Lagos with its stunning beaches, incredible cliffs, and a buzzing historic old town, makes it one of the best towns in the Algarve to stay in. Yet if you’re looking to get more out of the Algarve you’re probably looking for a few day trip ideas.
If you’ve already chosen Lagos as your base, you probably know it’s well connected to the wider Algarve, with both a central bus station and train station to help get you around. This makes it a great place to base yourself from and explore!
We lived in the Algarve for over two years, so made all of these day trips ourselves and we’ll share a few local tips and knowledge! We’ve also included lots of suggestions of day trips for people that want to use public transport!
Here’s Our List of the 12 Best Day Trips from Lagos!
1. Sagres and Cape St Vicente – Dramatic Cliffs and Incredible Scenery
Distance 30 km – Maps Link – Public Transport : Yes
First up, is one of the most popular day trips to make from Lagos. The small town at the southwestern tip of the Algarve called Sagres. This is where the western Algarve is at its wildest and sometimes most dramatic. Although the town is pretty similar to lots of other coastal towns in the Algarve, it more than makes up for it in incredible scenery, stunning beaches, and of course historic setting.
For a full day out, you can visit Sagres, its historic fortress – Fortaleza de Sagres, and Cabo de São Vicente a smaller fortress and lighthouse. The area lends itself to self-driving around, you’ll come across so many smaller places to stop and take in the views. However, you can also visit this area by bus directly from Lagos. The no.47 bus departs the central bus station in Lagos almost hourly and makes stops in the town of Sagres, the outside of Sagres, Praia do Beliche and the lighthouse. Full timetables can be found on the Vamus website.
2. Monchique and Foia – The Algarve’s Quintessential Hill Town
Distance 50 km – Maps Link – Public Transport : No
If dramatic, and extreme don’t quite fit your day trip needs then perhaps it’s a good idea to take a step into the slower paced and traditional Algarve.
Monchique is a delightful town positioned at the heart of a small mountain range called the Serra de Monchique. You’ll find a focus on relaxation, hiking, and a slower paced life. It’s charming streets and small squares are a lovely place to try some of the traditional Portuguese ‘mountain food’ and the local speciality Medronho. A fearsome alcoholic spirit made with local fruit. As well as this, it’s well known for its natural hot springs and spa resorts based around them – Caldas de Monchique. The therapeutic properties of the Monchique water have been known since at least Roman times.
A car rental is a great way to explore this area at your own pace. However small group tours can be organised for around €45 a person.
3. Silves – A Historic Castle Town
Distance 40 km – Maps Link – Public Transport : Yes
Silves was the historic capital of the Algarve, and has one of the best examples of a 13th century castle in Portugal. Silves is a great day trip for anyone that wants to experience some of the Algarve’s long history, or experience a rural town away from the coast. The history of Silves is balanced with the usual features of Portuguese life, a lively market, café culture and booming restaurant scene resulting in some of the best food you can find in the Algarve!
Silves has a train station, but it is located around 2km from the town, so you’ll need to walk, or take a taxi. Alternatively, this is one of the areas of the Algarve that you’ll experience a great benefit in having a rental car! Tours are available which include a full day trip to Monchique and Silves if you’d like to combine and make a full day out of it!
4. Alvor – A Lagoon Side Town with an Incredible Beach
Distance 30 km – Maps Link – Public Transport : Yes
Alvor is a small town near Portimão on the doorstep of the small lagoon Ria de Alvor. It’s a family friendly resort town that blends an excellent location, with both beaches and lagoon access, with some impressive natural sites. Its boardwalks, or Passadiços de Alvor as they’re called in Portuguese extend for 5km from the town, taking in the lagoon side wetlands, all the way to the beach. Making it a great place for family friendly hikes!
Although was originally a traditional fishing village, and you’ll still find a collection of fishing huts on the waterfront, as well as some incredible fish restaurants serving some very fresh local delicacies.
5. Faro – The Algarve’s Capital City
Distance 90 km – Maps Link – Public Transport : Yes
Faro is the Algarve’s capital city, although it is often skipped by visitors who arrive at its airport and quickly leave. For those that take the time to explore Faro, you’ll be richly rewarded.
