Lagos, oh sweet Lagos!
I could write a poem about Lagos – just saying the word is like sweet music to my ears. We had such a wonderful experience in this beautiful city on the Southern coast of Portugal. We arrived in the evening after a long train ride from Lisbon. Luckily for us, we travel pretty light and all of our belongings fit into 2 backpacks, so none of that awkward touristy dragging our luggage through narrow streets along cobblestone roads. This wasn’t our first rodeo!
There are a ton of hills in Lagos, Portugal in general, and while it’s awesome to be able to view the city from above, it’s a lot of work, especially in the heat of the summer with a backpack on. We were sweating like crazy, walking for miles to find our AirBnB. We Finally found it and had just enough time before the sun went down to get dinner, scope out the city a little bit, and get a feel for the potential activities during our time there. We were only staying for 2 days, so we wanted to enjoy as much of this hidden gem as we could.
We had a BIG, tasty English breakfast with eggs, sausage, ham, fried tomatoes, baked beans, and toast. I know, not very authentic, but I was SO hungry, and I know the English eat some hearty meals, so that is where it was at for me! After breakfast we took the water taxi, YES, a water taxi, over to the beach. It was this cute little motor boat with a striped canopy overhead and it delivered people from one side of the canal to the other, about a 30 foot distance. I call that a total novelty ride. We wouldn’t normally be so lazy, but while on vacation, sometimes you gotta do things just for the fun of it! Although it saved us about 45 minutes of walking around the docks.
We spent the rest of the morning swimming in the gorgeous, greenish-blue, warm water and enjoying the sunshine on the beach. The weather was perfect! After lunch we headed out for a kayaking adventure along the beautiful rocky coastline. This was by far my very favorite part of the trip! We left mid afternoon, the sun was high, there was a light breeze as we paddled along the water, and the water was warm, but refreshing. Rob and I shared a kayak and tried to stay in formation with the other 15 kayaks as the guide had asked, but Rob had a hard time keeping in line, as he wanted to explore more of the coast. Needless to say, we got a stern talking to a few times… you gotta live a little sometimes ya know! We kayaked through some very cool caves, and stopped at a secluded cave down the coast and went snorkeling, and relaxed as they strung all of our kayaks together and pulled us behind two boats back all the way back up the coast. By that time it was a little after 6 and we were no longer in the sun, and the wind had picked up, so it was a pretty chilly ride back, but still relaxing. The sheer cliffs that form along the coast are stunning. I had no problem sitting back and watching the waves crash gently against the rocks as we puttered by. I am so so so glad we did this – I absolutely love kayaking! I know Rob enjoyed it too, but I think his favorite part of Portugal was the Pasteis de Nata. 🙂
In the evening we found a great place for dinner where we gorged ourselves on all kinds of cheeses, breads, and other tasty Portuguese food and then somehow found space for ice cream. Somehow I always have space for ice cream!
Before we had to catch the train back to Lisbon, we walked all over the city, along the coastline, on the beach, through the town. Lagos is a fun, quiet, romantic little gem. We only spent two short days here, but it was long enough for us to fall in love with it. We will certainly go back someday… after we’ve explored the rest of the world or maybe sooner!
