The 9 Islands of Cape Verde.

Sal is the driest, sunniest and most tourist-developed island in Cape Verde - most Europeans' first contact with the archipelago, and for good reason: the most direct flights, the best hotel infrastructure, and in Santa Maria, one of West Africa's best-known beaches.

Ponta Preta hosts the GKA Kite World Tour and is considered one of the world's most demanding wave spots in the international kitesurf scene, while the salt crater Pedra de Lume and the "Blue Eye" Buracona are must-do day trips. At Shark Bay (Baía da Parda, south of Pedra de Lume), you can wade with lemon sharks in knee-deep water.

The price for all this: Sal is flat, arid and - especially around Santa Maria - more tourist-shaped than any other island. Anyone looking for "real" Cape Verdean daily life will find it more readily on Santiago or São Vicente.

Boa Vista is the archipelago's dune island - large stretches with their sand mountains evoke the Sahara, which actually lies just a few hundred kilometers away. The Viana Desert and the shipwreck Cabo Santa Maria are among Cape Verde's most photographed sights.

Between June and October, thousands of loggerhead turtles lay their eggs on the beaches here - one of the Atlantic's largest nesting grounds, with organized night tours for watching them. Kitesurfing is big here too, but noticeably calmer than on Sal.

Development is more recent and concentrated heavily in a few resort areas - away from those, Boa Vista is still remarkably untouched.

Santiago is the largest, most populous and culturally most defining island - the country's political and economic heart beats here. Roughly half the national population lives on the island itself; the capital is Praia, with around 145,000 residents (2021 census, about 30% of the national population).

Cidade Velha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the first European colonial town in the tropics, is essential for anyone interested in history. Tarrafal beach in the north ranks among the country's most beautiful - with a dark chapter: the former penal camp of the same name.

Santiago is the least geared toward classic beach tourism, and in exchange the island with the most authentic Creole-African daily life - mountainous, green inland, and economically the center for anyone looking to move here or invest.

Santo Antão is the complete opposite of Sal: rugged, green, volcanic - and for many the most visually striking island in the archipelago. Steep, terraced valleys like the Ribeira Grande and Ribeira do Paúl rank among West Africa's most spectacular hiking regions.

The extinct Cova crater, the mountain village of Fontainhas with its iconic view, and cobbled pass roads define the island's character. The local sugarcane spirit Grogue is also traditionally distilled here.

Important: Santo Antão has no airport. Access is exclusively by ferry from Mindelo (São Vicente) - in rough seas the crossing can be cancelled, which means building in buffer days when planning.

São Vicente is Cape Verde's cultural center. Mindelo, birthplace of music legend Cesária Évora, is widely considered the most beautiful city in the archipelago, with its colonial architecture, live-music bars, and famous Carnival.

The Baía das Gatas lagoon, the viewpoint mountain Monte Verde, and the windsurf spot São Pedro round out the cultural offering with nature and sport. As a ferry port, Mindelo also serves as the gateway to Santo Antão.

Anyone wanting to combine nightlife, live music and real city atmosphere with beach proximity is in the right place here - also a good base for day trips to Santo Antão.

Maio is the quietest of the inhabited Cape Verde islands - barely any resorts, barely any traffic noise, but miles of empty sand beaches and the former salt pans of Porto Inglês. Many insiders describe Maio as "Sal or Boa Vista 30 years ago."

Sea turtles nest here too, though far less observed than on Boa Vista. Infrastructure is minimal: a handful of guesthouses, simple restaurants, barely any organized tourism.

For anyone seeking maximum quiet who can live with basic infrastructure, Maio is an insider tip. Less suited for a first visit with high comfort expectations.

Fogo revolves around a single, towering centerpiece: Pico do Fogo (2,829 m), Cape Verde's only active volcano - last erupting in 2014/2015. In the crater village of Chã das Caldeiras, people live right inside the caldera and grow wine on the fertile volcanic soil.

Climbing the volcano is the archipelago's most demanding, but also most spectacular hike. In the coastal town of São Filipe, grand colonial "sobrados" bear witness to its history as a former trading center.

Fogo is visually unique but little developed for tourism - people who come, come specifically for the volcano and the rawness, not for the beaches (mostly black lava sand).

Brava is Cape Verde's smallest inhabited island and simultaneously the hardest to reach - there's no airport, only a weather-dependent ferry from Fogo. Anyone who makes the effort is rewarded with one of the archipelago's most unspoiled islands.

Cape Verdeans call it "Ilha das Flores" (Island of Flowers) for its unusually lush vegetation for the region. The mountain town of Nova Sintra, with its pastel-colored houses, feels almost European. Historically, Brava is closely tied to emigration to New England (USA) - many families still have relatives there today.

Tourist infrastructure is minimal. Brava is nothing for the spontaneous traveler or tight schedules - but for anyone seeking real remoteness, it delivers.

São Nicolau is the country's literary cradle: it was home to the "Claridade" movement, which decisively shaped Cape Verdean literary and national identity. The mountainous interior around Monte Gordo Natural Park offers excellent, barely crowded hiking trails.

The charming colonial town of Ribeira Brava lies deep in a green valley and feels frozen in time. A small airport exists but is used mainly for domestic flights - international arrival is usually via Sal or Praia with a connecting flight.

São Nicolau sits almost in the tourist shadow of the other islands - anyone who wants to experience the country beyond the guidebooks will find real villages and real quiet here.