My Favorite Places: Cape Saint Vincent, Portugal

A few years ago I stumbled across a round trip ticket to Lisbon, Portugal from my home city in Canada for less than $400USD, which was an insane price so I booked it without hesitation and made plans for the trip in the coming months. One of the places I really wanted to visit was Cape Saint Vincent, which is the southwestern most point in Portugal. So after a few days in Lisbon and Cascais, a friend and I rented a car and headed south. We decided to stop in Lagos for 2 days to check out the beaches and do a little surfing before finally making it to Sagres and then Cape Saint Vincent. The drive to Lagos was about 4 hours with traffic and then to Cape Saint Vincent it was about 45 minutes further.

The lighthouse at the tip used to guide ships into the Mediterranean Sea

Cape Saint Vincent is quite a breathtaking place, it is marked by 75m high cliffs that drop straight into the ocean and a large lighthouse right at the southwestern most tip. When you stand near the edge it feels like you are at the edge of the world, nothing but ocean surrounds you and an incredible drop down to it, it's quite surreal. There a very few guard rails and walls that will stop you from going right up to the cliff's edge so it's wise to use caution.

As you can see, it has the potential to be dangerous if you don't use your head.

Dangling my feet 75m above the rocky edge of the ocean.

My friend and I spent a few hours walking the edge and checking out the small museum in the lighthouse. This is quite a tourist destination so there are lots of food trucks and other options if you want to spend a significant amount of time here. One thing to note is that it can get incredibly windy here from time to time and you have to take care not to fall on the uneven ground.

Kenny Loggins was playing in my head as I walked out to this outcropping in the wind.

To sum it all up, if you ever find yourself in Portugal don't miss the chance to visit this amazing place and experience the feeling of standing at the edge of the world. Let me know what you think in the comments, Thanks for reading!

Sunset at the edge of the world.