Without a car
Cape Verde without a car, island by island
Short answer
Yes, with the right expectations. Only Praia has a published city bus network; everywhere else the shared minibuses called aluguers carry people between towns with no timetable, leaving when full and mostly in the morning. Taxis fill the gaps, CV InterIlhas ferries link the islands by date, and no airport has a scheduled bus. Pick a base where the transport starts, and plan every day around the way back.
Santiago: the one island with a bus map
Sol Atlântico runs Praia’s numbered lines, nearly all through Plateau, with Sucupira and Palmarejo as the other interchange areas; trips are sold in prepaid bundles on a card bought in person, and line 15 carries a suspension notice. Beyond the city limits nothing is timetabled: aluguers to Assomada, Tarrafal and Cidade Velha leave from the Sucupira market area when they fill. The airport is about 3 km from the city, the tourism board says, with taxis on arrival.
Sources: Sol AtlânticoPraia bus lines and stopsTariffs, cards and passesProvisional suspension of line 15Turismo de Cabo VerdeGetting around each island by landFlights and airports
São Vicente: Mindelo, the easiest car-free base
Mindelo has real city buses run by Transcor SV, but no published line list or fare could be verified when we checked, and the tourism board’s figures of 9 daytime and two night routes publish operating hours but no day-of-week detail. What makes it the easiest base is everything else: the airport about 5 km away, taxi apps that work in the city, and the 40-minute ferry to Porto Novo on Santo Antão, which showed two sailings each way on 14 October 2026.
Sources: Transcor SVMindelo urban bus operatorTurismo de Cabo VerdeGetting around each island by landSão Vicente islandFlights and airportsCV InterIlhasRoutes, schedules and crossing times
Santo Antão: the ferry is the timetable
There is no airport and no bus network. Every visitor lands at Porto Novo, where aluguers wait for each boat and run the mountain or coast road to Ribeira Grande, Paúl and Ponta do Sol once they fill. Because they are keyed to the ferry, the sailing you book decides your day; miss it and you usually miss the onward ride too. Ask for a seat price, not a vehicle price.
Sources: CV InterIlhasRoutes, schedules and crossing timesENAPORPorts of Cabo VerdeGoverno de Cabo VerdeNational transport services portal
Sal and Boa Vista: taxis, hiaces and a ferry that does not sail daily
No source we checked verifies a public bus on Sal: the airport company lists taxis and informal hiace vans, and the Espargos–Santa Maria axis runs on them, paid in cash with the fare agreed first. Santa Maria’s beach, pier and market are on foot. On Boa Vista the tourism board says the main transport is taxis and local guides with their own cars, with 4x4 country inland. The Redonda ferry links the two islands in 3 hours 5 minutes, but not every day: on 14 October 2026 no sailing ran between them.
Sources: Cabo Verde AirportsPublic transportation at the airportsTurismo de Cabo VerdeSal islandBoa Vista islandCV InterIlhasRoutes, schedules and crossing timesGoverno de Cabo VerdeNational transport services portal
Fogo, Maio, Brava and São Nicolau: aluguers and date-by-date ferries
On Fogo the shared 4x4 aluguer from São Filipe up to Chã das Caldeiras goes up in the morning and comes down later in the day, with nothing published for Sundays. Maio, Brava and São Nicolau have no published road service at all; a ride is an aluguer or a negotiated car. All four depend on ferries published date by date, and Brava, with no airport, is cut off when its one boat stops. Book your bed after you know your boat.
Sources: CV InterIlhasRoutes, schedules and crossing timesGoverno de Cabo VerdeNational transport services portalInstituto Marítimo e PortuárioMaritime and port regulator
Day trips the published facts support
Santo Antão from Mindelo, often: the crossing is 40 minutes and on 14 October 2026 the schedule had a morning sailing out and an afternoon sailing back; buy both legs at least 1 h 30 ahead. Cidade Velha or Tarrafal from Praia by aluguer, as a morning-out, early-afternoon-back day, because late departures are a gamble. Not as day trips: Chã das Caldeiras, where the return vehicles leave earlier than visitors expect, and Boa Vista from Sal, a three-hour ferry that does not sail every day.
Sources: CV InterIlhasRoutes, schedules and crossing timesPassenger frequently asked questionsTurismo de Cabo VerdeGetting around each island by landGoverno de Cabo VerdeNational transport services portal
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Questions travellers ask
Which island is easiest without a car?
Santiago has the only published bus network, around Praia; São Vicente has the easiest base, Mindelo, with the airport close, taxi apps and the short ferry to Santo Antão. Sal and Boa Vista are the hardest: taxis and hiaces only.
Sources: Sol AtlânticoPraia bus lines and stopsTurismo de Cabo VerdeGetting around each island by land
How do aluguers work?
They are shared minibuses that leave when full, mostly in the morning, with no published timetable or fare anywhere in the country. Ask where they leave from, ask the seat price before you get in, and ask when the last one comes back.
Sources: Turismo de Cabo VerdeGetting around each island by landCV InterIlhasRoutes, schedules and crossing times
Is there Uber or Bolt in Cape Verde?
No: the tourism board says there is no Uber, Bolt or Lyft, though taxi apps work in Mindelo. Use authorised taxis from a rank or called by your hotel, the UK government advises, and agree the fare first.
Sources: Turismo de Cabo VerdeGetting around each island by landUK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development OfficeCape Verde travel advice: safety and security