Ten islands, and one trap: they are nothing alike. You can spend a week in Cape Verde lying on a golden beach without ever seeing a mountain, or walk for six days through dizzying valleys without ever swimming. Choose the wrong island and you miss the trip you came for.
🗺️ The ten islands in one table
The archipelago splits into two groups: to the north the Barlavento (windward islands), to the south the Sotavento (leeward islands). Santa Luzia, uninhabited, is a nature reserve: it can only be visited on an excursion from São Vicente.
| Island | What you'll find | Airport | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sal | Dunes, long beaches, Santa Maria, board-sport spots | Yes — international | Beach, kitesurfing, first trip |
| Boa Vista | Sand desert, vast beaches, turtles | Yes — international | Beach, peace and quiet, resorts |
| Santiago | Praia the capital, Cidade Velha (UNESCO), inland mountains | Yes — international | History, city life, immersion |
| São Vicente | Mindelo, Creole music, nightlife, Baía das Gatas | Yes — international | Culture, music, base for Santo Antão |
| Santo Antão | Paul and Ribeira Grande valleys, dizzying trails | No — ferry | Hiking, scenery |
| Fogo | Pico do Fogo (2,829 m), caldera, vines on the lava | Yes — domestic flight | Volcano, summit climb, wine |
| São Nicolau | Monte Gordo, farming villages, few tourists | Yes — domestic flight | Gentle hiking |
| Maio | Empty beaches, salt pans, nothing to do | Yes — domestic flight | Total disconnection |
| Brava | The island of flowers, the smallest inhabited one | Not in practice — ferry | Patient travellers |
| Santa Luzia | Uninhabited, nature reserve | No | Day excursion |
🏖️ Beach Cape Verde: Sal and Boa Vista
These are the two islands where almost all direct flights from Europe land, and they resemble each other more than they resemble the rest of the archipelago: sand, wind, little relief, and hotels designed so that you never need to leave them.
Sal is the best equipped and the liveliest. Santa Maria, on the southern tip, lines up restaurants, kitesurf schools and shops along a few streets you can cover on foot. It is the easiest island for a first trip, and by far the best for board sports: from December to March the trade wind blows strong and steady.
Boa Vista is larger, emptier and wilder — a desert set on the ocean, with beaches measured in kilometres and almost nobody on them. The island hosts one of the largest loggerhead turtle populations in the Atlantic, which come ashore to nest from June to October. The downside: everything is far away, and without a vehicle or an excursion you stay in your hotel.
If you are torn between the two: Sal for life and activities, Boa Vista for space and silence. Neither will give you a true picture of Cape Verde as a whole.
🥾 Walking Cape Verde: Santo Antão and Fogo
Santo Antão is the other Cape Verde, the one that surprises those who expected only beaches. Deep, green valleys terraced up impossibly steep slopes, cobbled paths linking hamlets with no road, and constant climbs and descents. The Paul valley and Ribeira Grande hold the finest routes. You can walk for several days, staying in local homes.
Fogo comes down to its volcano, and that is already a lot. Pico do Fogo rises to 2,829 metres in the middle of a caldera where villages have resettled on the flows of the last eruption. Vines and coffee are grown right on the lava. The climb takes a long day with a guide, and São Filipe, the small colonial capital, is worth the trip on its own.
🎶 Town Cape Verde: São Vicente and Santiago
Mindelo, on São Vicente, is the cultural heart of the archipelago — the town of Cesária Évora, after whom the airport is named. Its music bars play morna and coladeira late into the night, its carnival is the liveliest in the country, and the bay is magnificent. The island itself is dry and unspectacular: you come for the town, not the scenery.
Santiago is the largest and most populated island. Praia, the capital, is a real African city, dense and busy, which will appeal to those seeking immersion rather than comfort. Some twenty minutes away, Cidade Velha — the first European settlement in the tropics, a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is well worth a visit. The mountainous interior, around Serra Malagueta, is also good for hiking.
🌾 Empty Cape Verde: Maio, Brava, São Nicolau
Three islands nobody visits by chance. Maio, a few minutes' flight from Santiago, offers empty beaches and salt pans and almost nothing else — which is exactly the point. São Nicolau, dominated by Monte Gordo, offers hiking in a quiet, rural atmosphere. Brava, the smallest inhabited island, nicknamed the island of flowers, can only be reached by ferry from Fogo: you need time and flexibility.
✈️ The question that decides everything: the airport
This is the point the brochures skip, and it is the one that shapes any Cape Verde itinerary. Seven inhabited islands have a working airport, two do not.
Four handle international flights: Sal (Amílcar Cabral), Boa Vista (Aristides Pereira), Santiago-Praia (Nelson Mandela) and São Vicente-Mindelo (Cesária Évora). Three others are served by domestic flights only: Fogo (São Filipe), São Nicolau and Maio.
Santo Antão has no airport. The one at Ponta do Sol was closed for safety reasons after the crash of TACV flight 5002 on 7 August 1999, which killed 18 people. Since then the island can only be reached by sea, from Mindelo. Brava has a runway, at Esperadinha, but the winds make commercial operations so unreliable that it is not an option: here too, it's the ferry.
