Hey everyone! After our adventures at Feria in Alcalá, we were able to getaway for a weekend with our friends, Kevin & Kyle. We rented a car from Santa Justa Train Station in Sevilla with a company called Sixt and drove one Friday morning in June to Lagos, Portugal! This was our second time in Lagos, however the last time it rained all weekend—so we were excited to see a little more sun this time around! It takes a little over 3 hours to get there from Sevilla, so it’s the perfect weekend trip. (Portugal is on a different time zone than Spain, so it’s 1 hour behind—driving there you gain an hour but on the way back into Spain, you lose it).
It’s very important that you stop and get a toll-card if you’re driving from Spain to the Algarve. Once you’re on the highway in Portugal, stop at a gas station to purchase a toll-card for $20. Don’t worry if you go past tolls on the way, it doesn’t matter–you have until that evening to activate your pass with the cars information on it! Most people speak english really well in Portugal, so definitely tell the gas station cashier how far you’re driving (Lagos is the last stop on the highway anyways) and they’ll get you the correct pass. You have to remember to activate it that night!
Once we arrived to Lagos, we checked into our amazing Airbnb (only 10 minutes walking to old town and the beach). We loved it! I tried to find the link to share with you, but it looks like it’s not available anymore. However, there are lots of beautiful apartments to rent for really reasonable prices, plus some fun party hostels as well!
Our first day in Portugal was particularly interesting for me since I had my third interview for a job I was applying for when I moved back home. So while the boys galavanted off to the beach, I stayed in the Airbnb to do a Skype Interview. Luckily, my weekend was made since I was offered the job at the end of the call! (It’s actually the role I’m currently in now, so I find it funny looking back on this time at the beginning of the summer). I was able to get in a little beach time with the boys at Praia Doña Maria (arguably one of the most famous beaches in Lagos). I love the Algarve coast because of the yellow and orange rocks that line the shore, they’re very picturesque!!
After cleaning up from the beach, we hopped in the car to drive to Cabo Sao Vicente (Cape Saint Vincent), also known as the “end of the world”. I had been before when I studied abroad and loved it, but we were unable to go last year because we didn’t have a car. (There are no public busses that take you here, unless you go with a tour group). This area of the Algarve is the Western most point, so people used to believe this was truly the end of the world. It’s also very daunting, since you’re standing on the edge of these very steep cliffs! I love the view from here. I always say it’s one of the best sunsets I’ve seen in my entire life! We weren’t as prepared for how windy & chilly it would be, so we ended up drinking our champagne in the rental car! I can’t truly describe how windy it was but I’ve never experienced wind like that before. It felt like we could have blown off the cliffs, but we stayed clear of the edge to enjoy the sunset. The wind was well worth the view!
After returning back, we headed to the Old Town for dinner at one of our favorite places: Nah Nah Bah! I first tried this place when studying abroad and have made it a point to return each time I’m in Lagos. They have amazing burgers and some really fun drink specials. They’re on Matador Travel’s list of Top 50 burger joints in the world!
After dinner, we hit the town! Lagos is definitely a party place in the summer and you are able to meet people from all over the world! Some places I recommend checking out:
- Gran Cafe
- Joe’s Garage
- Three Monkey’s
- The Tavern
Saturday morning we had some more beach time and brought our tubes to float in. It was one of the best decisions we made–the water was relatively calm and we were able to float around to some nice little coves. After getting back to land, we enjoyed a quick lunch at the Snack Bar. I won’t sugar coat it: the food is relatively cheap for being right on the beach and it’s great if you don’t feel like going into the town for a meal. It’s nothing too special though: only burgers, fries, and some sandwiches. But there are outdoor seats and you can’t beat the location!
After lunch we headed off to our Booze Cruise with the Rising Cock Hostel. It was difficult for me to find reviews for this booze cruise online but it turned out to be a great time! It costs 45 euros a person but it’s all you can drink beer and sangria during the cruise, as well as music and the occasional snacks / shots! The cruise lasted almost 4 hours!
You can jump off the roof of the boat (if you’re feeling brave) and swim around too. We had a lot of fun (possibly too much) and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to meet new people and have a fun day out on the water. Plus the views are incredible!
After our very silly walk back to our Airbnb, we cleaned up and went to dinner at a place close-by that was recommended to us by our host! Pizzeria Gato Pardo had really great pizza and Italian food, we loved it so much we even got dinner to go from there on Sunday before our drive home! For our last night in Lagos we danced the night away until 3:00am before grabbing some food and walking home!
On Sunday, we were able to walk along the cliffs to check out some other beaches. By some stretch of miracle, we all survived our weekend in Lagos—no severe sunburns (although we did have one strange heat-rash incident) and the hangovers weren’t too bad since we spent them on the beach!
Since we had some friends with us on this trip, we decided to have a little more fun with our video blog this time! Check it out below and stay tuned for our first post about Croatia!
Bom Dia! Amanda
