Why Cape Verde is the most underrated winter sun destination

Some countries shine brightly on the map of the world. Your eye is drawn to them before your brain has clicked into gear. The US is one of them. So is France. So is Italy, as it dangles its shapely leg down into the waters of the Mediterranean.

Cape Verde – it is perhaps fair to say – is not one of these countries. It hides in the eastern Atlantic – keeping to itself as a 10-strong cluster of islands that, born of volcanic fury, are as beautiful as they are mysterious.

Where are they exactly? OK – let your gaze drift down across Africa. Look to the left flank of the continent. Go south through Morocco and Mauritania until you find Senegal – then drag your vision to the west, and out into the ocean.

There you go, Cape Verde.

But then, a lack of profile does not disqualify a country as a viable travel destination. Indeed, in the case of Cape Verde, it is a cause for curiosity.

And at this time of year, as the European summer fades, it may also be a cause for wanderlust. For many of us, the Canary Islands are the ready option for a spot of winter sun. But for a slightly longer flight in the same direction, Cape Verde can provide the same surge of serotonin – and warmer conditions to boot.

Beyond this, there are several other reasons to consider the archipelago for a holiday. Including the following 10...

1. It is (much) more accessible than you think

There is no denying the distance involved. The Cape Verdean capital Praia sits some 2,837 miles from London; the journey to get there will take you most of the way to the Equator.

And yet, the country can be reached with ease from the UK. It is on the radar of package giant Tui (020 3451 2716; tui.co.uk), which offers direct flights to the island of Sal – from Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Glasgow, Gatwick, Manchester and Newcastle.

Tui also calls on the neighbouring island of Boa Vista from Birmingham, Bristol, Gatwick and Manchester – and will launch a further connection, from East Midlands, in May 2025. Each of these services takes six hours or thereabouts.

Portuguese national carrier TAP (0370 099 0028; flytap.com) is an alternative, albeit indirect, option, serving Sal and Boa Vista – plus the islands of Santiago and Sao Vicente – from Lisbon. It also flies into the UK (from Lisbon), landing at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester.

2. It offers year-round sunshine

A journey to Cape Verde requires two further hours in the air than a dash to the Canaries. But those who are prepared to put in the extra time are rewarded with a climate which rarely shifts from the upper Twenties Celsius at any time of year. The nearest the archipelago comes to a vast swing in temperature is the five-degree gap between the January average of 25°C, and the 30°C which defines September.

Hours of sunshine? Between five and nine. Lovely.

3. It has an intriguing back-story

The history of Cape Verde is unusual. Unlike many parts of the planet, it was empty until colonialism gave it a population; the islands were uninhabited when Portuguese and Genoese sailors stumbled upon them in 1456. Portugal put down the first roots, founding what is now the town of Cidade Velha, on the south coast of Santiago, in 1462.

Praia followed in 1615, before becoming the archipelago capital in 1770. A small city of 160,000 people, it looks back to the past (Cape Verde gained independence from Portugal in 1975) via the Monumento de Diogo Gomes (a statue of the Portuguese explorer who discovered Santiago in 1460) and the Presidential Palace (which was built in the 19th century for the Portuguese governor).

4. Its music is unique

Cape Verde’s cultural gift to the world is morna – a lilting, rhythmic form of music which slipped into life on the archipelago (probably on Boa Vista) at some undefined point in the 18th century.

Its spiritual leader is Cesaria Evora, a singer, nicknamed the “Barefoot Diva”, who hailed from Sao Vicente. She was so loved that, since her death in 2011, the island’s airport has been named after her. Her powerful voice and grasp of songcraft lingers in her birthplace, the capital Mindelo. Here is a picturesque small town where melodies drift out of the doorways of bars and cafes – such as the Casa Cafe Mindelo (casacafemindelo.com/en-casa.html), where you can witness live performances.

5. You can visit Africa’s most westerly point

São Vicente’s neighbour Santo Antão is an undoubted outpost. It is the most westerly segment of the archipelago, and with this – depending on how specific you want to be about geography – the most westerly point in Africa. It certainly feels like the end of a continent. Home to just 38,200 people – many of them clustered in the town of Porto Novo – it is a place of desolate grandeur, its rocky interior rearing up from the water, coffee plantations strewn across its sides. You can only travel to it by water, via ferry from Mindelo – but if you make the crossing, you have definitely left the beaten track.

