A town of the Age of Discovery
Lagos
The town
A walled town of golden cliffs and cobbled lanes, where Portugal's ships once set sail for the unknown — and the western Algarve's most beautiful coastline begins.
Lagos is one of the Algarve's oldest and most characterful towns. Settled by Phoenicians and Romans, shaped by five centuries of Moorish rule, it was won back for Portugal in 1249 and grew into a frontier of the Age of Discovery — the port from which Prince Henry the Navigator's caravels departed for the African coast. The old slave market on the seafront, the 16th-century town walls and the gilded Church of Saint Anthony still carry that history in their stones.
Today Lagos keeps the feel of a working Portuguese town rather than a purpose-built resort. The old town is a wanderer's maze of whitewashed lanes, quiet squares and family-run tavernas; the daily municipal market is the town's larder of fresh fish, figs and almonds. To the east, four kilometres of sand open onto Meia Praia; to the west, the cliffs rise into the golden rockeries of Ponta da Piedade and the small jewel beaches of Camilo and Dona Ana.
Cliffs & caves
Cliffs, caves and golden light
West of the town the coast lifts into ochre and gold cliffs — layered, weathered into arches and sea caves, and riddled with hidden coves. Ponta da Piedade is their high point: a headland of stacked rock watched over by a small lighthouse, with a boardwalk tracing the cliff edge and wooden stairs dropping to the water.
Below, small wooden boats wait to thread the grottoes; above, the light at dusk turns the stone the colour of honey. The beaches tucked along this shore — Praia do Camilo, Praia Dona Ana — are among the most photographed in Portugal.
A few moments
Events & town life
What's on, year-round
29 August
Festa do Banho 29
Lagos' end-of-summer ritual. On the 29th of August the town takes to the water for the Festival of Bathing — a joyful day of sea swims, music and grilled sardines that has closed summer along this coast for generations.
Summer evenings
Old town & marina
As the heat lifts, the cobbled lanes of the old town fill with street musicians and open-air cafés, and Praça de Gil Eanes becomes the town's living room. Down at the marina, restaurants spill onto the quayside and the lights come up over the boats.
Year-round
Ponta da Piedade
A short walk from the old town, the golden cliffs of Ponta da Piedade fold into sea caves and hidden coves. Small wooden boats thread the grottoes from the beach below, and the clifftop boardwalk traces the most photographed stretch of the Algarve coast.
18 – 20 June 2027
Formula 1 Portuguese Grand Prix
F1 returns to Portugal after six seasons away, racing at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão — under an hour's drive from Lagos. Three days of practice, qualifying and the race itself bring the world's fastest cars and a festival atmosphere to the western Algarve.
Stay in Lagos
