The sun dips behind Cabo de Sao Vincent - Europe's most southwestern point

Dramatically situated on Europe's barren southwesternmost corner on perilous cliffs with epic Atlantic winds whipping through, its no wonder the Portuguese once believed Sagres marked the end of the earth. That many of the Portuguese explorers who set sail from near hear never returned, only strengthened the theory that they had sailed off the edge of the world.

Sagres makes an easy day trip from the Algarve resort town of Lagos. Aside from the thrill of getting thoroughly windswept while standing at Cabo de Sao Vincent - Europe's most southwestern point - or watching old men with massive rods fish for sea bass off sheer cliffs, the town has many historical points of interest. Henry the Navigator ran his navigation and ship design school out of Sagres, training the men who discovered routes to China, Japan, India and Brazil and went on to establish the Portuguese empire. The Fortaleza de Sagres museum features a slide show on the town's history.

It is worth the 6km clifftop trek from here out to Cabo de Sao Vincent if only to climb the formidable lighthouse and watch the sun disappear into the ocean.