Lagos is a nice little town. Its popular with tourists but not quite as tatty as other package holiday hotspots like Albufeira (about 45 minutes drive from here), described by someone on Tripadvisor as a “skanky neon strip full of pissed Brits”. Lagos admittedly has elements of skankiness, but it does have character in the older part of the town with winding cobbled streets and locals out and about doing their shopping.
Our Airbnb this time is in an apartment in a slightly characterless complex called Iberlagos. Its saving grace is its proximity (2 minutes walk) to a gorgeous little bay called Dona Anna and massive swanking swimming pool – part of the complex. For a nice 2 bedroom apartment with kitchen, living area, 2 bathrooms, large balcony and wifi we are paying about $NZ 190 a night.
The second half of September is such a great time to travel in the south of Europe. The summer holiday crowds have largely gone (school holidays are over around the end of August here) and the temperature is not so sweltering. It looks like temperatures will be ranging between 18, in the evening, and 29 degrees during our stay – I can handle that.
The best part about Lagos, in my opinion anyway, is its proximity to a number of small, stunning beaches. Dona Ana, right in front of our resort and pictured in the photo at the start of this post, is described as the most picturesque beach in the Algarve – well that is according to the authors of lagosportugalguide.com. It was great to do a bit of body-surfing on our first day – but since then I have been feeling a little under the weather. Hope things improve before our yoga retreat starting tomorrow . . .