Day 5,6 and 7 - Cape St Vincent, Sagres and Lagos in the Algarve
We are spending a few days on the southern coast of Portugal and it is gorgeous! Wow! Portugal has become a must see destination in the past few years but what took so long? Our first stop was Cape St Vincent, the most southwestern tip of not just Portugal but the entire continent of Europe. Back when the world was thought to be flat it was considered to be the end of the earth. Been there! ✅
Cape St Vincent - spectacular!
Me sitting at the end of the earth! Not going to follow my usual advice of jump while you can😊
Lighthouse that sits at the very end, Sagres Fort and bottom left surfers. One of the great places to surf.
As I mentioned in a previous post Portugal is divided into regions each of which has a capital city for governing. The area we are in now which is on the far south is called the Algarve. The Algarve is known for it’s Atlantic beaches and golf resorts. Very crowded in August as many Europeans travel here for holiday, and it’s easy to understand why.
We headed to the resort town of Lagos where we are staying for 3 nights. Suffice to say we have fallen in love with it. And why wouldn’t we? It’s clean, beautiful, lots of outdoor things to do or just head to the pool or beach, great food and wine and lovely people!
Beautiful tile everywhere, pastel businesses, interesting squares with entertainment and flowers.
Let’s have some of that great food! Used a Rick Steves recommendation and as usual it was wonderful. It was Julie’s birthday so a special lunch was a must.
Don Sebastiao was so wonderful we made a reservation for the following night for dinner immediately. Happy Birthday Julie!
The Mediterranean salad for both of us and it was the best we have ever had. Even the capers were phenomenal.
We settled in at our beautiful resort right on the beach and relaxed a bit before dinner.
More birthday celebration. Appetizer that seems to be a local favorite. Half a fresh avocado with shrimp and kind of a thousand island sauce. Sea bass with fresh veggies and a crepe with ice cream and chocolate sauce for dessert. A special meal not just for Julie but for me too!
Morning walk on the beach! Yes please!
Lots of opportunities to get out on the water and see the beautiful rock formations of the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic so we picked kayaking. Took a recommendation from the hotel and selected Kayak Adventures. As you would guess there are a number of companies to choose from providing a similar service. Along the coast there are lots of caves and grottoes to enter but I don’t think it’s wise to do it on your own because of the fairly rough waters due to all the ships and boats of various sizes plus the normal ocean currents so we went in a group with a guide. The company had a strong focus on safety so we felt secure and comfortable even though we both said it was the most challenging kayaking we had ever done. The guide asked us not to try and take pictures of all the cool stuff we saw as the chances of dropping your phone or camera were very high, plus it would slow us down so much that we wouldn’t get to see everything he wanted to show us. We had a great group of people - 6 double kayaks - and everyone complied. So lots of my memories will have to be mental pictures, but trust me when I say I won’t forget. We saw rocks in the shapes of camels, elephants, the Titantic, ice bergs etc. All created naturally by wind and water. Going in and out of the caves was challenging due to the waves but we made it and no one capsized - at least not in our group.
Getting instructions.
We stopped for a break on one of the beaches only accessible by kayak or climbing down a treacherous waterfall which the guide said was very dangerous.
The waterfall climb which if you look closely you will see two people attempting. No thanks!
Back to Don Sebastiao for dinner - this time trying the inside dining room which is quaint and fancier. Grilled shrimp for Julie and seafood stew for me. I wouldn’t mind going back again!
Our original plan was to take a day trip to Faro which is the capital city of the Algarve, but we decided that we really just wanted to spend another day in Lagos so that’s what we’re doing. Hiking, beach and pool in that order. And more great food! Can you blame us?
Still more to see and do so check back again soon. Portugal💕💕💕💕