“All I need is the sun☀️, the sand🏖️ and some Vitamin SEA🏄!”
Lagos, Portugal is a small beach town located on Portugal’s Algarve Coast, which is arguably one of the most gorgeous coastlines in the world. With its pristine blue ocean waters and multiple white sandy beaches, it is a city with SO much to offer for just about everyone (unless you don’t like the sun…or the beach…in that case, why are you reading this?). Even at peak season when the beaches were packed, we still had such an unforgettable holiday soaking in the sunshine and kayaking through the caves. I never realized that Lagos had SO many different beaches, each unique in their own way. So I’ve outlined the 6 best nearby the city, all within walking distance (or a short Uber ride-add my code nicholew401ue for a discount on your first ride). Check them all out for yourself and let me know what you think!
- How to Get To Lagos?
- The 6 Best Beaches in Lagos
- The BEST excursion in Lagos that you CANNOT miss
- Where To Stay?
- Where To Eat?
- Get Your Yoga Fix
How To Get To Lagos, Portugal
Getting to Lagos is a bit of a trek, but is ABSOLUTELY worth it! I recommend flying into Lisbon and spending a few days there seeing the gorgeous city sites (and taking a day trip to Sintra or Cabo de Roca), then heading down to Lagos for some rest and relaxation! The first time I ventured to Lagos many years ago, I only came for 3 short nights and that wasn’t nearly enough time! If you can spend 5-7+ days here, you’ll be soooo happy you did!
We flew into Lisbon and booked a hotel just two blocks from the Oriente Train Station, which is the station where the main train to Lagos leaves from. The Ibis Lisboa Parque das Naçoes was a PERFECT hotel for what we were looking for, at a great price of around $100USD per night (which included breakfast)! DO NOTE that this station and hotel are NOT near the city center of Lisbon and you should only stay here if you’re planning to transit from the train to the airport/vice versa. There is a large shopping mall nearby, but no other sites can be reached without taking the metro, as Oriente Train Station is 6 miles from the city center.
We pre-purchased our train tickets online, as you get a discount on tickets if you buy them a week in advance. Our tickets to/from Lagos/Lisbon were around 12-18 Euros (depending on if you’re in 1st or second class). DO NOTE that you’ll have to change trains at Tunes Station. The first train ride from Lisbon to Tunes was one of the nicest trains we’ve been on in the world. It offered free wifi with super comfy and spacious assigned seats. The ride was around 3.5 hours. After changing trains at Tunes, we boarded a local train without assigned seats, which was a much more standard train with a ride of 45 minutes to Lagos.
The 6 Best Beaches in Lagos, Portugal
I am a beach lover through and through. I love beach towns and how everyone is so relaxed and chill… the sunshine and the sand… the ice cream and cold drinks on hot beach days. I just LOVE the beach! Josh and I have been so fortunate to explore beaches all over the world and I must say that Lagos offers up some of the most picturesque and unique out there! Here are my favorite beaches in order of most to least favorite (although they’re all EPIC and the last ranked is still amazing)!
Praia de Camilo (Camilo Beach)
The most picturesque with the least amount of space.
Camilo was our favorite beach, from a photographic standpoint. Before you venture down the 225 steps to get to the beach, go to the far end of the parking lot and hop over the concrete wall. From there, head to the edge to capture some EPIC shots of the beach and cliffs from above. We must’ve stood there 30 minutes taking in the unforgettable views before we actually went down to the beach.
Once you make your way down the 225 steps, you’ll be totally awestruck by the lack of room for you to maneuver around, especially in the peak summer months. This beach was SO crowded, we could barely walk, though I still entourage you to go explore it! There is a beautiful rock with a large opening in it that makes for great photos, as well as a fun tunnel to walk through, which opens up to another beach on the other side.
TIP: Start your day at this beach and visit just for photos and views, then walk to Dona Ana (0.6 miles away) or Pinhao (1 mile away), where you’ll have more space to lay out your beach towels and relax. We saw all three of these beaches in one day!
Praia da Dona Ana (Dona Ana Beach)
Picturesque with much more space.
Dona Ana is another absolutely gorgeous beach with large cliffs, blue water and lots of sand. Sadly, the beach lost a bit of its authenticity as sand was shipped in to make it larger a few years back. This beach offers up a LOT more space than Camilo and is a great spot to post up for the day and catch some rays!
Pinhao Beach
Clear water, orange cliffs and more secluded…yes please!
Pinhao is the perfect marriage between Camilo and Don Ana and offers up a much more secluded, less crowded location. Be sure to take some pics of it from above before venturing down to the sand.
Praia da Batata (Potato Beach)
The closest to the center of Lagos town.
