Lagos is located at the western end of the Algarve and much more rugged geography-wise than Tavira where we were last year. The coastline, with its long sandy beaches has some spectacular cliffs, coves, and high waves.
Ponta da Piedade (“Piety’s Point”) is a group of sandstone cliffs located along the coastline near Lagos.
Lagos’ history goes back a couple of thousand years to the Celts and the Carthaginians and later was home to Henry the Navigator. It was at one point, so I’m told, the center of the European slave trade. Now it’s just a top vacation destination spot. You’d think that with all that activity over the centuries combined with the beautiful location and nice weather, Lagos would be a big city on the Ocean, like Barcelona perhaps. But it’s not. The town is relatively small with a core population of around 20,000 or so locals and expats and swells immensely in the summer months with the influx of vacationing locals and tourists. The result is a picturesque town surrounded by miles of white condos with a frontage marina filled with flashy mega-yachts. There is a lot of wealth here to be sure and those people, who may own some of the condos, live in the glass and steel mansions right on the ocean.
Porto de Mos Beach, is for sale for €2,750,000
We’ve gone for a few walks and covered most of the town as well as the beaches and coves. Apparently, in two walks we’ve managed to see everything on TripAdvisor’s top 15 things to do in Lagos. Lisbon it is not, but it is a great place to chill out, relax, and have a holiday.
Holiday . . . I’m not even sure we know what that means anymore. Deep thoughts for another day. With our lifestyle, it’s quite possible we may never have another ‘holiday’ again. You should feel sorry for us!
“If you live each day as if it was your last, some day you’ll most certainly be right.” author unknown