Find places in São Tomé and Príncipe

Must-Haves

• Museu Nacional, Forte de São Sebastião (Seafront)
  A sixteenth century Portuguese fort holding the national museum, with colonial history and views over Ana Chaves Bay.
• Catedral de Nossa Senhora da Graça (City centre)
  The pale cathedral at the heart of the capital, one of the oldest church sites in sub-Saharan Africa.
• CACAU, Casa das Artes Criação Ambiente Utopias (Seafront)
  A converted warehouse arts centre with exhibitions, concerts, a café and the Bienal de Arte e Cultura.

Fun for Everyone

• Palácio Presidencial (City centre)
  The pink presidential palace, best admired from the street without a camera pointed at the guards.

Off the Beaten Path

• Roça Água Izé (East coast)
  A huge, crumbling plantation where cocoa was first cultivated on the island, with a hospital and workers' quarters.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Mercado Municipal de São Tomé (City centre)
  The busy central market, piled with breadfruit, plantains, fish, spices and gossip.
• Mercado do Bobô Forro (Bobô Forro)
  A sprawling local market on the edge of town where islanders shop for everything from cloth to tools.

Must-Haves

• Claudio Corallo Chocolate (Marginal 12 de Julho)
  A tasting tour with one of the world's most celebrated bean to bar chocolate makers.

Fun for Everyone

• Marginal 12 de Julho seafront (Seafront)
  The long bayside promenade for an evening stroll as fishermen pull their canoes ashore.

Must-Haves

• Pestana São Tomé (Seafront)
  The capital's big ocean front hotel, with a pool and easy walking to the seafront.

Great for Date Night

• Omali Lodge (Near the airport)
  A boutique lodge with a pool and garden facing the ocean, popular for a first or last night.

Fun for Everyone

• Hotel Miramar by Pestana (Seafront)
  A long running seafront hotel with gardens and a relaxed pool.
• Hotel Praia (Near the airport)
  A comfortable mid-range option close to the airport and the city beaches.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Hotel Central (City centre)
  A simple, central hotel within walking distance of the market and cathedral.

Must-Haves

• Restaurante Papa-Figo (City centre)
  A garden restaurant famed for grilled fish and island classics in a laid-back setting.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Food stalls at the Mercado Municipal (City centre)
  Cheap plates of grilled fish, banana and calulu where market traders eat.

Must-Haves

• CACAU café (Seafront)
  Coffee, juices and light meals inside the arts centre, with art on every wall.

Fun for Everyone

• Bar at Pestana São Tomé (Seafront)
  An easy sundowner by the pool with views across the bay.

Off the Beaten Path

• Pantufo fishing village bars (Pantufo)
  Simple beach bars in a fishing village where the evening catch comes in.

Fun for Everyone

• Praia Pantufo (Pantufo)
  A working fishing beach close to town, colourful with canoes and drying nets.
• Praia Lagarto (Near the airport)
  The nearest swimming beach to the capital, busy with families at weekends.
• Praia das Sete Ondas (East coast)
  A long sweep of sand near Água Izé, good for a quiet walk.

Must-Haves

• Boca do Inferno (Água Izé)
  A blowhole where Atlantic waves explode through a lava channel.

Off the Beaten Path

• Praia Micondó (East coast)
  A calm palm-fringed cove on the drive south, rarely busy.

Fun for Everyone

• Independence Day celebrations, 12 July (City centre)
  Parades, music and street parties marking independence in 1975.

Must-Haves

• Lagoa Azul (North coast)
  A turquoise bay ringed by baobab trees, the island's most famous snorkelling spot.
• Praia dos Tamarindos (Morro Peixe)
  A wide golden beach shaded by tamarind trees, lovely at sunset.
• Santa Catarina tunnel (Santa Catarina)
  A short road tunnel through a sea cliff at the end of the paved north west coast.

Fun for Everyone

• Praia Diogo Nunes (Guadalupe)
  A sheltered cove where locals swim and picnic at weekends.

Off the Beaten Path

• Praia Lagoa Azul baobabs (Lagoa Azul)
  Ancient baobabs standing over the bay, strange and wonderful in the dry season.

Must-Haves

• Tatô turtle project at Morro Peixe (Morro Peixe)
  A community conservation project offering night walks to see nesting turtles in season.

Fun for Everyone

• Rosema brewery (Neves)
  The home of Rosema, the island's beloved local beer, in a fishing town.
• Roça Agostinho Neto (Guadalupe)
  One of the largest roças, with a grand avenue up to the old hospital.

Must-Haves

• Mucumbli (Ponta Figo)
  A cliff top lodge of wooden bungalows with ocean views and a fine restaurant.

Great for Date Night

• Restaurante at Mucumbli (Ponta Figo)
  Fresh fish and Italian touches on a terrace above the sea.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Neves seafront grills (Neves)
  Fresh catch grilled on charcoal in the town's lively fishing harbour.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Guadalupe market (Guadalupe)
  A small town market for fruit, palm wine and everyday island life.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Palm wine stalls in Guadalupe (Guadalupe)
  Try fresh vinho de palma, the islands' favourite drink, by the roadside.