Faro’s a fantastic waterfront city, with a surprising amount of local things to do. The old town and its cobbled streets are great to explore, there’s some great museums, traditional architecture, and some unique history – a chapel of bones. It’s also a stepping off point to explore the Ria Formosa, with lots of different types of activities from island hopping to kayaking available.
As the capital city, it is a transport hub and you’ll find regular trains, local buses, as well as larger coach operators offering regular trips from Lagos to Faro.
6. Tavira – Historic Riverside Town
Distance 40 km – Maps Link – Public Transport : Yes
Further to the east of the Algarve is Tavira. Tavira is a small town that’s spread across both sides of the slow flowing River Gilão. Tavira blends a historic riverside town, with a few of the features found in your more typical Portuguese seaside resort.
It’s retained much of its authentic Portuguese charm, and is well known for its café culture and restaurant scene, which hasn’t been too heavily commercialised. Within the town you’ll also find a castle, beautiful public gardens, and more historic churches than you can count! The most famous being the stunning Igreja da Misericórdia which is filled with blue Azulejo tiles.
From the town centre you can also take a regular ferry service into the Ria Formosa to explore Tavira’s nearby island – Ilha da Tavira. A small paradise island and one of our favourite beaches in the Algarve.
7. Ria Formosa – The Algarve’s Stunning Lagoon
Distance 95 km – Maps Link – Public Transport : Yes
Faro and Tavira, sit on the edge of the incredible Ria Formosa Lagoon, a 60km2 coastal lagoon that hugs the eastern coast of the Algarve. The Ria Formosa has a seaward belt of sandbars and islands that have created a natural lagoon system. Within that lagoon you’ll find deserted islands, white-sand beaches, crystal-clear waters, and small fishing communities.
The Ria Formosa is recognised as one of Portugal’s seven natural wonders, and a protected national park. It’s home to a wide array of marine life from seahorses, to visiting dolphins it’s an incredible place to spend a day exploring.
Options to explore the Ria Formosa are quite varied, you can simply take a walk on one of several named trails like the Ludo Trail. You can also rent bicycles and cycle along several different routes as well. Alternatively, you can hit the water with kayak rentals, and guided kayak tours. If you’re feeling less active than there’s multiple types of boats and boat tours as well. From dolphin watching speedboats, to solar powered birdwatching boats, and sunset sailing catamarans, there’s something for all types of visitor.
To get to the Ria Formosa, you will most likely need to get to Faro, or the nearby town of Olhao first. Both these places have the widest array of ferries, boat tours and operators. The main visitor centre for the Ria Formosa is also located in Olhao.
8. Loulé – An Algarvean Market Town
Distance 80 km – Maps Link – Public Transport : Yes
Loulé is a traditional market town around 18km north of Faro. It’s a small town full of both culture, and history, that even during the summer months avoids the over crowding the Algarve is known for.
That said, the best time to visit is on a Saturday Monring where you’ll get to experience one of the biggest farmers markets in the Algarve at Loulé’s historic Mercado Municipal. If you can’t make it on a Saturday, the market building is still occupied with a daily market – just not the packed-out farmer’s market. Elsewhere in the town you’ll find a great combination of both Islamic and Christian history, a 14th century castle and an Islamic bathhouse that exists nowhere else in Portugal!
9. Alte – Explore the Rural Algarve
Distance 55km – Maps Link – Public Transport : No
Alte is a tiny village located in the central Algarve region. The village makes for a lovely day trip to explore the quieter and traditional side of Portuguese life in the Algarve. In 2023, Alte was listed as an Aldeia de Portugal – village of Portugal, in recognition of its history, culture and traditional village life!
Alte is also famous in the Algarve for its beautiful natural features, its water springs, and waterfall. Those springs feed into a set of canal like swimming pools – so it’s a fantastic place to cool off away from the overcrowded beaches in the summer!
10. Algar Seco – One of the Algarve’s Natural Wonders
Distance 40 km – Maps Link – Public Transport : No
The coastline of Algar Seco is an area of stunning cliffs, incredible rock formations, caves, blowholes, and natural pools located near Carvoeiro in the Algarve. It’s a place of amazing scenery where you can hike, swim in natural rock pools, take boat trips along the coast, or even just simply relax with an ice-cold drink! Algar Seco is a unique place that offers something for nearly every tourist coming to the Algarve!
