Visit Cape Verde: Cape Verde Trip Guide to Islands, Costs and Hikes

A Cape Verde trip gives you ten volcanic islands, year-round sunshine and a Creole culture that exists nowhere else, all within a six-hour flight of most European capitals. The archipelago sits about 570 km off the West African coast and was uninhabited until Portuguese navigators arrived in 1456. What grew from that meeting point of Europe and Africa is a country with its own language, its own music and a landscape that swings from desert dunes to green mountain valleys within a single ferry crossing. This guide covers which islands to choose, what it costs and the entry rules that catch people out.

Why a Cape Verde Trip Is Different from Other Atlantic Islands

The Canaries and Madeira are closer to Europe and better connected. Cape Verde offers something they cannot.

• Genuine year-round climate. Average temperatures sit between 20°C and 30°C with low humidity and very little rain.
• Cultural depth. Morna, the country's signature music, was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2019. Cesaria Evora carried it worldwide.
• Real hiking terrain. Santo Antao's trails climb through crater rims and sugarcane valleys, not manicured park paths.
• Small crowds. Outside the resort strips of Sal and Boa Vista, you will meet very few other visitors.

Choosing Your Islands

Nine of the ten islands are inhabited, and they are not interchangeable. Pick two or three and travel slowly.

Sao Vicente and Santo Antao: culture and hiking

Mindelo on Sao Vicente is the cultural capital, a port town of live music bars and colonial facades. A one-hour ferry reaches Santo Antao, the greenest island and the best hiking in the country. The Cova crater sits at 1,522 metres and the descent into the Paul Valley is one of the finest day walks in the Atlantic. Fontainhas, a cluster of coloured houses on a cliff edge, is the image most people remember.

Sal and Boa Vista: beaches and watersports

Flat, dry and windy. Santa Maria on Sal is a world-class kitesurfing and windsurfing base. Boa Vista has vast empty beaches and enormous dunes, and it is one of the most important loggerhead turtle nesting sites on the planet. Nesting season runs from June to October.

Santiago and Fogo: history and volcano

Cidade Velha on Santiago was the first European colonial settlement in the tropics and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. Fogo is dominated by Pico do Fogo, an active volcano rising to 2,829 metres. It last erupted in 2014, burying villages inside the caldera. People moved back and rebuilt.

Pros and Cons of a Cape Verde Trip

Advantages

• Reliable sunshine in every month of the year
• Short flights from Lisbon, Amsterdam, Paris and other European hubs
• Safe, welcoming and politically stable
• Excellent value once you are on the ground
• Genuine variety: hiking, beaches, music, volcano and colonial history

Drawbacks

• Inter-island travel eats time and money
• Ferries are weather-dependent and schedules slip
• Water is desalinated and fresh produce is often imported, so groceries cost more than you expect
• Resort areas on Sal feel disconnected from the rest of the country
• Card acceptance is patchy outside hotels and larger restaurants

Entry Rules: What Every Cape Verde Trip Requires

This is where travellers get caught. Read it carefully.

• Citizens of the EU, UK, Switzerland, Norway, the United States and around 60 other countries do not need a visa for stays of up to 30 days.
• Everyone arriving by air must still complete EASE pre-registration online at ease.gov.cv.
• EASE includes the Airport Security Tax (TSA) of 3,400 Cape Verdean escudos, roughly 31 EUR per person.
• Apply at least five days before arrival. Processing takes up to 72 hours.
• As of 2026, paying at the airport instead of pre-registering costs double, around 6,800 escudos, plus a much longer queue.
• Children under two are generally exempt from the tax.
• Stays over 30 days, or travel for work or study, require a full visa applied for before boarding.

Save the confirmation to your phone and print a copy.

Best Time to Travel

• November to June: dry, sunny and breezy. The strongest window, and peak hiking season on Santo Antao.
• July to October: warmer and more humid, with brief rain. This is turtle nesting season and the greenest period in the valleys.
• February: Mindelo Carnival, the biggest event in the calendar.

There is no genuinely bad month, only different trade-offs.

How to Plan Your Cape Verde Trip: Seven Practical Steps

1. Decide your priority first. Hiking means Santo Antao. Watersports mean Sal. History means Santiago and Fogo. Trying to do all four in a week does not work.
2. Limit yourself to two islands on a first visit of 7 to 10 days.
3. Book internal flights early. TACV runs the domestic network and seats sell out on popular routes.
4. Allow a buffer day before your international departure if a ferry sits between you and the airport.
5. Complete EASE as soon as flights are confirmed.
6. Budget realistically. An eight-day self-guided walking package across Sao Vicente and Santo Antao, including accommodation, most meals, transfers and ferry tickets, costs around 880 EUR per person excluding flights.
7. Carry some cash. The escudo is pegged to the euro at a fixed rate of about 110 to 1, and euros are widely accepted, but change comes back in escudos.

Expert Tips That Save Trouble

• Book a local guide for Santo Antao's valley routes. Trails are unmarked and cloud drops fast on the ridges.
• Take proper walking boots. The cobbled mountain roads are hard underfoot.
• Learn a few words of Portuguese. Locals speak Creole daily but Portuguese is understood everywhere.
• Do not buy turtle shell or coral products. Both are protected.
• Sun protection matters more than the temperature suggests, as the trade wind masks the burn.
• Pack any specific medication with you; island pharmacies stock the basics only.

Is a Cape Verde Trip Worth It?

A Cape Verde trip suits travellers who want warmth without a long-haul flight and who are happy to swap resort polish for something more textured. The hiking on Santo Antao stands comparison with anywhere in the Atlantic, the music in Mindelo is the real thing rather than a performance for visitors, and the islands remain uncrowded. Sort your EASE registration early, pick two islands rather than five, and give yourself time to slow down. That is how the archipelago repays you.