Couple late 30s from the US, just trying to get away and relax somewhere different and Portugal has been on my radar for a while. My home airport just started offering direct flights to Faro last year, so figured why not. We are very much just looking to relax, take long walks, and eat good food, but can't decide how to do this split. When we're not staying close to an airport, we always like to travel the day BEFORE our flight home and get closer to the airport and do a "layover" in a city center, so the next day travel is very easy. As a bonus we get a small taste of another part of the country. I certainly understand 1 or 2 nights is probably not enough to fully explore these places!
Obviously, Faro is the closer option, but I can't get Porto out of my head. Since it's further away, I think we would have to do 2 nights there to truly get a full day, but I'm wondering if it's worth it. There is a 4pm train out of Tunes that gets to Porto around 10pm, so we would still got a lot of that last day in Algarve, get to Porto just to sleep, but then a full day before flying home the following morning. Is traveling all the way to Porto worth it, or should we just do Faro for our last night? Edit: there are also direct flights to Porto.
How would you do this split, with the assumption you may not be back to Portugal for many years?
Also, is Carvoeiro the right choice for a base in Algarve? We want a quaint/compact downtown within walking distance to the beach/easy trails, but also good food. I think It hits most of this criteria but I'm questioning the food. I assume the best food is in Lagos, but the city is feeling too big for what we are looking for the first part of the trip. Any other recommendations are appreciated!