Algar Seco is located in the beach town of Carvoeiro in the Algarve. It’s around 500m from the town and easily walkable. There’s plenty of roadside parking and a small car park is also available, if the car park is full most people park on the streets around the area. Unfortunately, public transport is very limited in this area. There are no direct buses from Lagos, and the nearest train station is Estombar 7km away. Getting to Estombar is the easy bit as you can take the train, however, you’ll need to take two local buses from there just to get to Carvoeiro. For this reason, you’re better off with a rental car or a taxi to explore this area.
11. Benagil Sea Cave
Distance 40 km – Maps Link – Public Transport: No
Perhaps the most famous of all day trips from Lagos is Benagil Cave. The stunning sea cave just 6 km outside of Carvoeiro. The Cave that takes most of the focus is situated between the beaches of Benagil Beach and Praia da Corredoura. The large cave with an open roof occupies a serious amount of coverage in the Algarve, but if you ask the locals, it’s becoming more and more chaotic and challenging to manage.
Larger boats are now banned from entering the cave, and even smaller boats are no longer allowed to disembark passengers on the beach inside the cave. The only option if you want to get photos from inside is to Stand Up Paddle Board, or Kayak to it. Both options are available from multiple tour operators at the beach in Benagil. Due to its popularity, you need to book early, and for the best experience book the earliest trips, so you can arrive in the cave before a large amount of tourists do!
Despite being the most famous, for us it’s not actually the best day trip at all. You’re much better off exploring the coastline in Algar Seco by foot, or by taking a boat tour!
12. Burgau and Salema
Distance 12 km – Maps Link – Public Transport: Yes
Capping this list of the 12 best day trips from Lagos, is the wonderful seaside villages of Salema and Burgau. During the warmer months Lagos does have a resort like vibe and even its beaches can feel pretty hectic so if you want to slow things down you can head just 12 km along the coast to two sleepy seaside villages, Salema or Burgau.
They’re two separate villages, on two separate bays, so you might be wondering why we’re mentioning them together, it’s because just 5 km of a stunning cliff top walk separate the two villages and they can easily be combined. Additionally, you can get to Burgau and Salema on the same bus service from Lagos (no.4). For a day trip we’d recommend getting the bus to Salema, exploring the seaside town and its dinosaur footrprints, then hiking over the cliffs to Burgau. From there you can soak up the atmosphere on Burgau’s impressive bay, before returning to Lagos on the no.4 bus.
A Day Trip to Lisbon from Lagos?
The fastest direct route from Lagos to Lisbon in a car is around 3 hours. The fastest train from Lagos to Lisbon takes just over 3 hours and 45 minutes. There’s no direct train, so you’ll need to swap train line in the small town of Tunes. The earliest train is at 06:10 and arrives at Lisbon Entrecampos at 09:56. The return train is at 18:40. So although a return trip is possible in a day, it’s really not worth it in our opinion.
Spending either 6 hours on the road, or nearly 8 hours on a train just to see Lisbon is a very long day. Especially when you consider the size and scale of everything to see and do in Lisbon. For us Lisbon should be reserved for at least an overnight trip from Faro! Possible yes, worth it? Not really!
A Day Trip to Spain?
Lagos is actually only 140km from the Spanish border so a day trip to Spain is a real possibility. The most popular choice is Seville, which is 270 km or a nearly 3-hour drive away. However, there are no trains across the border, so the only way to do this trip by public transport is by bus which takes around 4 and half hours. With 9 hours on the road this is too much for us to recommend as a day trip. So you should only consider Spain if you have your own rental car for the journey.
How to get Around the Algarve?
As the biggest city in the west Algave, Lagos does serve as public transport hub, with buses and trains heading lots of different directions. The regional trainline is a great way of exploring many of the smaller towns and cities, going all the way Vila Real de Santo António in the East.
The trains don’t serve everywhere though, and for visitors that want to stray away from the coastline, like to Silves, and Monchique, or further west than the train lines go, a rental car might be the best choice for you to explore!
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