

We are updating the information on this page every week, usually Wednesday. Latest update – 20 January 2021
Cape Verde Travel – Cape Verde is a lovely country to visit, but how do you get there and how do you travel around? This section of the website provides information on both these aspects of visiting Cape Verde. It also deals with the visa requirements and online registration and tourist tax. All visitors need to complete an online registration prior to arriving in Cape Verde. Visitors from some countries will require a visa in addition.
International flights to the country are increasing in number and also in frequency. There are flights from many countries in Europe and also from the USA, Brazil, and from some African countries. We aim to keep this site updated with new routes as and when they start up. The most popular times to visit are the winter months from October through to May. Therefore more flights are available during these months than during the summer months.
Special Notice: Cape Verde’s borders are open. International flights have started again, although not back to the previous levels yet. TAP is now flying into Praia and São Vicente. Azores Airlines are also flying weekly from Lisbon to Praia and twice a week to Sal under the banner of CV Connect Services. Royal Air Maroc is showing flights to Praia from Casablanca starting on 30 JanuaryTravellers to Cape Verde are required to have a negative Covid test (PCR) result in the previous 72 hours before boarding the plane.
Domestic travel within the country is improving and is generally more reliable than it once was. Visitors will find some islands easier to visit than others. Most islands have an airport, and are also served by ferries. The islands of Santo Antão and Brava, however no longer have airports and so they can only reached by ferry. Making an extra effort to visit some of the islands that are more difficult to reach, or that are not the main tourist destinations, will prove very worthwhile. There is such variety amongst the islands that to stick only to the main tourist islands (Sal and Boa Vista) would be a shame.
The capital city of Cape Verde is Praia, on the island of Santiago. There are regular flights to Nelson Mandela International Airport from Lisbon, Gran Canaria, Casablanca, Dakar, Fortaleza, Bissau and Ponta Delgada. The capital is also a hub for travel within the Cape Verde archipelago. The city provides internal flight connections to all the other airports within Cape Verde and also ferry connections. The busiest international airport however is Amílcar Cabral International Airport on the island of Sal. Santa Maria on Sal has become one of the main tourist destinations. The island of Boa Vista a close second for tourism and also has an international airport. International flights also operate to the airport on the island of São Vicente, however there are far fewer than to the other three international airports.
Choosing which of the international airports you fly to will depend on which islands you wish to visit. If you want to visit Santo Antão, then São Vicente would be the nearest airport. If you wish to visit Maio then Praia would be the best choice. For Fogo and Brava then Praia or Sal would be a logical choice.
It is possible to fly to Cape Verde in around only six hours or less from much of Europe including the United Kingdom
Travel between the islands is mostly by plane or ferry, but two of the islands (Brava & Santo Antão) are only accessible by ferry
Praia on the island of Santiago is the capital of the Cape Verde islands and is also a hub for internal travel by plane or ferry
There are flights between Cape Verde and the USA (Boston & Washington) and Brazil (Fortaleza, Salvador & Porto Alegre)
Famous travellers to Cape Verde include Charles Darwin, Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus and Michele Obama.
Visas are required for non-European visitors and can be bought on arrival. All visitors need to register online prior to arrival
Passports must be valid for at least a further six months after your visit when travelling to Cape Verde
There are seven airports in Cape Verde, but only four of them are international airports of which Sal is busiest
Over twenty airlines fly to the four international airports based on the islands of Sal, Boa Vista, Santiago, São Vicente