Our Cape Verde holidays & tours
Our Cape Verde holidays get you donning boots and boarding boats to explore this 10-island archipelago in the Atlantic. We have walking holidays designed by local experts who know the best walking trails through pastel-painted villages and terraced mountains. Our cruises, meanwhile, are small ship adventures that barely make a wave as they glide into fishing ports that the big liners can’t reach. Great music, food and art is threaded through each trip – whether that’s sharing a coffee at a mountain guest house or visiting morna singer Cesaria Evora’s museum house in Mindelo.
Cape Verde Archipelago small ship cruise
Enjoy small ship cruising around the Cape Verde Islands.
From
£2252 to £2339
8 days
ex flights
Cape Verde Island cruise
Cruise the islands of this little visited Archipelago.
From
£2109
8 days
ex flights
Cape Verde guided tour
Colonial towns, vibrant markets & outstanding views
From
£2749 to £2849
10 days
ex flights
Cape Verde walking holiday
Walk between old villages and sugarcane terraces
From
€1525 to €1575
7 days
ex flights
Cape Verde, women's empowerment holiday
Meaningful Cape Verde holiday highlighting females in agriculture
From
€1295 to €1495
7 days
ex flights
Cape Verde walking tour
Explore nature and landscapes of Cape Verde
From
€1395 to €1495
7 days
ex flights
Contact Us
Call us for a chat about our holidays. We are happy to discuss your holiday and help in any way we can. No bots, queues or awful hold music.
01273 823 700
Call us until 6pm
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CAPE VERDE MAP & HIGHLIGHTS
Apart from the fact that this glorious archipelago is still largely untouched by mass tourism, one of the most wonderful things about Cape Verde is that each island proffers its own unique natural but also very specific cultural heritage. Fogo still has a simmering volcano but also produces wonderful coffee and wine out of the ashes. São Vicente has mountains, coasts and two carnivals. Santiago has some of the most handsome views from Serra da Malagueta National Park, as well as the former colonial capital at UNESCO World Heritage Site Cidade Velha. And Santo Antão has so many ancient mule trails, you could hike to a different place of beauty every day for a week and still feel like you have only just begun.
Fogo
1. Fogo
Fogo is sort of fearsome but also fascinating, and definitely fantastic for hiking, if vertiginous and volcanic aren’t words that freak you out. The most recent volcano is still simmering from the 2014 eruption at Mount Pico (2,829m). Take a guided hike up to the top, or to adjacent Pico Pequeno. You will need a glass of local vinho to toast that achievement, miraculously cultivated within the caldera.
Island culture
2. Island culture
Uninhabited before the Portuguese arrived in 1500s, Cape Verde has since witnessed slavery, mining, famine and volcanoes. Today it is peaceful, with a Creole culture and a mix of European and West African heritage. Each island has its own identity through music, food or dialect, with at least six forms of music alone. So, although the official language is Portuguese, you’ll also hear much of the music in Creole.
Sal
3. Sal
Just 35km long and 12km wide, this is one of Cape Verde’s three sandy eastern islands, popular for recent resort tourism with all-year sunshine. Also home to one of Cape Verde’s international airports so it has plenty of tourist activities. Dive here to see lava tubes, or windsurfing is superb in January and February. And explore Pedra de Lume crater, which is below sea level, creating vast salt flats.
Santiago
4. Santiago
The largest island has the first colonial city in the tropics, Cidade Velha, constructed for slave trading, and is now home to the contemporary capital, Praia. Santiago’s hiking is totally gorgeous; walk up the island’s highest mountain, Pico d’Antonio (1,394m) and stay in Rui Vaz for some of the finest views of the archipelago. There are impressive views too from the mountains of Serra da Malagueta National Park.
Santo Antao
5. Santo Antao
This is Cape Verde’s second largest island with spectacular hiking. Walk up to the volcanic crater, through farmed terraces in the Paul Valley and along ancient mule trails that bring you from bays to clifftops along this dramatic Atlantic coastline. Stay in small, locally owned accommodation in mountain or fishing villages and gain a real sense of Cape Verdean life. Spend a week hiking here and never tire of it.
Sao Vincente
6. Sao Vincente
With harsh, mountainous volcanic terrain, the white beaches proffer cooling breezes and soothing waters on this island which is deserted in some parts, but life and soul in others. The main town is Mindelo, considered Cape Verde’s cultural capital and famous for its carnival in February, when local music plays a big part. Hike up to its highest point Monte Verde (725m) or follow coastal routes from beach bliss to more bliss.
