Lagos is without question the most interesting town on Portugal's Algarve coast, offering not only great beaches nearby but also a real history and a pretty town with varied and sophisticated bars and restaurants.
Lagos' convenient and well-protected river port was fought over by Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and Moors - who left their usual mark in the shape of massive town walls. Later Lagos became a base for the country's dramatic 'Age of Discoveries' naval world power era.
In 1444 Lagos was the site of the first sale of black slaves to Europeans and soon developed into a major slave trading port, growing in power and stature until the big quake of 1755 inflicted a crushing and permanent defeat on their military pretensions and barbaric trade.
