# Algarve: map, what to do and when to go

Limestone cliffs with caves at Lagos, the Sagres headland and Cabo de São Vicente, the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail above Benagil and, in the far east, Tavira and the islands of the Ria Formosa.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Algarve: how do you get from Faro airport to Lagos?** Faro airport (FAO) is 90 km from Lagos and has no station: bus lines 14 and 16, run by Próximo, go to the Faro bus station, near the train station.
- **Algarve: how do you visit the Benagil cave?** Since August 2024, arriving by swimming or with a float is forbidden, you may not land on the inside beach, and kayaks enter only with a guide.
- **Algarve: how many days should I stay?** I'd stay three days, sleeping in Lagos: the center and Ponta da Piedade, Sagres with Cabo de São Vicente, and the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail with the Benagil cave.

## Lagos on foot and Ponta da Piedade
Start at 10 a.m. at the Church of Santo António and the Lagos Museum, on Rua General Alberto da Silveira (€3), before the 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. break; it closes on Mondays.
- Ponta da Piedade
- Praia do Camilo
- Church of Santo António
- Slave Market

## Sagres and Cabo de São Vicente
Leave Lagos before 9 a.m.: it is 34 km by road to Sagres; by bus, check the schedule of Eva's line 47 the day before.
- Sagres Fortress
- Cabo de São Vicente

## The Seven Hanging Valleys and the Benagil cave
Leave early by car or taxi for Praia da Marinha, in Lagoa, about 37 km from Lagos.
- Seven Hanging Valleys Trail
- Benagil Cave

