Lagos

As tourist towns go, Lagos (lah-goosh) has got the lot. The port town, which launched many naval excursions during Portugal’s extraordinary Age of Discovery, lies along the bank of the Rio Bensafrim. Its old town's pretty, cobbled lanes and picturesque squares and churches are enclosed by 16th-century walls. Beyond the walls is a modern but not overly unattractive sprawl and some truly fabulous beaches.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Ponta da Piedade
Lagos
Protruding 2.5km south of Lagos, Ponta da Piedade is a dramatic wedge of headland with contorted, polychrome sandstone cliffs and towers, complete with a…
Museu Municipal
Lagos
The town museum holds a bit of everything: swords and pistols, landscapes and portraits, minerals and crystals, coins, Moorish pottery, miniature…
Centro Ciênia Viva de Lagos
Lagos
Young adventurers will especially love this science museum devoted to Portuguese seafaring in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its main exhibit covers the age…
Castelo dos Governadores
Lagos
Built by the Moors, Lagos' castle was conquered by Christian forces in the 13th century. It's said that the ill-fated, evangelical Dom Sebastião attended…
Antigo Mercado de Escravos
Lagos
Set in the building believed to be Europe's first slave market, when slaves from the west coast of Africa were brought here in 1444, this small museum…
Museu de Cera dos Descobrimentos
Lagos
Unlike typical celebrity-filled wax museums, this one has 22 historic wax figures representing 16 different points in time during Portugal's Age of…
Town Walls
Lagos
On the western side of the centre is a restored section of the stout town walls, built (atop earlier versions) during the reigns of both Manuel I and João…
Igreja de Santa Maria
Lagos
The symmetrical Igreja de Santa Maria was built during the 15th and 16th centuries and retains a 16th-century entrance; the rest of the remaining…

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