The Algarve region, located south of Lisbon, is a conglomerate of various beautiful beach-towns with gorgeous views over the Atlantic. While one can choose between Sagres, Salema and many such other beach towns, we made Lagos our headquarter to explore the area and spent three nights here.
HOW TO GET THERE
Lagos is a two and half hour drive from Lisbon. One can access it by bus and train as well, but as we were doing a road trip across Portugal, we had rented a car. Within Lagos, the car is pretty useless as the streets are too narrow and only pedestrian friendly. You will have to park the car in a public garage at a per day cost as streets offer restricted parking facilities which are mostly taken by residents. So if you are not driving ahead from Lagos to other parts of Algarve/Portugal, you may not necessarily need the car.
WHERE TO STAY
Lagos has become quite popular with tourists, which has resulted in the springing up of many hotels and airbnbs in the area. But if you are looking for a place with a great location, warmest people and beautiful and clean rooms to live in, look no further than the Infante Guesthouse (http://infanteguesthouse.com/). Marek and Isabel run this beautiful house and took so much time to chart out a hike route for us and make recommendations for all the local favorite spots to eat at. The ‘Exceptional’ rating on tripadvisor and booking.com does complete justice to this beautiful home-stay.
HIKING TRAIL
Lagos is a white washed cobbled town with its city center so small that you can cover all of it in about 30-40 minutes, even if you walk at leisure. There are rows and rows of souvenir shops and restaurants dotted on all sides, which takes away from the center being a sleepy town. But the real jewel lies a short walk away starting from the promenade and stretching up to the marina.
Most people who visit Lagos do not go beyond Praia de Batata (Potato beach in Portugese), for its proximity to the city center, which, though beautiful, is only a scratch over the surface. There are stunning beaches in Lagos with lots of lots of limestone caves and azure water. As the day progresses, the beaches get pretty crowded as the sun-soakers fill up the place and by noon, it is practically impossible to find a calm spot just for yourself.
So the best way to explore all the beaches and some hidden coves is to start early in the morning, after a sumptuous breakfast, from Praia de batata before high tide hours (usually before 9:30 AM- pls do check the time else you will get stuck half way during the trail with the water levels going higher and no where to escape) and keep walking till you reach Praia do Camilo. Do pack some sandwiches, nuts and water, for you can make a little picnic later on the trail or at the beach.
A lot of people who come to Lagos chose to go to the Benagil Cave, which can be accessed only by boat, as swimming to it or kayaking is very very hard in that area, with the water being extremely rough, even for skilled swimmers. There are several tours that run to this cave but the boats don’t really stay inside the cave for more than a minute to make way for the other boats that have lined up, taking away the raw effect of being in nature and being at your own leisure. Instead, on the trail starting from Praia de batata towards Camilo, you will find some absolutely spectacular and isolated caves which may even give Benagil a run for its money- Nature at its best!
You will reach Camilo beach within 45 minutes, keeping in mind the time spent taking the gazillion pictures that you will be tempted to click. Camilo is a gorgeous beach and by the time you reach here, the crowds would have still not made their way, so you will have the beach all to yourself to relax in the absolute calm of the waves. Bonus, the sun wont be at scorching levels yet!
After beach-bumming, climb up the stairs from the beach towards the cliff side. A convenience facility, with cool drinks and an ice-cream shop is located here, which gives you the much needed respite from the growing heat and helps you re-hydrate and refill your water packs. From here, start the hike towards the lighthouse to get a towering view over the beautiful Atlantic and the limestone caves rooted therein. From the concrete road, join back on the muddy track to access the viewpoints.
There are several shaded corners on this path where you can sit on the branch of a tree or throw in your sarong and make a little picnic spot and enjoy a nice meal while enjoying the million dollar view!
With packed bellies, walk towards Farol Ponta de Piedade (lighthouse) and then towards the Praia de Porto Mo’s. A fabulous coastal footpath leading from theĀ Ponta da PiedadeĀ lighthouse will take you to this lovely beach, but allow an hour to hike the trail. However, in the absence of clear indicators, you may get lost, so do ask the locals for directions, as google may not be so accurate. This beach has lesser gravel on it and makes for a fine spot to relax. After a full day of hiking, we rewarded ourselves with a nice hour long nap on the beach with the waves crashing at our feet.
Walking back would have been clear torture to our legs, so we instead ubered it back from here. If you don’t want to do the whole hike trail, you can simply drive here as well or take a uber, if you don’t have a car.
Another great way to experience the scenic landscape, have a closer look at the limestone caves and bum at a beach is to go on a Kayak expedition. We booked with EZRide Ocean Kayak Tours for a 3 hour kayak tour. It was quite a wonderful experience and the weather was quite pleasant. The 3 hr period includes the half an hour or so to relax on the beach (and this time reserved only for the 10 comrades kayaking with you), from where you could borrow the gear to snorkel, paddle boat or simply go for a swim. There is a photographer who takes candid pictures of you during the kayak trip, so you don’t have to bother about lugging your cameras on the kayak for those Instagram-worthy pictures. One of the couples on the tour chose to ignore the warning and lost their go-pro to the ocean. One of the deep divers even tried to rescue it, but in vain. Alas, a small price for the next smashing profile picture, eh? š
One of the best recommendations given by Marek and Isabel was to introduce us to the beautiful Serra da ArrƔbida national park. This is a two hour drive from Lagos and for this part, we were grateful to have a car. This was one of the most unique beaches I have been to. As you park your car, you initially only see tall sand dunes and no trace of a beach- feeling confused if you are at the right place or not!! Once you tread throw the dunes, you catch the first glimpse of the gorgeous ocean and its vast expanse. This is a postcard picture perfect place to see the sunset and thanks to the distance, not many tourists reach here, and therefore apart from two surfers, their beautiful dog and us, there was no trace of mankind here. Absolutely spectacular!
Where to eat:
Lagos is a seafood lover’s paradise and there are several local shacks apart from the touristy restaurants in the city center, where you can quench your appetite. Some places we enjoyed were O Antonio (at the Praia de Porto Mo’s) known for its Monkfish and seafood rice, Casas de Prego (good steaks and prawn platter) and Little Break- fast (for yummy pancakes, healthy smoothies and avocado toast). Although The Garden came recommended, we didn’t quite like the food here. One place we couldn’t try but looked quite promising was Mar d’Estorias, which is known to be 100% local food and needs a reservation in advance. They have a beautiful shop at the ground floor, where they sell products encouraging local handicraft. La Focaccia is a little shop right across the Infante guesthouse to pack sandwiches for the trail.
Monkfish seafood rice 
Sandwiches for our hike 
Mango salad with grilled chicken 
Prawn platter
It is truly for places like Lagos, that I feel grateful to have travelling as an integral part of my life and to experience such beautiful places that exist, to meet such nice people on the go and weave friendships that will last a lifetime!
Raahein.. 
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