Weekend away in Algarve – Lagos

The idea for this trip came long before coming here, knowing that the south of Portugal has some of the most beautiful places for surfing or for simply tanning on the beach. The long coastline sprinkled with yellow-orangey rocks can be recognised everywhere on the internet, so no wonder that as soon as one of our house mates proposed going to Faro at the end of October by plane for only 33€ both ways we all bought the tickets in a few hours!

Our accommodation

We decided that Faro is not the best place to stay for our trip which was quite long (3 nights), so after some more research the internet we were happy to find Lagos – a vibrant historical resort where you can definitely stay for more than a weekend.

Since we were a group of 9 people, quite a big one for traveling independently we had to organise ourselves pretty well in order to match everyone’s tastes. We checked for hostels both in Faro and Lagos and we booked 2 nights in Lagos and 1 last night in Faro because the airport is there and our return flight really early in the morning too.

I recommend both of the hostels we stayed at and especially the first one in Lagos:

1. Bura Surfhouse

Maybe one of the most beautiful hostels I’ve ever slept in, Bura Surfhouse (16€ per night + breakfast included) was by far an unexpected beauty although the pictures on Hostelworld raised our expectations quite high. They were in the end pretty accurate. The pool, the pancake breakfast, the rooftop terrace where you could enjoy your coffee in the morning or simply the living room and the terraces of the common areas were just perfect for our short summer escapade. The only thing that we didn’t quite manage to do was to get a room together so we were split into 3 and 6 people groups.

What is a little challenging about this hostel is the way to the bathrooms or other rooms because, for example, the 3 of us (me included) were staying in a10 bed room that had only 1 private bathroom and 2 open toilets and showers. Not only that, but our room was also the way the only way to other people’s room.

Those people had to enter ours and then open a second door to theirs, so you can imagine what a mess there was in the morning or even worse, during the night when we could hear everyone going to the toilet or walk close to our beds… But hey, we came here to spend our holiday going out, not inside, so it was not such a big discomfort for our taste as long as it was cheap. Also, we befriended with our neighbors quicker.

2. We’ll come to Algarve

The hostel in Faro - We’ll come to Algarve (13€ per night), had a nice vibe as well but unfortunately we couldn’t enjoy it more than 12 hours since we had our flight at 6am.

Tip: You could also look for cheaper hostels that don’t have breakfast included if you know you won’t be there in the morning. That’s why we also didn’t choose a hostel with breakfast included.

The biggest plus about this hostel is that it is very central and you are literally 3 minute away (walking) from either the city center, the port, the train station or the bus station that takes you to the airport. You could say it’s the city itself that is the plus here since everything is so close, but Faro does not compare to Lagos for sure.

Even though it is small and cozy, we felt like it doesn't really have the tropical looks we were expecting in Algarve. Its picturesque architecture and narrow streets are always nice to explore since the tinier the streets the more accurate the experience, but here it was pretty much everything you could do. Plus, of course, taking some amazing shots of the planes landing nearby during sunset.

Day 1

Our flight was again very early in the morning because we wanted to enjoy as much as possible so we took a night bus from Porto to the airport and off we went again! After a one hour flight and a long wait and delay that made us consider taking the train next time (even though it might be a little pricy) we arrived in Faro. We took the train to Lagos which was 5,5€ (25y discount ticket so don’t forget to ask them about this and to show them your ID), walked for some more 30 minutes to our Bura Surfhouse and made our way to the beaches where we spent the rest of the day swimming on the Batata beach which was only 20 minutes away from our hostel.

What I love the most about hostels is that everyone there is usually very young so there’s always a very fresh vibe. We asked the lady at the reception what we could do in Lagos besides surfing and she offered us a free map to better explain how we could walk along the coastline and see pretty much everything, especially from one side to watch the sunset.

There was something about Lagos that made us regret not planning more days there. Even though we did this trip in October, the summer vibe was still sprinkled on those streets: the tourists, the restaurants with their lively terraces and music coming from out and spreading all over the old city center. Simply georgeous!