Must-Haves

• Jardim Botânico do Bom Sucesso (Bom Sucesso)
  The botanical garden at the gateway to Obô Natural Park, with orchids, begonias and endemic birds.
• Lagoa Amélia (Obô Natural Park)
  A misty crater lake filled with grass and ferns, a classic half day hike from Bom Sucesso.
• Pico de São Tomé (Obô Natural Park)
  The islands' highest peak, a tough guided climb through cloud forest.

Fun for Everyone

• Cascata São Nicolau (Highland road)
  A tall waterfall right beside the road to Bom Sucesso, an easy stop.

Off the Beaten Path

• Lagoa Amélia trail birdwatching (Obô Natural Park)
  Endemic birds like the São Tomé oriole and giant sunbird along the trail.

Must-Haves

• Roça Monte Café (Monte Café)
  A coffee plantation with a museum explaining the island's coffee story, and tastings.

Fun for Everyone

• Roça Uba Budo (Uba Budo)
  A plantation village where life still follows the rhythm of the old estate.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Trindade market (Trindade)
  A busy local market in the island's second town, full of highland produce.

Fun for Everyone

• Tchiloli performances (Mé-Zóchi district)
  A centuries old masked street drama, a UNESCO-recognised island tradition performed at festivals.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Roadside calulu and fish stalls in Trindade (Trindade)
  Simple local lunches of calulu, banana and grilled fish.

Fun for Everyone

• Coffee tasting at Monte Café (Monte Café)
  Taste arabica and robusta grown on the slopes around you.

Must-Haves

• Pico Cão Grande (Obô Natural Park, south)
  The towering volcanic plug rising out of the forest, the country's most famous view.
• Ilhéu das Rolas Equator marker (Ilhéu das Rolas)
  A monument and mosaic map sitting right on the Equator line.
• Praia Jalé (South coast)
  A wild turtle nesting beach with an eco lodge run with the conservation programme.
• Praia Inhame (Porto Alegre)
  A palm-fringed southern beach with a small eco lodge.

Fun for Everyone

• Praia Piscina (Near Porto Alegre)
  A natural rock pool on the coast, perfect for a calm swim.

Must-Haves

• Pestana Equador (Ilhéu das Rolas)
  An island resort on the Equator, reached by a short boat ride from Porto Alegre.

Off the Beaten Path

• Jalé Ecolodge (Praia Jalé)
  Simple beach huts where turtles nest right below in season.

Fun for Everyone

• Inhame Eco Lodge (Praia Inhame)
  Bungalows by the beach at the island's far south.

Great for Date Night

• Roça São João dos Angolares rooms (São João dos Angolares)
  Simple rooms at the famous chef's roça, with a long lunch on the veranda.

Fun for Everyone

• Boat to Ilhéu das Rolas (Porto Alegre)
  A short crossing to walk the islet and stand on the Equator.

Off the Beaten Path

• Roça Porto Alegre (Porto Alegre)
  An old estate village at the end of the road south.

Fun for Everyone

• Angolar fishing villages (South east coast)
  Communities descended from shipwrecked Angolans, with their own creole and canoe culture.

Must-Haves

• Praia Banana (North coast of Príncipe)
  A perfect curve of sand and palms, the country's most photographed beach.
• Pico Papagaio (Central Príncipe)
  A guided hike up the island's parrot peak through primary forest.

Off the Beaten Path

• Praia Boi (North coast)
  A wild beach reached by boat or trail, with turtles in season.
• Praia Macaco (North coast)
  A remote cove used by nesting turtles and almost no one else.

Fun for Everyone

• Whale watching off Príncipe (Coastal waters)
  Humpback whales pass the islands from roughly July to October.

Must-Haves

• Sundy Praia (Western Príncipe)
  Tented villas in the forest above a private beach.
• Roça Sundy (Sundy)
  A restored plantation hotel where the 1919 eclipse helped confirm Einstein's theory of relativity.

Great for Date Night

• Bom Bom Island (North coast)
  A resort linked by a wooden walkway to a tiny islet.

Must-Haves

• 1919 eclipse memorial at Roça Sundy (Sundy)
  A small exhibit marking Eddington's famous solar eclipse observation.

Fun for Everyone

• Roça Belo Monte (Belo Monte)
  A beautifully restored plantation house and hotel above Praia Banana.
• Igreja de Santo António (Santo António)
  The bright church of the tiny capital, the centre of Príncipe life.

Off the Beaten Path

• Roça Porto Real (Porto Real)
  A huge abandoned plantation slowly being swallowed by the forest.

Fun for Everyone

• Santo António riverside walk (Santo António)
  A wander through one of the smallest capitals in the world, along the Papagaio river.

Off the Beaten Path

• Fundação Príncipe turtle programme (Príncipe beaches)
  Learn about turtle conservation with the island's foundation.
• Boat trip around Príncipe's south (Southern coast)
  See the island's spires of volcanic rock rising from the sea.

Must-Haves

• Auto de Floripes, Festa de São Lourenço (Santo António)
  A street theatre of Moors and Christians performed across town every August.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Santo António market (Santo António)
  A small market with fish, fruit and island snacks.

Great for Date Night

• Restaurant at Roça Sundy (Sundy)
  Farm to table cooking using produce from the island's own gardens.