For our last day in the Algarve we decided to hike a leg of the Fisherman’s Trail which is part of the Rota Vicentina trail. It was also an opportunity to see the western Algarve towns. We took a train from Albuferia to Lagos. Conveniently for us one end of the Rota Vicentina/Fisherman’s Trail is the Lagos train station. But we weren’t starting there. So we took an Uber from Lagos to Praia da Luz which means Beach of Light. It turns out on the Uber map the town is labeled Praia da Luz as well as the beach in the town. So the Uber driver ended up in the middle of town which was basically no where on a traffic roundabout. The nice man took the extra time to get us to the beach where our trail started.
We enjoyed Praia da Luz. It was a pretty town, more modern than Albuferia. We would later learn that it had been taken over by British ex-pats. The town was celebrating Carnival which is big in Portugal and we’d run into it big time in Lisbon again over the weekend. Carnival, is the Portuguese equivalent of Mardi Gras with the culminating party on the Tuesday before Lent.
The Rota Vicentina trail is definitely something we want to explore more of. The trail hugs the southwest coast of Portugal and has sweeping views of the ocean and the rugged Portuguese coastline.
In Praia da Luz at the start 
We are heading up onto this. 
Praia da Luz behind us 
Another milestone ahead of us. 
Made it. Covered in graffiti like the rest of Portugal of course. 
Praia da Luz 
Joe on the edge. 
Another view of Praia da Luz 
Fisherman’s Trail/Rota Vicentina 
Brews in Lagos after the hike. Here we got our dinner recommendation from our Portuguese bartender who spoke better English than me. 
Telephone in the Lagos train station.
If you are looking for a break from the tourist scene in Lagos and a good Portuguese meal try Casinha do Petisco We had the Cataplanas. Just remember to bring Euros as they do not accept credit cards or (“ATMs” as the sign says). They are also a very small place and its best to have reservations. As every where in Portugal they do not turn the tables, meaning push you out the door. They might just have one seating per night. When I’ve Googled for Cataplanas all I can find is the dish they are cooked in. But what we had was similar to a gumbo or jambalaya maybe with some unknown sauce on it. They served it with rice and potatoes and not knowing what to do we put some rice on our plates and scooped the brothy content onto the rice.
All in all we like Lagos and if we return to the Algarve would choose to stay in Lagos.
Words of Wanderers 