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Lagos is the last stop on the Portugal trip I keep planning, and it is the only part of it I have not rewritten four times. Lisbon took me a week to sort out. Sintra I am still arguing with myself about. But Lagos with kids came together in about an hour, and I think that is because by day eight I will have stopped pretending we are going to see things.
Lagos is the part of the Algarve I know best. I have walked its old town at every hour it is possible to walk it, and gone down the long wooden staircase at Praia do Camilo carrying nothing but a towel. That last part is the problem. I am not doing that staircase with a two year old and a bag of sand toys, and working out what replaces it is most of what this post is.
Danny and I are aiming for May. Lochlan will be a little past two. Lagos gets three nights at the end of our 10-day Portugal itinerary with kids, and this is what I would do with them.
The short version
Stay three nights in Lagos, on the flat streets near the marina and Avenida dos Descobrimentos, not up in the old town. Use Meia Praia as your beach. It is long, flat and wide, and you walk to it across the footbridge instead of down a cliff. Old town in a carrier in the morning, waterfront in the stroller in the afternoon. Eat lunch at noon, not at one. Skip the Benagil day trip. Keep the car parked except for one short drive to the zoo.
If you remember one thing about Lagos with kids, make it this: the famous beaches here are at the bottom of staircases, and the good one is not.
Three nights, and we are not moving again
We pick up a car in Cascais on day eight and drive about three hours down the motorway. That is the longest drive of the trip, it happens in the morning, and nobody is allowed to suggest a detour. Three nights sounds short until you count it. It is two full days plus an arrival afternoon, and that afternoon is a supermarket run and a walk by the water. Then we drive an hour to Faro and fly home.
I looked hard at Albufeira instead. It is bigger and louder, and the Strip is not a place I want to push a stroller at nine at night. If you are curious about it anyway, my old Albufeira travel guide is still up.
The other reason for three nights in one place is me. I have an autoimmune disease, and rest is not something I can push to the end of a trip and hope for. Three nights in one apartment with a kitchen and a washing machine is the version of this trip I can finish.
Meia Praia is the whole plan
Meia Praia sits on the left bank of the Bensafrim River and it is the biggest beach in the area by a long way. From town you walk past the marina, over the footbridge, and you are on sand in about ten minutes with no steps at all. That sentence is why I would base in Lagos rather than anywhere else in the Algarve with a toddler.
It is wide, so you can set up a long way back from the water, which is what I want with a child who has only recently understood that the ocean keeps coming. The sand goes on for miles, which means even in July you can walk ten minutes and have space. There are beach bars spaced along it, so lunch does not require going home.
Two honest things. The wind picks up in the afternoon, and by three it can put sand in a sandwich. And there is almost no natural shade, so you rent an umbrella in season or bring your own. We are bringing our own.
The postcard beaches, and what the stairs cost you
Every photo of Lagos you have ever seen is one of these coves. They are as good as they look. They are also nearly all reached by going down.
Praia do Camilo. About 200 wooden steps down, and a tunnel through the rock to the next cove, which is one of my favourite things in Portugal. Sheltered, calm, swimmable. Going down with a 30 pound toddler and a cooler is the easy half. If one of us does Camilo, it is one of us alone, before breakfast.
Praia de Dona Ana. Bigger than Camilo, same rock formations, and it has showers, bathrooms and food. The access is a wide zigzag staircase with paid parking at the top. This is the closest the postcard beaches get to workable with a small child, and if you want the photo, this is the one I would pick.
Praia dos Estudantes. Quieter, with the little bridge over the rocks that everyone photographs, and steps down through rock to reach it. Not with a stroller.
Praia da Batata. This is the one nobody tells you about and the one I would use on a short day. It is next to Forte da Ponta da Bandeira at the edge of town, a flat walk from the waterfront, no staircase. It is small and fills up by eleven, so go at nine. An hour of sand before lunch and you are back in town in four minutes.
The full version of all of these, with the hikes and the viewpoints, is in my Lagos travel guide and in top 10 things to do in Lagos, both written before Lochlan existed.
