Praia

The heart of Praia is the Plateau (Platô), the flat-topped hill rising above the port on which the historic city was laid out. Its grid of streets holds the colonial-era civic buildings, pastel-painted houses, the old town hall and former presidential palace, churches and the leafy main square, the Praça Alexandre Albuquerque, shaded by trees and ringed by cafés — a pleasant, walkable centre that comes alive in the cool of the evening. Below and around the Plateau spread the city's everyday neighbourhoods and its markets, above all the sprawling Sucupira market, the largest in the country and a vivid place to feel the city's commercial pulse. Praia's coastline provides its beaches: Quebra Canela, the city's main and most popular beach, with calm water and beachfront bars, and Gamboa, the long strand below the Plateau that hosts the well-known Gamboa music festival in spring. Between the historic centre, the markets and the beaches, the capital makes a relaxed and authentic base from which to discover Santiago and the wider archipelago.

A short trip west of Praia lies Cidade Velha (officially Ribeira Grande de Santiago), the most important historic site in Cape Verde and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Set in a green valley where a seasonal river meets the Atlantic, it was the first town founded by Europeans in the tropics, and its remarkably preserved historic fabric makes it the cultural highlight of any visit to the island. Crowning the hill above the town is the Forte Real de São Filipe, a 16th-century clifftop fortress with sweeping views over the valley and the sea; in the town below stand the evocative ruins of an early cathedral, a restored church, and the Rua Banana, reputedly one of the oldest colonial streets in the world, lined with low stone-and-thatch houses. A historic monument stands in the main square, and the surrounding valley is green with banana, sugarcane and palms. Easily reached as a half-day excursion from Praia, often combined with lunch at a seafront restaurant, Cidade Velha is an atmospheric and essential stop.

Santiago is the largest and most varied island in Cape Verde, and Praia is the gateway to it. Inland, the landscape rises quickly into rugged volcanic mountains and deep, green valleys, threaded by scenic roads. The Serra Malagueta natural park, in the island's centre, protects the highest peaks and offers cool hiking trails through endemic vegetation with long views. On the way, the lively highland market town of Assomada (Santa Catarina) holds one of the island's most colourful markets, especially on Wednesdays and Saturdays. In the north, the town of Tarrafal sits on one of the most beautiful bays in the archipelago — a sweeping arc of palm-backed white sand and turquoise water that is the island's best beach and a relaxed place to stay. The interior villages, the terraced farmland and the dramatic interior roads give Santiago a depth and an “African” character distinct from the flatter, sandier eastern islands, making a circuit of the island — by hire car, aluguer shared minibus or organised tour from Praia — a rewarding adventure.

Santiago is the cultural cradle of Cape Verde, and Praia is a good place to encounter the country's rich heritage. The island is the home of batuku (batuko), the powerful drumming-and-dance tradition led by women, and of the up-tempo, accordion-driven funaná; alongside the melancholy morna for which the archipelago is famed, this music fills bars, festivals and social life. Cape Verdean food is hearty and distinctive: the national dish cachupa, a slow-cooked stew of corn, beans, vegetables and meat or fish (the morning “cachupa refogada” is a beloved breakfast), along with abundant fresh fish and seafood, and the ever-present grogue, the strong sugarcane spirit, and its honeyed cocktail ponche. The markets, the music and the easy, welcoming sociability (morabeza, the Cape Verdean warmth) are as much a part of a visit as any sight. Praia's restaurants, bars and festivals — and the island's villages — offer plenty of chances to taste the food, hear the music and feel the culture that make Cape Verde, and Santiago in particular, so distinctive.