After we finished our first enthusiastic dip in the ocean we went to catch the sunset and walked all the way until the lighthouse - Farol da Ponta da Piedade.

Day 2

We wanted to go kayaking and (even better) kayaking to the famous Benagil Cave, but unfortunately our plans were changed by the weather that got so worse the waves did not allow anyone to go there safely. Unfortunately, we dropped the idea and postponed it for another time since some of us will stay here for one year with Erasmus. Plus that, I still think it’s best to leave things to try in a place you have already visited just so you could come back and still keep your enthusiasm high about the experiences you haven’t had yet. And for sure Lagos is one of those destinations that deserves a second and longer visit.

I’ll start writing about this day with a very very VERY important tip: wear solar cream! Everywhere! I know that usually people coming from countries that do not have that much seaside (Romania has the Black Sea, but apparently you can never have enough) tend to discover this fire ball that Portugal has in the sky and simply forget about the 'silly' advice their doctor is always giving.

I was one of those… and although I did remember to use sun cream, I unfortunately forgot about applying it on my face. And guess what? My face got so sun burnt I looked like a tomato for the rest of our holiday which is simply great... Even if it’s windy and a little cloudy, trust me… this should be the one and only thing you should pay the most importance to. So, if you don’t want to be like me, just remember… Sun cream!

After spending the morning on Praia dos Estudantes, we decided to continue our walk along the coastline past the lighthouse and let me tell you, you will have to walk for a while until you’ll reach the last beach which is Praia Porto De Mós but it will all be worth it.

You should definitely see on the way there Praia do Camilo, since it has a gorgeous stair case that brings you right down, between the rocks, to the ocean. Even though this one is quite touristic and full of people most of the time, you should simply go and take some good photos. Nature will simply do its job for a lot of great summer time photos.

In the evening we spent our time going through the souvenirs shops and discovered Mar d'Estórias an absolutely gorgeous shop, full of books and handmade postcards and quite unique souvenirs (even though quite pricy). They also have a painting exposition in one of their rooms and even an up top terrace from you can see a little bit of the city center while enjoying a glass of wine. I would definitely recommend at least doing a tour inside. It has an amazing hipster-ish vibe and you’ll definitely enjoy it if you are into that.

Day 3

On our last day we had to do our check-out from Lagos and enjoy our last pancake breakfast. Insert small tip from here: you can always take fruits or make some sandwiches from your hostel to keep with you during the day and spare some money for lunch or snacks during your travels.

We took the train from Lagos, arrived in Faro almost 2h later and did the check in at our second hostel which was luckily enough only 5 min away from the station. After the lady at the reception was nice enough to give us a room for 10 people so we could stay all 9 together we went out exploring the city until the sunset.

As I have mentioned before, Faro is not a city to spend more than probably 1 night there, so you understand why we chose not to spend our holiday here. My honest impression is that after 2h of walking you might have already seen pretty much most of everything there is to see. Although it is a lively city and it does have a very cozy vibe, thinking about the planes that land on the airport nearby which cross the sky exactly over the sun that is setting, just better consider Lagos for a longer trip. I think I have already made my point with the photos there.

And that is pretty much it. I know I left the photos speak for themselves in this article, but as an overall impression about this travelling destination, I still think it is probably the best place I’ve discovered in Portugal up until now for a lazy summer holiday.

Although we didn’t check everything on the list, we are extremely happy about what we enjoyed there. I will list below a few things you can do too that are quite unique and have that once-in-a-life-time standard. These are the ones we left for maybe a second trip if the weather allows it. They are all recommendations from the lady in Bura Surfhouse:

Skydive Algarve (in Alvor)

Benagil Cave (with kayak or boat)

Stand up paddling at sunrise – (on a surfboard) this one is extremely praised by people so if you are a morning person or even if you’re not, this should definitely be on your bucketlist since you’ll get to start one of your days with views like these:

Photo gallery