Summary
This holiday pairs Cape Verde biggest event of the year with time on Sao Vicente and Santo Antao
Highlights
- The Cape Verde Carnival is famous the world over for it's colourful celebrations and parties!
- Enjoy guided tours around Sao Vicente and Santo Antao
- Relax after the festivities on Sao Pedro beach, you can even swim with turtles!
The Details
This itinerary weaves all of our favourite elements of Sao Vincent into your holiday, whilst ensuring that you get to enjoy all of the best bits of the carnival parades. You spend five nights in Mindelo, and each day offers a different flavour. You can go on a walking tour of the town and take a jeep journey through all of the most beautiful spots on the island. A one hour ferry crossing takes you to Santo Antao, where you will be guided around the island, or you can opt to go hiking in one of the valleys. Back in Mindelo, the guitar making workshop gets you into the musical spirit before heading back to the carnival to catch a show.
Cape Verde Carnival is a time of joy and celebration, of rhythmic musical beats and delicious street food. Mindelo is one of our favourite places in Cape Verde and visiting during the carnival period is a real treat. The city itself is culturally vibrant, it has a beautiful harbour and white-sand beach, and a backdrop of mountains that rise above the colourful colonial buildings of city.
Book a year ahead for the main parade, on Tuesday 9th of February 2027. The streets set the stage for an extravaganza of costumes and carefully choreographed dances. Often known as the Creole Carnival, due to its mix of Portuguese and African culture, you can enjoy a vibrant procession of moving floats and colourful street performances, all accompanied by wonderful live music.
We will design the itinerary around your preferences, so you can see as much or as little of the carnival as you like. You can take part in the celebrations, head out for a tour of the island, relax on secluded beaches, and spend time on neighbouring Santo Antao. You can even go swimming with sea turtles at the end of your holiday!
After carnival week, we transfer you to a hotel on the beach of Praia de Sao Pedro. We have included two nights here, so you can stroll around and explore the area at a leisurely pace. Walk bare foot along the golden sands, dip your toes in the crystal clear water, or perhaps go swimming with sea turtles. It’s the only place on Cape Verde where you can enjoy this experience and it’s almost a guarantee that you will see one, there are lots of them in the water here.
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Suggested Itinerary
Today you fly into Sao Vicente in Cape Verde, where you'll be met on arrival and transferred to nearby Mindelo. In this itinerary we've suggested the Terra Lodge but all of our holidays are tailor made, so we can chat about your preferences and find the accommodation that's right for you. Mindelo will be buzzing because the residents live for Carnival week. Tonight,.
Our guide will meet you after breakfast and take you on a walking tour of their home city. This is the perfect opportunity to ask your local guide all about all the Carnival festivities that are going on in Mindelo. The tour is around two hours and you'll finish with an hour at a guitar making workshop, most likely with a music session! The rest of your day is free for you to join in with the festivities.
Sao Vicente is a small island with a vast variety of landscapes. Today you'll be met by our guide and 4x4 jeep for an island tour showing you parts of the island you otherwise wouldn't see, like deserted beaches and volcanoes. Remember your swimwear and towel - there will be plenty of opportunities to take a refreshing dip, perhaps off the shores of the black sandy beaches, or the bay of Baias das Gatas. After time to freshen up, in the evening, re-join the carnival festivities.
Neighbouring Santo Antao is accessible by a day trip using the ferries. We've included a guided day for you using the early morning and late afternoon crossings, with a private guided tour of this wild western island. On Santo Antao you'll be met as you disembark from the hour's ferry crossing. Our guide will take you on a tour of this beautiful island, with its jagged peaks and lush green valleys. After stopping for lunch in the fishing town of Ponta do Sol, you can stretch your legs and wander to Fontainhas village. In the late afternoon you'll catch the ferry back to Sao Vicente . Tonight at the Mindelo Carnival it's the Samba Tropical.
Tuesday 9th February 2027 - Shrove Tuesday is the climax of Carnival festivities and we've left the day free for you to immerse yourself in the experience. This is the main event and a real treat for locals and visitors alike. The streets are awash with colour, beautifully tailored costumes and lively music. This is a spectacle not to be missed and celebrations go on late into the night.
After your week, packed full of the local highlights and dancing, we thought you would appreciate some much-deserved relaxation time! You'll check out around noon and we'll transfer you to the Foya Branca hotel, on the south west coast of Sao Vicente. Your Hotel sits right on the white sands of Praia de Sao Pedro beach. This is the perfect opportunity to read a book on a sun lounger. It's also a great spot for going swimming with sea turtles, so let us know if you want to add this in to your holiday.
The golden sands of the Praia de São Pedro beach are so enticing, so we've included a second full day here, allowing you to explore the area at your own pace. More time at the beach is a must for sun lovers, but there's also plenty to see and do, if you want to take a little stroll.
After a last morning catching Cape Verde's rays, you'll check out and we'll transfer you to the airport for your connecting flights to Heathrow, via Lisbon.
Suggested places to stay
From £2,995 per person
Price included
The price is based on two people sharing a twin or a double room, activities as described and includes flights from the UK.
For a personalised itinerary and full list of what's included, please get in touch.