Good news for Santo Antão: the crossing Mindelo — Porto Novo is the most reliable route in the archipelago. Fifty minutes to an hour, around fifteen departures a week, about €15 one way. It runs all year round and is easy to book.
The other sea routes are another story: two to three sailings a week, crossings of 4 to 13 hours depending on the route, roughly €19 to €61, and timetables that shift with the weather and demand. They help out, but you don't build a tight itinerary on them.
Domestic airline operators have changed several times in recent years. Check routes and schedules when you book rather than relying on a table, ours included.
🔀 Combining two islands: the pairs that work
A week on a single island is rarely enough to understand Cape Verde, and ten days on three islands quickly turns into a trip of transfers. The right measure, for a stay of one to two weeks, is two islands.
| Combination | Connection | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| São Vicente + Santo Antão | Ferry, 1 h, very reliable | The best pair in the archipelago: music and town on one side, hiking on the other |
| Santiago + Fogo | Short domestic flight | History, capital and volcano |
| Sal + Boa Vista | Domestic flight | The same thing twice — avoid unless all you want is beach |
| Sal + Santo Antão | Flight then ferry, a full day of transfer | The big contrast, doable in two weeks |
| Santiago + Maio | Very short flight | The city, then total decompression |
📅 When to go
Cape Verde can be visited all year round — that is one of its selling points. Two seasons still stand out.
From November to June, the dry season: very sunny, very little rain, between 20 and 28 °C. From July to October, it is hotter (23 to 29 °C) and more humid, with rain concentrated in September and October — nothing like a monsoon, but showers do happen and the vegetation turns green again, which makes Santo Antão especially beautiful at the end of summer.
Wind is the real criterion. It blows hard from December to March : excellent for kitesurfing and windsurfing on Sal, far less pleasant for lounging on a beach. June is often the best compromise — the wind has dropped, the heat has not yet set in, and the sea is at 23 °C.
The sea, in fact, never drops below 22 °C and reaches 27 °C in October. Swimming is never a problem in Cape Verde.
🛂 Formalities: EASE, tax, passport
This is where many travellers get caught out, because the procedure has changed and it has to be done before departure.
EU citizens do not need a visa for stays of up to 30 days; other nationalities should check with a Cape Verdean consulate. Beyond 30 days, and up to 90 days, a tourist visa can be obtained from Cape Verdean consulates or on arrival. Your passport must be valid for at least three months after the end of your planned stay.
However, EASE pre-registration is mandatory, on ease.gov.cv, and must be completed at least five days before arrival. You enter your passport details, dates, flight numbers and accommodation. This is also when you pay the airport security tax: 3,400 escudos, about €30.83. Keep proof of payment: if the online payment has not had time to be processed, you may have to pay a second time on arrival.
Entry into and exit from the country must be through one of the four international airports — Praia, Sal, Mindelo, Boa Vista — or one of the three approved ports.
⚖️ The verdict
If you remember only one thing: beach Cape Verde and mountain Cape Verde are two different countries, and your first trip depends on that choice.
For a first trip with beach expectations, Sal is the simplest and safest. To understand the archipelago, the pair São Vicente + Santo Antão is unbeatable: an hour's ferry ride separates the country's most musical town from the finest valleys in the Atlantic. For a walking trip, Santo Antão first, then Fogo.
And whatever you choose: do the EASE five days ahead, not the day before.
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❓ Frequently asked questions
Do you need a visa for Cape Verde?
Not for EU citizens staying 30 days or less; other nationalities should check with a Cape Verdean consulate. However, online EASE pre-registration is mandatory at least five days before arrival, with payment of the airport security tax of 3,400 escudos, about €30.83. Your passport must remain valid for three months after the end of your stay.
Which island should you choose for a first trip to Cape Verde?
Sal if you are coming for the beach and want everything to be simple: direct flights, hotels, restaurants and activities concentrated in Santa Maria. São Vicente if you prefer culture and plan to continue to Santo Antão by ferry.
Can you fly to Santo Antão?
No. The island's airport has been closed since 1999 for safety reasons. You get there on the Mindelo — Porto Novo ferry, about an hour, around fifteen departures a week, about €15 one way. It is the most reliable sea route in the country.
How many islands can you visit in a week?
One, or two if they are well connected. The São Vicente + Santo Antão pair works perfectly over seven days thanks to the ferry. Three islands in a week means three days of transfers.
When is the best time to go to Cape Verde?
November to June for sunshine and dry weather. June is often the best compromise: the wind has dropped and the heat has not yet set in. From December to March the wind blows hard, ideal for kitesurfing on Sal, less so for lazing around.
Is Cape Verde a safe destination health-wise?
It is one of the safest in the region in that respect, with no malaria on most islands. As health recommendations change, check up-to-date official sources before booking.
🔗 Further reading
- Cape Verde islands: the destination guideThe ten islands, history, culture and practical essentials
- Flights to Cape VerdeAirlines, airports and routes from Europe
- Where to stay in Cape VerdeHotels and accommodation by category
- Things to do in Cape VerdeHiking, diving, board sports and excursions island by island
- Staying connected on an islandeSIM, wifi and local SIM, destination by destination
- The travel guideAll our practical guides for planning an island trip
We cover 170 islands in five languages, from the Glénan to the Maldives, with one rule: check before we claim.
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