Lagos

Overview

Lagos is the Algarve town that has everything the region sells within a walk: a walled old town of cobbled streets and bars, a marina, the golden sands of Meia Praia on one side and the sculpted cliffs, grottoes and coves of the Ponta da Piedade on the other, and the wild west coast half an hour away. It is one of the most visited places in the country, loud in summer, and a real town of 33,000 the rest of the year.

It also carries the heaviest history on the coast. Henry the Navigator’s expeditions down the African shore left from here in the 15th century, the shipyards built the caravels, and in 1444 the first slave market in modern Europe opened on the square by the harbour; the Portuguese town gave its name to the Nigerian city. The 1755 tsunami levelled it, which is why the old town is 18th-century inside medieval walls.

Neighbourhoods

The old town

Inside the walls on the west bank of the Bensafrim: the pedestrian streets of restaurants, tapas bars, surf shops and pubs, the churches and the museums, and most of the hostels and small hotels; everything is within ten minutes. It is the place to stay and the place that is loud in July and August.

The marina and Meia Praia

Across the footbridge on the east bank are the marina with its resort hotel, the railway station and the road along Meia Praia, quieter and newer, with the long beach for the reason.

The cliff road

South of the old town the road to the Ponta da Piedade runs past the cove beaches, villas and apartment hotels; it is a 20-minute walk from the centre to the lighthouse.

See & do

The Ponta da Piedade

The headland south of the town is the reason Lagos is on postcards: yellow-gold rock eroded into stacks, arches and sea caves up to 20 m high, with a lighthouse of 1913 on top and a stairway down to the water where boatmen wait. Walk the cliff path out from the town past the Praia da Batata and Praia Dona Ana, take a small boat or a kayak through the grottoes, and come back for sunset.

The old town

The Mercado de Escravos, a small building on the Rua da Senhora da Graça that was later a customs house, has since 2016 been a museum of the slave trade that began here in 1444, told through screens and audio. The church of Santo António next to the municipal museum is a baroque box of gilt carving; the church of São Sebastião has a small bone chapel and a bell tower whose view is worth the €2; the Forte da Ponta da Bandeira guards the harbour mouth with an exhibition inside; and the 1924 market hall on the Avenida dos Descobrimentos sells the morning’s fish.

Beaches

Praia da Batata is across the road from the old town; Dona Ana and the coves under the cliffs on the way to the point are small, sheltered and full by noon; Meia Praia, across the river beyond the marina and the station, is the long one, kilometres of sand with room for everyone. Dolphin trips, kayak tours and the grotto boats leave from the marina and the harbour front.

Food & drink

Lagos eats fish and, increasingly, everything else: the cataplana and grilled tuna in the family restaurants of the old town, pork rojões, and a wave of tapas bars, burrito joints, Nepalese noodle houses and burger bars that serve the surf and hostel crowd. A six-table tapas bar that takes bookings only, a courtyard restaurant on the Rua Lançarote de Freitas with a changing menu that many call the best in town, and a steakhouse on the same street are the ones people book. The sweet is the Dom Rodrigo, the town’s own confection of egg threads, sugar and almond from the Carmo convent.

Nightlife

Lagos has the liveliest summer nightlife in the Algarve after Albufeira, and unlike Albufeira’s it is inside a pretty old town: the pubs and bars of the pedestrian streets run late, the hostels organise the bar crawls, and the beach bars at Meia Praia take the afternoon. Out of season the same streets are quiet by midnight.

When to go

June to September. Warm, dry and full: the cove beaches are packed by late morning, the grotto boats queue, the old town is a party and rooms need booking well ahead.

April to May, October. The cliff walks and the kayaking at their best, the water cool, the town lively without the crush.

November to March. Mild, with big Atlantic swells on the west coast for surfers and strong winds off the ocean; many bars and some hotels close, and the light on the cliffs is at its clearest.

Getting there

By train. Lagos is the western end of the Algarve line: six trains a day from Faro take about 1 h 50 via Loulé, Albufeira, Tunes, Silves and Portimão, four of them connecting at Tunes with trains from Lisbon for a four-hour journey, and one a day runs direct from Porto via Coimbra and Lisbon. The station is on the east bank by the marina; cross the footbridge to the old town.

By air and road. Faro airport is 75 km east, about an hour on the A22, now toll-free, or slower on the old N125 through Alvor, Portimão and Carvoeiro; intercity coaches from Lisbon, Faro and Porto use the bus station.

Getting around

Walk; the town is small and the beaches and the headland are on foot. City buses are in Google Maps and take cash on board, Bolt and Uber and ordinary taxis are plentiful, and the tourist road train loops the sights in about an hour for €4 a ride or €5 a day. A car is for Sagres and the west coast.

Where to stay

Lagos is hostel country, with several in the old town from about €25 a bed, some famous for the party; a design hotel built with local craftspeople from about €125, a resort hotel on the marina, and apartment hotels along the cliff road and Meia Praia make up the rest. In summer the old town is noisy at night and Meia Praia is not; in winter much of both is shut.

Practical info

The cliff paths at the Ponta da Piedade are unfenced and the rock is soft; stay on the path and off the edges. The grotto boats leave both from the stairway at the point and from the harbour, and the kayak tours go where the boats cannot; the west coast beyond Sagres has strong waves and winds in any month, so take a layer. For money, plugs and pharmacies see the Portugal guide.

Places to visit

Coast

• Ponta da Piedade — Golden cliffs, arches and grottoes at the tip of Lagos