Cabo Verde is also a paradise for backpackers, not only a destination for tourists looking for a week in an all-in resort! Mountains, a volcano, a desert, salt flats, many beaches… there is so much to discover on these pretty islands.

2 days in Fogo

To be honest we came to the island with the unique goal of climbing the Fogo volcano.

The flight there already offered us the most beautiful view on the top of the volcano. The route from the airport with the hotel shuttle (1H15-60€ to be shared among customers) climbing towards the volcano was simply spectacular … and we started to be a bit scared thinking we would need to climb from 1 600 to 2 800m the morning after!

Our hotel – Casa Alcindo (150% recommended! Beautiful inner courtyard, homemade food, great atmosphere) – booked us a guide (3 000 ESC pp) that came to talk to us the night before. He said that it would take about 2h30 to 3hours to reach the top, leaving at 6.30AM.

In reality it took us a bit more than 4 hours. The road up is quite steep and rocky and we needed to find a good common pace for the group (5 people). It’s however completely doable, even if like me you do not do sport regularly.

And the way down is a lot of fun: you run on the slopes and get down much faster and much more easily!

On the second day, we spent Christmas eve in São Filipe: food in Tropical restaurant, drinks at Espaco 24 and a night at Cruzeiro guesthouse with the most beautiful balcony view on the black beach of Praia da Bila. 

3 days in Santiago

My recommendation would be to travel by car on the biggest island of Cabo Verde, so you could see a lot more than me. Unfortunately during winter holidays, it was complicated to book them from abroad.

So here is what we managed to do:

• Walk around the Plato in Praia and have breakfast at Cafe Sofia
• Beach day in Tarrafal: enjoy the turquoise waters at Mar di Baxu, join a beach volley match on the main beach of Tarrafal and drink a caipirinha at sunset at the Kabungo beach bar
• Trek in the Parque natural Serra Malagueta (well we didn’t do it, but I recommend it!)
• Dive into Cabo Verde’s past at the Chão Bom concentration camp
• Enjoy the mountain view in Rui Vaz

Sleep:

• in Tarrafal: Residence Alta Marea/Terra e sol B&B or Kingfisher village for bigger budgets
• In Praia: Maveti Guesthouse
• In Rui Vaz: Quinta do Montana

Move around in Santiago:

• taxi from airport to Praia : around 1 200 ESC
• shuttle from airport to Tarrafal: 65€ (booked with the hotel)
• aluguer from Tarrafal to San Domingos: 1 000 ESC (a bit more to Praia) 
• San Domingos to Rui Vaz: aluguer was full, but a local picked us up!

4 days in Boa Vista

We spent New Year in Sal Rei, on Boa Vista island. Sal Rei is a small town with many … Italian restaurants. The city seems to be run by many Italians. At least my Italian skills were very useful.

We spent the first two nights in a nice fancy hotel – the Oasis White hotel: very comfortable bed, big bathroom, nice breakfast. And three nights in a very nice apartment in Ca Jasmine with a beautiful view on Cabral beach.

We did two excursions that I would recommend:

• a 4-hour tour (which ended up being a private tour) at the back of a truck in the stunning desert and to the shipwreck
• a quad tour along the wonderful beaches of the north and west of the islands

And of course, an afternoon and sunset on Praia d’Estoril should not be missed!

Food & drinks in Sal Rei: we had nice Italian food at Ca baby and Da Massino, tasty caipirinhas at Té Manché and a yummy gelato from Cremositos. I recommend you the Grill Siroco for live music.

4 days in Sal

We landed in Sal on the first day and stayed in a small apartment in the Murdeira Village resort. Unfortunately the weather was not really nice so we couldn’t enjoy the very big swimming pool but we had a nice lunch at the snack bar and a nice dinner in O Ninho Dos Piratas, a pirate-themed restaurant. We also did a tour of the Pachamama Eco park, super nice!

Our three last days were also in Sal. We stayed one night in a nice apartment (after arriving in the middle of the night with a ferry! See below!) and three nights at the small Blue Eagle hotel, a bit outside of the buzz of the touristic town of Santa Maria.

We did two nice excursions: a busy full-day tour of the island to see all the main highlights (baby sharks, salt flats, blue eye) and a relaxing half-day on a catamaran (many options).

The city has a lot of choices for food and drinks. I could highlight Art Kafé, Calema and the Bodeguinha Craft Beer.

Travelling from one island to the other in Cabo Verde

There are actually 10 islands in Cabo Verde. I spent a significant amount of time researching the best itinerary using internal flights and ferries. Flights were quickly full and I had to change plans many times. Here was the final one:

• Day 1: Landing in Sal with international flight
• Day 2: Flight to Santiago
• Day 3: Flight to Fogo
• Day 6: Flight to Santiago
• Day 10: Flight to Boa Vista
• Day 14: Flight to Santiago
• Day 15: Flight to Sal
• Day 18: Flying back home

The local airline, however, has a bad reputation and our flight on day 14 was cancelled after waiting for 6 hours at the airport without any info. Although they did offer a night in a hotel and a flight the next morning, as there was a major risk we would miss our flight on day 15, I decided to book a ferry ticket last minute from Boa Vista to Sal. Much cheaper, but I had tried to avoid it, as I had heard and read that passengers were often sick. And indeed, there were some unpleasant noises during the journey!

Eventually it was a bit of an adventure but we didn’t feel that bad and managed to sleep a bit. So, why not!

And in case you need to complain, here are your passenger rights when flying in Cabo Verde.

All recommendations are mine, no ads.
Trip done in December 2023/January 2024.