Hotels near São Tomé International Airport - TMS, São Tomé

Every country has its interesting sights and so has Sao Tomé. It is worth a visit. It is much more African than Cabo Verde. It lacks however the traditional villages like Benin or Togo. I was a bit disappointed by the quality of its beaches and the snorkeling. There is not much of coral, but there are colourful fishes and large quantities. There are great hiking possibilities in dry season in beautiful green plantation or forests. It is a lot safer than many other African destination. There are beautiful birds, but no large animals in the natural parks.

Very humid and not really geared up for tourists. Getting taxis unless you speak Portugese is difficult except from a hotel. Mainly cloudy in early March. The museum in the light house is very interesting. Meals out were variable but often with large portions particularly of rice.

Sao Tome island is incredible, even though the slowness of things here can get annoying. Sometime you can't get service even if you pay extra. Taxis are super expensive, so better rent a car or take a guided tour. Actually I strongly recommend to take a guided tour at least the first day. Most people don't speak English, just Portugese.

Sao Tome should be combined with a few days in Principe which we did not do. It is underdeveloped in tourist terms - fine for us though. The main attractions need a certain persistence given the state of the roads. Beware goats, dogs, pigs and motor cycles having a different view of how roads should be used. Mostly beware of children. On two occasions aggressive begging by children was excessive. We like to drive ourselves and hiring a driver would probably have deterred them. TAP is the only flight option from Europe. Our flight out did not have the planned aircraft and the substitute did not have the expected facilities and which required an added fuel stop.