What I would skip: the Benagil day trip
Benagil is the cave with the hole in the roof, about 45 minutes east of Lagos. You cannot walk into it. You get there by boat, kayak or paddleboard, the parking fills early, operators set their own minimum ages, and the whole thing lands in the middle of a nap. I would skip it, and I say that as someone who loved it. There is no version of Benagil that gets better with a two year old in it.
Two smaller passes. The little boats that run out from the marina to the grottoes at Ponta da Piedade are around 45 minutes with no shade and no early exit, which is fine at five and not at two. And the clifftop at Ponta da Piedade has unfenced edges in places, the same problem I had with Boca do Inferno when I wrote about Cascais with kids. I would still go up. I would hold a hand the entire time and stay ten minutes. Parque Aventura is the third one, high ropes and paintball, and paintball is 10 and up.
Where the nap goes
Lochlan naps around one. In Lisbon and Sintra that is a logistical problem because things have timed entries. In Lagos it is not a problem at all, and that is the real reason Lagos goes at the end.
Beach from nine to twelve. Lunch at noon. Back at the apartment by one, or a stroller nap along Avenida dos Descobrimentos, which is flat and long enough for a full sleep. If he skips it we go to Praia da Batata for an hour and accept a rough bedtime. Nothing here needs a ticket at a specific hour, so there is nothing to lose by being wrong.
The old town is a carrier, not a stroller
Lagos old town is small, walled in places, and paved in calçada, which is pretty and which eats stroller wheels. Rua 25 de Abril is pedestrian and lovely and I would not take wheels up there. Carrier in the morning, every time.
What I would actually do up there with a toddler on my back:
- Mercado Municipal de Lagos, early. Fish downstairs, cafés upstairs. Loud, wet, full of ice and people shouting, and a two year old will be riveted.
- Igreja de Santo António and the Museu Municipal Dr José Formosinho next door. Both small. Twenty minutes total, which is as long as I can ask for.
- Forte da Ponta da Bandeira, the little fort at the river mouth. There is a drawbridge, which sells itself.
- Mercado de Escravos, the former slave market. I would go without trying to explain any of it to a toddler. It is the most important thing in Lagos and not something to walk past because the day is about sandcastles.
Then down to Avenida dos Descobrimentos, which is the flat route along the water, and that is where the stroller lives.
Where I would stay, and where I would not
Down near the marina and on the flat streets behind the waterfront. Level ground, a ten minute walk over the footbridge to Meia Praia, quiet at night. That combination does not exist up in the old town, where the cobbles are uphill and the bars on Rua 25 de Abril go late.
The cliff side near Praia de Dona Ana and Porto de Mós is quieter and the views are better, but you need the car for everything and you are back to arriving at a staircase. For three nights with a toddler, no.
My old Lagos guide pointed people at Old School Guest House, still a good answer for more space than a hostel. It is not my answer now. Now I want a kitchen, a washing machine and a bathtub, in that order, and I will give up a view for all three. More on that in where to stay in Portugal with kids.
This is all in the guide too
Everything in this post is in my Portugal for Families guide as well, if you would rather have it in one place than in eleven open tabs. It is a 13 page PDF with the full 10 day itinerary and a section on small children for every stop, Lagos included.
Eating in Lagos with a toddler
This is the easiest food of the whole trip. Portuguese kitchens serve lunch from twelve to three and dinner from seven, and seven is bedtime adjacent for us, so lunch is the main meal and dinner is bread and fruit on a balcony. Bread and olives arrive before you have ordered, which buys you ten minutes, and ten minutes is a lot.
Where I would go:
- Casa do Prego. Casual tapas, a kids’ menu, gluten free options, a rooftop bar if one of you wants to stay. The easiest yes in Lagos with a child.
- Nah Nah Bah. Burgers, tacos, loud music. The Toucan Burger is the reason to go and the noise is the reason it works.
- O Camilo. Family run seafood on the cliffs above Praia do Camilo, reached from the top, so you get the view without the 200 steps. Book ahead and ask for a table with a view.
- Casinha do Petisco. The cataplana is the thing, the portions are enormous, and you reserve days ahead. Take the earliest seating they will give you.
- Arc’da Velha. Small, homey tapas in the back streets, flame grilled chorizo as the house special. Go early, things sell out.
