A country · 60 places · 2 regions

Cape Verde, all of it.

60 curated places across 2 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Santo Antão, Cape Verde · via Wikimedia Commons

Cape Verde reads below in 2 chapters — Barlavento Islands and Sotavento Islands — in any order you like.

Chapter I · Barlavento Islands · 22 places

Barlavento Islands

Cabo Verde's hiking island, where cobbled trails traverse knife-edge ridges into lush valleys of sugarcane and banana terraces. The Paúl Valley and the coastal path from Ponta do Sol to Cruzinha count among the Atlantic's most dramatic walks.

Santo Antão, Cape Verde

Barlavento Islands, Cape Verde

✦ November to June, avoiding the late-summer rains · $

Mindelo

Barlavento Islands, Cape Verde

✦ November to June

Sal, Cape Verde

Barlavento Islands, Cape Verde

✦ November to June; winds peak from December to March for kitesurfing · $$

All 22 places in Barlavento Islands →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Sotavento Islands · 19 places

Sotavento Islands

The Presidential Palace crowns the Plateau, the historic upper town of Praia and administrative heart of Cape Verde. Built in the late nineteenth century as the governor's residence during Portuguese rule, its pastel neoclassical facade and shuttered windows overlook the ocean from the cliff-top district. The building now serves as the official seat of the country's president. Surrounded by colonial-era squares, ministries and the old town's grid of streets, it embodies the islands' transition from colonial outpost to independent republic.

✦ November–June · $

Meet Presidential Palace, Praia All 19 places in Sotavento Islands →