Batata Beach is located just steps from the center of town. It’s the perfect spot if you’re staying in town and don’t feel like walking all the way to the other beaches.
Porto De Mos
Super spacious with a restaurant nearby.
With large orange cliffs in the distance, Porto De Mos is much more spacious than the other beaches and has a cute little restaurant right at its entrance which offers up great ice cream on hot beach days!
Meia Praia (Half Beach)
The largest beach of them all…but a bit like the USA!
Meia Praia is the most spacious beach of them all but the least exciting when it comes to picturesque views. This beach reminded us of Long Beach Island back in New Jersey. It was still absolutely gorgeous, but without any tall orange cliffs nearby. This beach is almost 3 miles long and stretches super far off into the distance, so you’ll never have trouble finding a beach spot at this one!
The BEST excursion in Lagos that you CANNOT miss
There are countless amounts of boat tours that you can take in Lagos and even locals on small motorboats offer up cave tours all day long. We did a lot of research and truly think the BEST way to see Lagos from the water is via a kayak tour (if you’re physically capable, although it is not strenuous). Why? Because you get to go through the intricate caves with a kayak instead of boat, allowing a MUCH MORE closer, intimate, quiet experience. If you go at low tide (the morning for us beginning at 9am), you’ll be able to go in every cave and truly experience all it has to offer! We had an absolutely UNFORGETTABLE tour with EZRIDE Ocean Kayak Tours. I’d never kayaked before and was a bit nervous, but our guide was very thorough in explaining how to kayak safely and efficiently. Fortunately, we had a double kayak too, so I made Josh do most of the work haha.
The tour costs 35 Euros per person for a 2.5-3 hour tour and is worth every single dollar. Gliding on the water through cave entrances was so so soooo beautiful and truly the highlight of our trip! EZRIDE has such kind, knowledgable guides that give you lots of fun facts and historical info throughout your tour. We loved that there were just 4 kayaks to one guide, which made it much more of a special experience. EZRIDE even has their own photographer on another boat following you along (from a comfortable distance) to capture all the fun for you (at no additional cost)! What’s even better is they have the option (if you want) to tow you back to the starting point behind their boat at the end of the tour, or you can kayak back. We opted for the tow and it was seriously so fun!
TIPS: XL Dry bags are provided by the company, but be sure to bring your own snacks, water, sunscreen, hat, water shoes, waterproof phone case and towel!
Where To Stay?
There are an abundance of hotels, hostels and Airbnb’s to stay at in Lagos. We are avid Airbnb users, as we travel with our furry dog, Miesha. Plus we usually stay in cities for an extended period of time to really get to know the place and maximize the discounts Airbnb has to offer. Our Lagos Airbnb was absolutely perfect! Our host, Jose was so kind and genuine-there’s a reason he’s a super host! He picked us up from the train station and drove us around, showing us the different beaches and the town, it was such a great introduction to the city! The apartment was located just 15 minutes walking from the ocean. It had it’s own private courtyard, which our dog absolutely loved. If you’re staying with Airbnb, then you MUST STAY HERE!
For $55 off your first AIRBNB booking, click HERE for my discount code!
If you’re coming to Lagos and happen to book things at the last minute, Hotel Tonight offers up a lot of great deals on hotels in the area, at a fraction of the cost of what you’d pay on other websites. We were there during peak season and there were still a lot of hotels available. Some rooms started at around $100USD per night. If you’re new to their app, Check out my discount code of $25 off your first booking with Hotel Tonight!
Where To Eat?
Portugal was our last country after traveling Europe for 10 months, so I have to be honest…we didn’t eat a lot of local food! Fortunately, Lagos offers up a LOT of different types of cuisines, including sushi (our favorite)! My Sushi’s specialty rolls were honestly nothing special. The best part was the all-you-can-eat lunch price of 10 Euros! We ate as much Nigiri Salmon and Tuna as we wanted, for such an affordable price! We ate here three times during the week we were in town.
Where To Get Your Yoga Fix
In case you didn’t know, I’m a chiropractor and yoga teacher when I’m not roaming around the world! I’m pretty critical (in a very kind way) about other yoga teachers, studios and instructors that I come across. Inlight Yoga Studio far exceeded my expectations! The studio is clean, severe and has the kindest, thorough and knowledgable instructors around. I purchased a 4 day pass for 32 Euros. A one time visit costs 10 Euros. The flow classes were absolutely unforgettable!
Are you ready to pack your bags yet?! I’m still dreaming about the gorgeous blue waters, the kayak trip and the sandy beaches of Lagos. It truly is one of our favorite destinations so far and we cannot wait to go back for a third time!
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Thank you SOOOO much for stopping by!
XOXO The Traveling Blondie
Questions? Like What Your Reading? Want More?
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