day One
On our first day in Fuseta we spent a slow morning at our Airbnb settling in, only leaving at first to seek out a local corner shop
(or mini mercado) to grab the breakfast essentials. We spent around £35 on produce enough us both for breakfast & snacks for four days & a dinner which we cooked in our Airbnb on the first night. We bought items such as tomatoes, avocados, eggs, milk, bread, seafood mix, pasta & coconut milk. In all honesty we over bought slightly as we ended up leaving a few bits for the next Airbnb guests. For all my plant based friends out there, I was super impressed with the range of plant milks available in store.
After breakfast we took a stroll along the fishing docks. This is a wonderful place to sit & watch the boats come & go & the walk along the docks brings you to Praia de Fuseta Ria Beach, with it's thatched umbrellas, warm tides & crystal clear water it's an absolute delight. We enjoyed walking along the shore looking for hermit crabs, shells & fish & saw the infamous old lifeguard station. The beach was quiet & the waves practically non-existent.
We followed our beach walk with a fruity cocktail at Fuseta's only beach bar Borda d'Agua. My partner Jake went for a delicious passionfruit cocktail whilst I opted for a large glass of sangria. Unfortunately my drink wasn't as good as expected & the prices here were a fair bit higher than all the other restaurants we visited during our stay. The service was good & the view/ vibe nice, however you're definitely paying for location with this place. Two cocktails cost us £13.93/ 16 euro.
When we'd finished our cocktails, it was already late afternoon & an hour or so rain showers had been forecast, so we made our way back to our Airbnb where we spent the evening reading & relaxing, listening to music & cooking ourselves a yummy seafood pasta with the food we bought from the mini super market.
Day Two
Breakfast on the roof terrace of our Airbnb with the morning sun shining down upon us was the perfect way to see in our second day. Once we were fully awake, fed & caffeinated we decided to spend the morning out on the water by renting a kayak.
We opted for a glass bottom kayak to make the most of the clear waters for fish spotting. It was 45 euro for two people for two hours plus another 50 euro deposit (which had to be paid in cash) that we got back upon return to the rental site. In hindsight we probably did more fish spotting once we got across to the island opposite rather than whilst in the kayak itself so taking one of the regular kayaks for a slightly cheaper option might be preferable. The staff at the rental site (which is found by the ferry & fishing dock) were helpful & the company also offers other activities such as dolphin observation trips, snorkelling & romantic meals for two on an island.
Lunch on our second day was probably my favourite meal of the entire trip. We stopped at Maresia, a restaurant just inland from the docks where, like many of the hospitality venues in Fuseta, they serve seafood. As Fuseta is a fishing village the seafood here is some of the freshest & most varied you can imagine & this meal didn't disappoint. I opted for the stone bass which was seasoned perfectly & easy to eat as it had very few bones. It was served on sourdough bread with new potatoes & salad all included in the cost & it was honestly divine. I washed my meal down with a pint of Super Bock, a Portuguese beer which was light & tasty. I don't have the exact prices for this meal as we paid with the cash from our kayak deposit but I remember having a fair bit of change left over. Approx. cost 12-18 euro p/p for main meal & drink.
Because we'd filled out on a delicious late lunch at Maresia, we opted for tapas for dinner. Fuzeta Do Nik, found in the square of the village was in my opinion an underrated gem & our second best meal of the trip. The king prawns were to die for & the goats cheese & honey was mouth-wateringly good too! A cute spot for sharing a meal, diving deep into conversation whilst soaking up the mild evening air under the fairy lights in the cobble stone square. We had around five tapas dishes between us (not including the complimentary bread & olives you're given upon arrival) plus two glasses of wine (around 1 - 2.50 euro p/glass) & two coffees (1 euro p/cup) which came to £21 or 24 euro between us. Great value for money, super chilled vibe & the staff were lovely!
