Cape Verde travel guide

Our Cape Verde travel guide to this stunning tropical archipelago, 500km off the west coast of Senegal, tries to capture this otherworldly utopia. With extraordinary history, Creole culture and tropical yet volcanic landscapes, Cabo Verde, as it is now officially known, is a place to walk, wander and wonder at. And all at only a six hour flight from the UK.

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Cape Verde travel guide

This relatively little-visited archipelagic nation, made up of ten volcanic islands lying 500km off the West African coast, is fortunate in so many ways. Geologically it’s part of what is known as Macaronesia, along with The Canaries and the Azores. This word translates from the Greek, rather aptly, as ‘islands of the fortunate’. They are also fortunate in that they have a rich Creole cultural heritage with superb food, music and sense of fun. They are fortunate with their climate, with year round sunshine and glorious temperatures.

Here I saw the glory of tropical vegetation... It has been for me a glorious day, like giving to a blind man eyes, he is overwhelmed with what he sees and cannot justly comprehend it

- Charles Darwin in Cape Verde, 1832

And last but not least, they have the fortune of not having been totally ravaged by mass tourism, because hiking up through these dramatic volcanic landscapes, down to long, empty sandy beaches and back up again through vertiginous valleys is where fortune definitely favours the brave. And that fortune is found in unique and very much untouched Cape Verdean beauty.

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Cape Verde is...

just six hours from the UK, with beaches, hiking and sun all year round. And it is still a very well kept secret

Cape Verde isn't...

Cape Verde anymore. Its official name is Republic of Cabo Verde, going back to its Portuguese roots.

Things to do in Cape Verde...

The Cape Verde islands are pretty much unknown utopias for keen walkers. With the vertiginous qualities of Amalfi, but without the frills. With the volcanic voluptuousness of the Canaries without the crowds. Or fish and chips. With the ancient mountain mule trails of the Atlas Mountains but with beaches instead of desert at the end. Oh, and sunshine all year round. You can go on tailor made walking holidays taking in the islands that appeal, be led by expert local guides, have bags transported from one place to the next and tie in with the brilliant local ‘aluguar’ shared taxi system to bring you to trailheads. Immerse yourself in island culture, with a lot of cool Creole going on. The food is superb, from the famous coffee and wine of Fogo, to traditional cachupa rica fish soup or superb seafood just about everywhere. And then the music. There are six forms of traditional music alone, including funaná on the accordion, batuque performed by women drumming and singing, and morna, which is balladic and beautiful. Think Portuguese fado but with a local beat. And, no matter what music you hear, there is always dancing. For a cacophony of culture, check out one of their many festivals such as Carnival in February and Baia das Gatas Music Festival in August (both on São Vicente) or Gamboa Music Festival on Santiago in May.

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Things not to do in Cape Verde...

Island hop independently. These aren’t like the Greek Island but are remote Atlantic ones with tough ferry crossings - both timetable-wise and temperamental weather-wise. With internal flights, you need to be on the ball as the busy routes get booked up and prices are hiked up for last minute daytrippers. Your tour operator will handle the hassle of all this for you and know which routes work best depending on the times of year.

Stay in an all inclusive resort. These islands are still relatively undiscovered in terms of mass tourism and that is a rare thing these days. Cruise ships are now discovering this wonderful archipelago, with day trippers having little positive impact on the local economy. The same can be said of all inclusive resorts, so stay local, eat local, buy local, sing local and dance local.

Go hiking without a guide – unless you are very experienced. On Fogo, for example, you can hike up to the peak of Mount Pico, but it is still a very much simmering volcano, so you must have a guide. On Santo Antão, there are certain routes you can go alone, but the signage often isn’t the best, so local knowledge goes a long way. And for some of those vertiginous valleys on São Vicente, you will be happy for someone to encourage you on those shakier moments.

Cape Verde travel guide