60th cape Verde holiday

Giraffe76

Hi all,

I hope this post is in the correct place but if not then please move it.

My wife is 60 in January 2025 and she has said that she wants to go to cape Verde.
Looking at prices for the trip now and it's £1000 each.
Is there any tips or tricks that anyone knows that I can bring the price down?

Kind regards Mark 

mebu60

Why does she want to go to Cape Verde? Have just come back from two glorious weeks in Lanzarote, picked up by my brother at the airport on our return. We were discussing Canaries generally and glad we didn't go to Madeira at this time of year as wet and cool compared to relentless sunshine and low 20s we had. He also mentioned Cape Verde as one of the worst places he's ever been! Packs of stray dogs roaming around, dead animals, nothing much to do. Suggest you research and double-check why Mrs Giraffe is so keen to go there!

Price-wise if that's £1k pp for a week it sounds about right. You'll want a decent hotel and it's a 6 hour flight. And if that's half-board it's not unreasonable at all.

I'd suggest having a chat with a reputable travel agent. Don't skimp. If budget is a limiting factor prioritise quality of stay over location would be my tuppenny-worth.  

Spendless

You'd be better off posting in the travel forum about it. PM the board guide to have your post moved

Pollycat

I suggest you check out the Cape Verde Tripadvisor forum.

mebu60 said:

Why does she want to go to Cape Verde? <snip> He also mentioned Cape Verde as one of the worst places he's ever been! Packs of stray dogs roaming around, dead animals, nothing much to do. Suggest you research and double-check why Mrs Giraffe is so keen to go there!

It might help if you said exactly where your brother went. Cape Verde is a number of islands so it's a bit like saying 'my brother hated the Canary Islands'.

Katiehound

Some of the Cape Verde islands are fascinating- Sao Vincente,  Sao Antao however I'm fairly sure that package holidays don't go there but cruises do.

 I remember Sal used to be a refuelling stop when SAA were not allowed to fly over parts of Africa during apartheid.

NoodleDoodleMan

I know a couple who went to Cape Verde - said the TUI hotel was very good - however there wasn't that much to do if you weren't content to hang around the pool and relax.

They liked it for a one off chill out holiday - however no desire to return.

DullGreyGuy

Thought this was going to be about you going back to Cape Verde for the 60th time... was wondering what you had to ask that the previous 59 trips didn't answer. 

Not aware of any tricks that are unique to Cape Verde but just follow the normal guidelines and cross compare booking a traditional package holiday with booking flights/hotel together (which legally makes it a package for most purposes).

What is it about the island chain that she likes the idea of? There may be other locations that are cheaper if it's just the idea of winter sun or something that she likes. 

Voyager2002

Pollycat said:

I suggest you check out the Cape Verde Tripadvisor forum.

mebu60 said:

Why does she want to go to Cape Verde? <snip> He also mentioned Cape Verde as one of the worst places he's ever been! Packs of stray dogs roaming around, dead animals, nothing much to do. Suggest you research and double-check why Mrs Giraffe is so keen to go there!

It might help if you said exactly where your brother went. Cape Verde is a number of islands so it's a bit like saying 'my brother hated the Canary Islands'.

It is far more varied than the Canaries...

There are several islands with a settled population, with a great culture of music and dance, historic buildings, lots to see and do. Quite high on my list of places I would like to see.

And then there are two islands that were not populated until the development of tourism. These islands have airports, resorts, and people who work in the tourism industry. And not much else. 

Cheap flights and package holidays to Cape Verde invariably go to these two islands. They offer sun, sea, beaches but with strong winds, and not much else. Getting from them to the settled islands is unfortunately expensive and/or time-consuming. Not an experience that appeals to me.

Pollycat

Voyager2002 said:

Pollycat said:

I suggest you check out the Cape Verde Tripadvisor forum.

mebu60 said:

Why does she want to go to Cape Verde? <snip> He also mentioned Cape Verde as one of the worst places he's ever been! Packs of stray dogs roaming around, dead animals, nothing much to do. Suggest you research and double-check why Mrs Giraffe is so keen to go there!

It might help if you said exactly where your brother went. Cape Verde is a number of islands so it's a bit like saying 'my brother hated the Canary Islands'.

It is far more varied than the Canaries...

I'm not disputing that.
I was referring to a comment (that I quoted) saying that their brother had been to Cape Verde and didn't like it.
I used the Canaries as an example, not as a comparison.
I could just have easily used the Channel Islands or the Balearic Islands.

Giraffe76

Spendless said:

You'd be better off posting in the travel forum about it. PM the board guide to have your post moved

I've never had a post moved before so don't know how to do that. If you could help is appreciate that please

Kind regards Mark 

Giraffe76

Thank you to everyone whos replied. My wife has a friend who's been to witch island via TUI twice and absolutely loved it. My wife suffers from bad pain during the colder winter months so wants to have a warm weather holiday.
She's happy to sit around a pool all day and hasn't been there before.

Hope this helps. Am happy to answer any other questions you might have

Kind regards Mark