Top Things to do in Santiago
What to do and see in Santiago, Santiago: The Best Budget-friendly Things to do
Discover the best top things to do in Santiago, Cape Verde including Tarrafal Beach, Serra de Malagueta, Rue Banana, Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande, Fortaleza Real de San Felipe, Igreja Nossa Senhora da Graca, Mercado de Sucupira, Pelourinho, Igreja Nossa Senhora do Rosario, Convento de Sao Francisco.
Restaurants in Santiago
1. Tarrafal Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 320 reviews
Reviewed By Shimnik - Delft, The Netherlands
Tarrafal is the place, where you can do serfing, diving, swimming, enjoying life... Tarrafal beach is not overcrowded, has a clean water and nice restaurants around.
2. Serra de Malagueta
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 56 reviews
Reviewed By xerofun - Berlin, Germany
We did the hike from Serra Malagueta to Achada Monte mid October, the trip was roughly 13km. Looking at some photos of other reviews it seemed we were quite lucky, because everything around us was very green. We got the GPX track from a german web page. The track starts about 300m south of the visitor center. To get there we took an aluguer for 100 CVE from Tarrafal, even though we had a rental car, because the track we chose is a one way track. The aluguers drive all around town to pick up people, some staring at the central plaza. Ask if they go to Serra Malagueta and pick an aluguer that is almost full, or else you will drive around the area for a while until the car is full. The fee to the park is 200 CVE per person. As we arrived a bit early around 7:30, the office was not really open yet (opens at 8am on weekdays as the sign says). Luckily the cleaning ladies helped us and gave us a receipt for the park entrance fee. Anyways the only person we met while we were in the park was a local obliviously returning from a party. First half of our hike was in the official map you can get for free at the visitors center and leading to a telephone tower. The second half was not part of the official maps, as I pointed out before, we found the whole track on a German webpage. The main route in the park offers breathtaking views of the landscape you won't forget. If you are not lucky and it's just dry without any green I still believe it can be worth to do at least the main park route. The first part of the path is a few meters below the ridge. As we started early, the temperature was still nice. We arrived at the telephone tower around 11am after starting around 8am, but we did quite a few stops for photos etc. Just before the telephone tower we took the path to the right. Which led us through a dense vegetation. After another ~30mins we left the park and went through farmed land. Soon we saw the first houses and people. At the very end we got accompanied by a bunch of kids returning from school. We went down to the main road at the East coast and caught an aluguer back to Tarrafal for 150 CVE per person.
3. Rue Banana
4. Cidade Velha, Historic Centre of Ribeira Grande
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 37 reviews
Reviewed By amha_z - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The old city Cidade Velha is not far from Praia. It is about 10 - 15 KM. I arranged a tour and transportation with a tour guide to visit the old city and other places and the price was reasonable. My tour started from touring the fortress built by the colony on top of the hill. Before visiting the inside part of the fortress, you pay about $5 as entrance and watch a video about the fortress and the city. Then, you enter inside and see where the slaves where imprisoned and the soldier's quarter. Also, you see various canons that were kept to defend any enemies. After this visit, you go down to the city and see old church that is ruined. Finally, you will visit old houses that are intact and still in use and in the center of the city, various handicraft local made souvenirs are available if you want to buy some. In general, one must visit the old city if you come to Praia and you will get adequate information about the history of Cabo Verde.
5. Fortaleza Real de San Felipe
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 147 reviews
Overlooking Cidade Velha, approach from turning on the road from Praia.
Reviewed By anthonymU6229RS - Columbus, United States
Very nice visit and I recommend hiring the local tour guide to walk you through the fort and explain the history of the area.
