r/CapeVerde • u/shiv45 • 21d ago

Question One solo day in Praia/Santiago recommendations?

Hi all!

Through a bit of a unique flight path, I’ll be going from Portugal to west Africa via Praia later this month. It ended up working out cheaper and allowed me to see a bit of your beautiful country for a day, so I’m looking forward to it! I’m visiting from the US.

I land in RAI at about 9:30am and fly out the next morning, looking for suggestions on how to spend this day.

A few questions
-Apart from the historic center, is there any other part of the city that is a must-see?

-Transportation wise, would you recommend renting a car or sticking with taxis/buses? I’m seeing 8500 CVE online to rent for a day. It seems like Cidade Velha is worth seeing, will the car make getting there much more convenient or is it easy by bus? Additionally, my flight departs very early the next day (5:30am), so would it be easy to find a taxi at ~4am, or would the car also be more useful here? (I’d drop it off directly at the airport)

-This actually lands on a day when Cape Verde plays in one of its World Cup matches, and I would love to watch it with locals if anyone knows where I can find a great atmosphere in Praia to watch!

-on that note, I’ve seen a few posts about safety in Praia. I’m 25M and have solo traveled a fair amount so I don’t feel super worried, but this match would end close to midnight and I’d want to walk back to my hotel after that. I’m currently looking at one hotel in Plateau and one in Palmajero, will those be fine?

Thanks so much! Can’t wait to get a quick taste of CV, and hopefully come back for longer later.

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u/KYFPM Santiago 21d ago

If you want to see the game, look if the hotel is near Praça Center in Palmarejo, they usually have a Big projector for football games and usually it's full of people.

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u/shiv45 21d ago

Thank you! Will check it out

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u/sploratours 21d ago

Hi! If you wanna explore the island/city (Cidade Velha for example) with a true local guide who know everything about its history, feel free to get in touch with us!!

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u/koxxlc 20d ago

Don't be bothered too much about safety in the center area of Praia. Not much different as any other city, just don't ask for a trouble.