Earlier in the day when passing by the docks we spotted a sign for live music in one of the bars which peaked our curiosity, so naturally we just had to go & check it out! A few times a week Bar O'Fuzeta hosts different live acts & this night we got the chance to see Domingo & Amigos perform, a large group of musicians, some of which were only teenagers, jamming out to old school rock. Every few songs, the group would switch up who was playing which instrument, showing just how talented the members were as they played classics from bands such as The Rolling Stones, ACDC & Deep Purple. When we arrived most of the audience (a mix of locals & holiday makers) were seated, drink in hand, but by the end of the two hour set nearly everyone was up on their feet dancing in the street. It was honestly such an unexpected fun night full of laughter, great music & connection. We got ourselves two drinks each at this bar which was plenty given that they free pour spirits (something to note if you're watching your intake). One G&T will set you back seven euro which is pretty reasonable considering half the glass is full of booze. It's helpful to note the bar is cash only & we did unfortunately find some of the staff here a little rude however this didn't detract from our evening & we'd still recommend checking this band out if you're about when they're playing!
Day Three
Another slow morning at our Airbnb was followed by a ferry trip to the neighbouring island beach of Praia Da Fuzeta. The ferry departed regularly from the fishing docks & took around 5-10 minutes to get there, costing 2 euro 50 cent p/p return. On the way we sailed past local fishermen & farmers hard at work in the water. Once we stepped off the boat & walked up the boardwalk on the island I was actually speechless for a minute when I saw the beach. The sand was white, the water turquoise & sparkling in the golden sun & best of all there were barely any other people in sight.
The water was a little colder on this side, as it was coming in directly from the North Atlantic Ocean, but that didn't stop us skinny dipping as if it were our own private beach! Honestly this has to be one of the most glorious beach experiences of my life so far, calm, clear waters, beautiful shells scattered amongst warm white sand stretching seemingly forever into the distance & enough space with so few people it felt like we had the entire beach to ourselves.
The only down side was there were no food & drink facilities open when we were there. We did see what looked like a small café on a part of the beach near the boardwalk entrance however it wasn't open. This may be down to the fact that we went in late May, slightly off season & so we presume that there may be facilities open in the busier Summer period. We would recommend packing a light lunch/ snacks to take with you & plenty of water so you can make a day of it, whether the café is open or not, as the only reason we left after a few hours was because we were hungry & hadn't bought food with us!
For lunch we headed back to the village square where we had hoped to try out another of the restaurants on offer, however many of the establishments in Fuseta close around 2/3pm (& then re-open around 6/7pm for dinner) so our options were limited. We ended up returning for tapas at Fuzeta Do Nik for another round for deliciousness. Our meal came to £19/ 21 euro 21 cent for both of us, again including around 4-5 tapas dishes, a small beer & a coffee.
A relaxing few hours was then spent on our Airbnb roof terrace before heading back out for our last dinner in Fuseta. We'd saved Casa Corvo until last as from looking at the google reviews this seemed to be the best place in town. I must say we were underwhelmed by our meal here which was a little disappointing after all the hype of the online reviews. The pâté starter came in a ready packaged tin (not what we had expected from somewhere with five star reviews) & the octopus main, whilst generous in portion size for it's 15 euro price tag, was under seasoned & unexciting. The staff were friendly, the atmosphere pleasant & I wouldn't rule out going here again, I'm just not sure it met the standard we'd expected from the online reviews. We shared the octopus main which came with a side of new potatoes, green beans & salad all for 15 euro. It's also good to note that because the seafood is all caught fresh each day they may not have all items available every day.
In short, Fuseta was the mini break destination I'd always needed, but didn't know existed. It ticks so many boxes: warm weather? check. Quiet & peaceful? check. Good value for money? check. Beautiful scenery? check. Easy to get to/ around? check! I could just go on & on, so if you like your holidays to be hot, emersed in quiet surroundings & full of friendly people with delicious local cuisine, stunning beaches and all at a reasonable cost, then Fuseta is the place for you. We stayed for four nights & three full days but could easily have stayed for a week or more. I'd say around 7- 10 days would be just enough time to fully embrace the relaxed atmosphere & experience all this sleepy town has to offer. My visit to Fuseta has definitely sparked a love for Portugal & a desire to explore more of what this gorgeous country has to offer.
Have you been to Fuseta, or are you heading there soon? I'd love to hear your thoughts & recommendations in the comments.