Where I would not go with Lochlan: Restaurante dos Artistas, formal and Michelin listed and in a 250 year old building, and Avenida Restaurante at the Lagos Avenida Hotel, which actually recommends ages 12 and up. Both are for a trip where somebody else is doing bedtime. The full list is in best restaurants in Lagos.
🛒 A few things I use for this
- A car seat travel bag, because we are bringing our own seat. Portugal requires one for children under three and rental companies charge roughly 6 to 10 euros a day.
- A toddler swim vest. Meia Praia is shallow for a long way and still the Atlantic.
- A long sleeved UPF rash guard, which does more work than sunscreen and never has to be reapplied by a crying person.
- A mesh beach bag. Sand falls out of it instead of coming back to the apartment.
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The things in Lagos that are genuinely for small kids
Not much of Lagos is built for toddlers, which is fine, because toddlers mostly want sand and a dog to look at. There are a few real ones.
Lagos Zoo, out at Barão de São João, is about fifteen minutes’ drive and the one trip I would get the car out for. It is small and shaded, with animal feedings and a playground. Small and shaded is the entire specification at this age.
The Lagos tourist train runs in summer, takes about 55 minutes, and loops the town centre, some hotels and some beaches. It is wheelchair accessible, so a folded stroller is no drama. In May I would check it is running before promising anybody a train.
The Ciência Viva science centre has an outdoor playground for the youngest visitors, and it is closed on Mondays. That is the list.
Most days the answer in Lagos is the beach and then a pastel de nata on the way home, and I have made peace with that. If you want the version with a longer attention span, Lisbon with kids and Sintra with kids are where the sightseeing lives on this trip.
Questions I get about Lagos with kids
Is Lagos good for toddlers?
Yes, with one adjustment. The cove beaches that make Lagos famous sit at the bottom of long staircases, and once you switch to Meia Praia and Praia da Batata instead, Lagos is one of the easiest places in Portugal with a small child. It is walkable, the food is casual, nothing needs a timed ticket.
Which beach in Lagos is best for small children?
Meia Praia, for the flat approach and the space. You reach it over the footbridge past the marina with no steps, the sand is wide enough to sit well back from the water, and there are beach bars for lunch. Praia da Batata is the backup if you want ten minutes of walking instead of twenty, and Praia de Dona Ana if you want the cove photo.
Is Lagos stroller friendly?
Partly, and the split is clean. The waterfront along Avenida dos Descobrimentos, the marina, the footbridge and Meia Praia are all flat. The old town is calçada and uphill, and I would use a carrier there rather than fight it. One stroller and one carrier, both used every day, which is the same conclusion I came to in getting around Portugal with a toddler.
How many days do you need in Lagos with kids?
Three nights, which is two full days. One day is enough if you are passing through and will accept one beach and one lunch. Longer than three and I would want a pool, because two days covers the town, the beach and the zoo without rushing. There is more on how I sized the whole trip in how many days in Portugal with kids.
Do you need a car in Lagos with kids?
Not for Lagos itself. The town, the beaches on the town side and Meia Praia are all walkable, and parking in the centre is the usual summer misery. We have a car for days eight to ten only because we drive down from Cascais and out to Faro. Arriving by train from Faro or Lisbon, you need nothing.
Is Lagos or Albufeira better for families?
Lagos, for us. Albufeira has the bigger resorts and a family friendly old town, but it is louder and the Strip at night is not where I want to be with a stroller. Lagos is smaller and you can walk all of it. If you are weighing up the coast, is Portugal good for families is where I worked through it, and what I am budgeting for our family trip has the numbers.
One more thing I keep thinking about
The first time I went to Lagos I did the staircase at Camilo twice in one day because I had forgotten my book at the top. I remember being annoyed about it. Now it reads as a kind of showing off, and I am a little jealous of her.
We go in May, if the flights behave. If you are planning the same coast, I would love to know what you do about the cove beaches, because I am not convinced I have got that right yet.
You may also enjoy
- The best time to visit Portugal with kids
- What I am packing for Portugal with a toddler
- Cascais with kids
- The whole Portugal archive
