Lagos, Portugal
Lagos, Portugal wasn’t on my radar until about a year ago when I saw a brief video about in on TikTok and immediately decided it was a destination I needed to get to and I wanted to do that as soon as I could. It ended up being one of my favorite girls trips I’ve ever been on.
If you know me, you know it doesn’t take much to convince me to go on a trip, so when I had a few friends who were on the same page as I was this past August, I knew this was a no brainer.
Lagos is a city located in the Algarve region on the Southern coast of Portugal. There are two easy ways to fly into Lagos. The longer one which really only makes sense if you are already flying into Lisbon, Portugal (this was the case for me and one friend), is once you get into the Lisbon airport, take a bus (the one I used is linked here) from the Oriente station that is located just a few minutes drive from the airport. The bus is about €15 and takes about 4 hours. The much more convenient way is flying into the Faro airport that is located about 30-40 minutes outside of Lagos, and taking a taxi or uber from there. Luckily ubers in Portugal are ridiculously cheap. I’m talking $6 for a 15 minute drive.
When we got into the city of Lagos we checked into our Hostel, Sol A Sol (linked here). Since we were four 25 year-olds traveling on a budget, we definitely went for the more wallet-friendly option, but oh man were we pleasantly surprised by this hostel. In terms of amenities I definitely wouldn’t expect too much. However, the location was better than we could’ve hoped for, the staff was super friendly and helpful, there was a rooftop with a beautiful view, and we had a private bathroom which can really make or break an experience if you ask me.
I’m usually a big planner when it comes to trips but this time we came into this with absolutely zero concrete plans and I am SO happy we did it that way. Lagos is a beautiful city to just walk around and get lost in when you feel like exploring, but also has a bunch of gorgeous beaches that are all walking distance from the city. Arguably the most famous beach in Lagos is called Ponta da Piedade which also means it gets very crowded. I absolutely still recommend going and spending the morning there, but I don’t think you need to spend more than a day there considering there are several other beaches that are just as pretty and way less crowded. Some of the other beaches we visited are Praia do Camilo, Praia do Pinhão, and Praia da Batata.
We only booked one activity while we were in Lagos, and that was an Algarve cruise by catamaran (linked here) through GetYourGuide. For just a little over $40 USD, you get a three hour catamaran cruise with gorgeous views, a bar on board, access to paddle boards, snorkeling gear, floating water game with a chance to win free beer, and just a lot of fun. I recommend going for a starting time slot of around 4PM for a chance to see the sunset. Truly doesn’t get better than that!
We visited Lagos at the very end of August and were pleasantly surprised to find out we made it just in time for their end of summer festival! Our first night there, there was a big stage set up at Praia da Batata with several artists and DJs playing throughout the night and everyone was dancing and throwing paint at each other! The next night, we found out through new friends we had met at the bar across the street from or hostel, who were locals , that they have a tradition in Lagos on the last official day of summer to have bonfires on the beach and jump into the water.
For my foodies reading this, don’t you worry - the food in Lagos was absolutely delicious. Breakfast is arguably my favorite meal of the day, and we found a few different spots that satisfy the breakfast cravings. I would recommend going to Black & White for more of a sit-down breakfast with great coffee and breakfast sandwiches, Abigail’s for great smoothies and either sit-down or grab-and-go breakfast since it’s pretty close to the road that takes you to all of the beaches, Coffee & Waves if you’re craving an Acai Bowl and great coffee, and Pom Pom bagels if you want a bagel sandwich - this is way better for grab-and-go breakfast but they do have some counter space with stools if you want to quickly eat there.
In conclusion, if you’ve ever thought about going to Lagos, Portugal - do it. Don’t think twice, just book the flight and go. I promise you won’t regret it one bit.
Much love,
Maya.