Sagres & Cabo de São Vicente

Sagres is a small town in the southwest of Portugal, and a few miles to the west is Cabo de São Vicente, the most southwestern point of continental Europe. The area is known for its spectacular rocky coastline and caves, many of which are only accessible from the sea. Sagres also gives its name to one of the two popular brands of Portuguese beer.

The first time we visited in 2018, we spent a day in the area, starting in the town of Sagres and heading west along the coastline in kayaks with a local guide. In the afternoon, we tried our hand at coasteering with another guide. (If you are unfamiliar with coasteering, it involves climbing and scrambling along rocky coastlines, swimming to areas that are inaccessible by land, and jumping from hair-raising heights into the ocean.) It was an exhilarating day, and by the end of it we were exhausted.

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In 2025, we spent a day exploring Sagres, Cabo de São Vicente, and hiking the coastal cliffs. I took many pictures of the ocean crashing into the cliffs and caves at various points along the Sagres and Cabo de São Vicente promontaries, but they don't do justice to its majesty.

On the Sagres promontary is an old forteza and inside its walls are the remains of fortifications, baracks, storage buildings, sentry outposts, a church, and a new museum containing historical artifacts, including the original drawbridge. Towards the tip of the promontary is the Voz do Mar architectural feature. As we approached the circular structure, we had no idea what it was. We entered the outer wall and navigated the maze of concentric circular walls to the center. And there we experienced the "Voice of the Sea." A small hole in the cliff, covered by a grille, reaches all the way down to sea level and as the tide pushes water into an underground cave, it forces air up through the hole emitting a loud roar. We stayed there for several minutes, mesmerized.

We continued to Cabo de São Vicente, which, aside from its natural beauty, offered little to see other than its lighthouse and an unusual restaurant. Actually, the restaurant was nothing out of the ordinary except for a room inside that housed an impressive collection of stuffed, exotic animals. We never discovered why this collection would be showcased here, at the end of the earth, but assume that the restaurant owner is either a big game hunter or just an avid collector. Strange.

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