Okaaay, now for the last leg of our trip we went even more South-West in Portugal. Our final stop was Lagos, where we spent another 5 days relaxing, eating and sightseeing away. Another beautiful hotel, sightseeing tips and mouthwatering restaurants to share. Here we go!
Lagos: a cute city with a strong family focus and plenty of options for surfing.
A colleague of Vittorio was actually also on holidays in the area (in Sagres) and told us it was basically one family resort after the other. Also to me, Lagos felt more “cosy”, with a car-free city centre and quite some local shops.
Our Hotel: Cascade Wellness Resort
It was the most expensive of the 3 hotels, and I’m still indecisive which one was my favourite: this one or 3HB. I particularly liked the hospitality of the staff here – immediately making you feel at home, despite it also being a big resort. There were 3 room types: hotel, apartment or villa. We booked a hotel room in the main building.
Our room
Again, a stunning and big hotel room with an even bigger balcony. Also a big bathroom with a separate bath tub. The bath amenities were from L’Occitane, and then you know you are in a 5 star hotel 😉 See for yourself:
Rest of the hotel
Also this hotel had different in-house restaurants and bars – so if you didn’t feel like going out, you could eat there. This went from high-end fine dining to nachos at the Lighthouse.
There was a big gym, but this was not located in the main building, so I actually never went there 🙂 For a hotel that calls itself “Wellness Resort“, the wellness was actually very disappointing. There was a heated pool outside with regular sunbeds, and a jacuzzi (out of service due to Covid). I wasn’t allowed to make use of the other wellness (sauna & turkish steamer) because of my pregnancy. But that is all there was (aside from massage and different treatments). I would recommend them to expand on that 🙂
Pool area and garden: beautiful! Nothing to say there. From the gardens you also had sea view and could stay in the luxurious four poster bed.
What to do in and around Lagos?
Explore the centre and its cute little shops
I really enjoyed the architecture of the buildings in the centre, and the general colors and vibe really made me happy. There’s plenty of small local shops still to be found there (not the big chains like Zara). Just wander around, let yourself be surprised.
Take a hike in the Ponta da Piedade area
Beautiful nature awaits to be discovered again! We first went to Ponta da Piedade with the lighthouse, and then moved to Miradouro da Praia do Canavial. There’s several beaches and viewpoints to be discovered there, so you can spend as much time as you want. We only stayed for about 1h, but it was seriously beautiful out there.
Praia do Camilo
Special mention for Praia do Camilo – make sure to go there when you can. You need to work a bit to enjoy it to the fullest (200 steps to be exact) but it was breathtaking. One of the best views I saw as well.
Make a day trip to Sagres
A 30-minute drive away awaits Sagres – another small town with several beaches, castles and viewpoints to discover. We didn’t really go into the centre, but visited the Sagres Fortress – a 15th-century fort on the cliffs. Not a must-see, but it was a nice walk 🙂 From the fort we had a view on a nice beach called Praia do Tonel where there were a lot of surfers, so both culture and sport fans can have their way 😉
Find a beautiful viewpoint and catch a romantic sunset
On the other side of the Praia do Tonel is a beautiful viewpoint to watch the sun set. We were driving in the area around sunset looking for a nice spot, and we found a little parking next to the N268 road, about here:
So bring a blanket, a nice picnic and settle down. There were still a lot of surfers in the water, which also gave it kind of a magical touch 🙂
Where to eat in Lagos
I have 3 restaurant tips for you and 1 coffee/lunch place! None of them traditional Portuguese I’m afraid.. But we had a somewhat Portugese dish? Anyway, here they are:
Barbosa Bar & Kitchen €
Whatever meal you are looking for – breakfast, lunch dinner or just drinks – they can hook you up. We were there for a quick dinner since we weren’t very hungry and shared a “Flaming Chorizo” – which is a very cool concept where you can basically BBQ it yourself 😀 and then both just ate a burger. No-nonsense place with nice tapas and drinks.
Pomò €€
Again Italian? What can I say… We are suckers for good Italian food, and since the Google reviews were raving and the owners actually spoke Italian, we took our chances 😉 And we were sad we didn’t go back a second time! We shared an appetizer and then I ordered the homemade lasagne. The waiter was already smiling that I would never be able to finish it.. and he was right. That portion was HUGE – but also delicious. Vittorio went for the tagliatelle with gorgonzola, nuts and truffles and also that looked amazing.
Ol’ Bastard’s €
Now there’s a cocktail bar and a restaurant of the same place facing each other, so make sure to enter the right one 🙂 No fine dining here, just a good old “pub” feeling with ditto food. They did make us nice alcohol free Mojito’s though! We shared the popcorn prawns and the loaded fries with Guiness gravy and believe me: that was sufficient 😀 It’s better to order more than to over order at this place. Great food, great service.
Black and White Coffee Shop
A special shout-out to this gem in the city. We stumbled upon it on our first afternoon and went back there at least twice more. The staff was so friendly, and the coffee amazing! We only tried the cookies here, but also the lunch dishes looked amazing. They serve juices, pancakes, different types of toasts, etc. Do check them out! We bought some coffee beans there to bring a bit of holiday feeling home 🙂
Ok, I believe that sums up everything I have to share for our trip to Portugal! I hope you enjoyed reading along and if you plan to visit the Algarve noted down some tips 🙂 I really enjoyed our babymoon and would definitely come back to this region again.
See you soon!
Xoxo
Claudia
labellita.com 