6. It is named after (part of) its neighbour

Talking of geographical extremities, Cape Verde takes its moniker from Cap-Vert – the long peninsula which, in jutting out from the side of Senegal, is the westernmost point of continental Africa (and home to the Senegalese capital, Dakar). The fact that 350 miles separate this spur of land from the archipelago over the horizon was not enough to stop the name catching on.

7. The landscape is incredible

Santo Antão is visibly volcanic. And yet, it is not the most obvious example of the archipelago’s fiery origins. That honour falls to southerly Fogo. The clue is in the name – “fogo” is Portuguese for “fire”. The island lives up to its moniker, rising to the conical summit of Pico do Fogo, which troubles the sky at an altitude of 9,281 feet (2,829 metres). It erupted as recently as 2015. Not that this seems to worry the locals. You can drive up to Chã das Caldeiras, a village of some 700 souls which, remarkably, is located inside this kraken’s crater.

8. You can go island-hopping

Although strewn across some 1,500 square miles of the Atlantic, the archipelago lends itself to multi-island journeys. Specialist operator Cape Verde Experience (01489 866 969; capeverde.co.uk) offers a range of island-hopping breaks, including “The Peaks of Cape Verde”. This wide-ranging journey takes two weeks to tick off São Vicente, Santo Antão, Santiago, Fogo and Sal, and costs from £2,529 per person, including international and internal flights.

The same company also offers escapes to Maio. One of the smaller – and certainly least-known – of the Cape Verde islands, this south-easterly fragment of the archipelago is home to just 7,000 people. It does, though, have a welcoming three-star retreat, the Casa Evora Boutique Hotel, on the south-west coast at Vila do Maio. A three-night stay costs from £433 per person (but needs to be booked as part of a longer multi-island itinerary).

9. Sailing is another fine option

Tropical islands plus ocean also equals sailing escapes. Classic Sailing (01872 580 022; classic-sailing.co.uk) describes Cape Verde as an “unspoilt alternative to the Caribbean” – and calls upon it regularly as part of its holidays.

These include a series of voyages aboard Morgenster, a 48-metre tall ship with 24 passenger berths. The vessel has five departures in the diary between now and the end of the year, among them an 11-night jaunt around the Cape Verde archipelago, scheduled for December 5-16. From €1,745 per person (not including flights to the start- and end-point, Sal).

No prior experience is needed, and participants can help out as much or as little as they like.

10. It has an eerie abandoned airport

If you want to venture truly off-grid, Brava – the archipelago’s southwesternmost member – is your obvious port of call. “Port” being the pertinent word here because, as with Santo Antão, you can only reach the island by boat.

Not that Brava doesn’t have a runway. Esperadinha Airport sits on its west coast, next to the hamlet of the same name. It occupies one of the only flat pieces of land – a precarious location on a narrow promontory on the edge of the water. Too precarious, in fact. Opened in 1992, the airport ceased operations in 2004 – because the strong winds which swirl here make it too dangerous for planes to touch down. You can, though, stroll along its deserted tarmac.

Three fly-and-flop holidays to Cape Verde

Cape Verde is an increasingly ready option for sun-and-sand escapism – especially on Sal and Boa Vista, the islands where you find the majority of the beach resorts.

1. Tui

Tui (020 3451 2716; tui.co.uk) backs up its direct flights with package breaks. A seven-night all-inclusive stay at the five-star Hotel Riu Palace Santa Maria (on Sal), flying from Newcastle on December 2, costs from £1,353 per person.

2. Love Holidays

Alternatively, a seven-night all-inclusive getaway to the four-star Royal Horizons Boa Vista, flying from Heathrow on December 9, costs from £949 per person through Love Holidays (01234 230 440; loveholidays.com).

3. Thomas Cook

The five-star VOI Praia de Chaves Resort is another possibility on Boa Vista. A seven-night all-inclusive stay, flying in from Birmingham on November 21, costs from £1,316 per person, via Thomas Cook (020 8016 3295; thomascook.com).

This article was first published in November 2023, and has been revised and updated with the latest information.