## Ponta da Piedade
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-ponta-da-piedade
Lagos · One to two hours
The headland south of Lagos, with Miocene limestone cliffs, isolated stacks in the sea and caves. Beside the lighthouse, built in 1912 and 1913 on the site of a demolished chapel, a long staircase cut into the hillside runs down to the sea. The boats that enter the caves leave from the Lagos marina. One of the caves bears the name of the poet Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen.
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## Praia do Camilo
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-praia-do-camilo
Up to half an hour
A small beach between cliffs, on the way from the center of Lagos to Ponta da Piedade, with rock formations and a shape that the Lagos municipality compares to a shell. You go down by staircase.
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## Church of Santo António
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-igreja-de-santo-antonio
São Gonçalo de Lagos · Up to half an hour
The church of the soldiers of the Lagos infantry regiment, with a facade from 1715 and an interior lined with Baroque gilded woodwork and 18th-century azulejos. It was damaged by the 1755 earthquake and restored in 1769. Today it is part of the Dr. José Formosinho Lagos Museum, founded in 1930, with collections of archaeology, sacred art and Algarve ethnography; it is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., for €3.
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## Slave Market
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-mercado-de-escravos
São Gonçalo de Lagos · Up to half an hour
The former customs building, in Praça do Infante, is identified as the site of the first market of enslaved Africans in Portugal, where in 1444 the captives from Arguin were landed, divided and sold. The Rota da Escravatura unit of the Lagos Museum operates there, which grew out of the 2009 discovery of more than 150 skeletons of Africans in a dump at Vale da Gafaria, outside the walls. Entry costs €3, or €5 with the Lagos Museum, but the museum's website posts a notice of temporary closure with no reopening date: confirm before going. When it is closed, the building and the square remain visible from outside.
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## Meia Praia
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-meia-praia
Lagos · One to two hours
The long beach of Lagos, with more than 4 km of sand from the marina to the Alvor river, flat and without stairs. It suits families and anyone who wants space; it is across the stream, next to the train station.
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## Sagres Fortress
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-fortaleza-de-sagres
Sagres · One to two hours
The headland, about 1 km long and 40 m above the sea, where Prince Henry founded the Vila do Infante in the mid-15th century. What you see today is mostly the reconstruction done from 1793, after Drake's sack in 1587 and the 1755 earthquake, plus the Rosa dos Ventos, a star-shaped stone circle of uncertain function, rediscovered in 1921. It opens at 9:30 a.m. and, until further notice, closes at 5:30 p.m. all year, with last entry half an hour before; the website announces hours until 8 p.m. in summer, but suspends them for operational reasons. It closes on January 1 and 22, Easter Sunday, May 1 and December 25. The ticket costs €10, or €5 for people over 65, young people aged 13 to 24 and families with at least one adult and one minor; accompanied children under 12 do not pay. The website warns that card payment may fail and recommends bringing cash.
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## Cabo de São Vicente
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-cabo-de-sao-vicente
Up to half an hour
The southwestern tip of mainland Portugal, 6.8 km from the Sagres Fortress by road. The current lighthouse entered service in 1846, with a 28 m tower and a light 86 m above the sea. The lighthouse complex and its museum unit are closed to the public indefinitely (confirmed in June 2026), but the cape and the cliffs are freely accessible at any hour, with free parking.
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## Seven Hanging Valleys Trail
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-percurso-dos-sete-vales
Carvoeiro · Half a day or more
A 5.7 km linear trail marked by the Municipality of Lagoa (PR1 LGA) between Praia de Vale Centeanes and Praia da Marinha, passing Benagil. It follows the top of the limestone cliffs, cut by valleys that end above the sea, with junipers on top and seabirds on the walls. Since it is not circular, you have to return by the same path or arrange transport at the end.
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## Benagil Cave
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-gruta-de-benagil
Up to half an hour
A sea cave next to the village of Benagil, with an opening in the roof that lets light fall on a small interior beach. Since August 2024, visits follow their own rules: landing on the inside beach is forbidden, as is arriving by swimming or with a float and renting a kayak without a guide; there is a limit on the number of boats and kayaks inside the cave at the same time, and each boat stays at most two minutes inside. In summer, guided tours leave from Praia de Benagil.
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## Tavira Castle
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-castelo-de-tavira
Tavira (Santa Maria e Santiago) · Up to half an hour
The remains of the castle built in the Muslim period, at the top of the town, beside the Church of Santa Maria do Castelo, built over a mosque and holding the tomb of D. Paio Peres Correia, who took Tavira in 1242. From there you walk down to the seven-arched bridge over the Gilão river, called Roman but identified by archaeologists as a 12th-century work.
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## Tavira Island
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/algarve/#g-lugar-ilha-de-tavira
Luz de Tavira e Santo Estêvão · Half a day or more
A barrier island of the Ria Formosa with about 11 km of beach, opposite Tavira. You reach it by boat from the Quatro Águas pier, 2.4 km on foot from the center, or by the Santa Luzia floating bridge, on the Praia do Barril side. At Barril, the anchors from the old tuna fishery were left on the sand as a monument.
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**Algarve: how do you get from Faro airport to Lagos?**
Faro airport (FAO) is 90 km from Lagos and has no station: bus lines 14 and 16, run by Próximo, go to the Faro bus station, near the train station. From Faro to Lagos, the regional train takes about 1h50; by car, the route is the Via do Infante (A22).

**Algarve: how do you visit the Benagil cave?**
Since August 2024, arriving by swimming or with a float is forbidden, you may not land on the inside beach, and kayaks enter only with a guide. Book a guided boat or kayak tour, whose price varies by operator and type of vessel.

**Algarve: how many days should I stay?**
I'd stay three days, sleeping in Lagos: the center and Ponta da Piedade, Sagres with Cabo de São Vicente, and the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail with the Benagil cave. With a fourth day, I'd go to Tavira and the Ria Formosa and sleep there a night.

**Algarve: when is the best time to go?**
May, June, September and October combine beach temperatures, little rain and fewer people. July is the most expensive hotel month in Lagos, and November and December are the rainiest.

**Algarve: can you do everything without a car?**
The center of Lagos is done on foot, Bolt and Uber operate in the town, and for Sagres Eva's line 47 serves the localities of Vila do Bispo, with schedules to check beforehand. For Benagil and the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail, 37 km from Lagos, a car or taxi saves a lot of time.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 3 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/algarve/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/algarve/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/algarve.md