VacationSelector
The Explanada de España, Alicante
AlicanteThe Explanada de España
A jetty on the lagoon, Faro
FaroA jetty on the lagoon

Photos: Alicante by Emilio Sánchez Hernández, Pexels License; Faro by Efrem Efre, Pexels License.

Alicante or Faro?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Alicante for

  • nightlife
  • food and drink
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Alicante’s own page.

Choose Faro for

Faro does not lead in any category we score.

What lies behind each score is written up on Faro’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Alicante 82, Faro 74: Alicante leads by 8 points.
Food & drink. Alicante 67, Faro 48: Alicante leads by 19 points.
Culture & sights. Alicante 46, Faro 35: Alicante leads by 11 points.
Nightlife. Alicante 60, Faro 32: Alicante leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Alicante 63, Faro 62: Alicante leads by 1 points.
Day trips. Alicante 72, Faro 64: Alicante leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Alicante 68, Faro 60: Alicante leads by 8 points.
Getting around. Alicante 66, Faro 60: Alicante leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Alicante 44, Faro 35: Alicante leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Alicante and Faro are level on 60.
Live music & performing arts. Alicante 37, Faro 30: Alicante leads by 7 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Alicante 40, Faro 33: Alicante leads by 7 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Alicante and Faro.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Alicante
Best match
59match

Wins on nightlife and food and drink with your weighting.

Faro
49match

Has no clear advantage with the weighting you have chosen.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Alicante in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
3 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Faro in July

29 °Cdaytime high
20 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
21 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
AlicanteFaro

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Alicante: 1991-2020 normals, Alicante (2.8 km from centre). Faro: 1991-2020 normals, Faro / Aeroporto (2.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlicanteFaro
Official languageSpanishPortuguese
CurrencyEuro (EUR)Euro (EUR)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzCF230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC, UTC+1 in summer
Emergency number112112
Elevation3 m10 m
Main airportAlicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC)10 km from centre126 non-stop destinationsFaro - Gago Coutinho International Airport (FAO)3 km from centre91 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days14 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlicanteFaro
City population366,22164,560
People per km²1,819319
Museums within 10 km82
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Alicante or Faro somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.