Portugal Guides: The Azores
- Nine island archipelago in the mid-Atlantic.
- 1440 km (895 miles) west of Lisbon, 3200 km (2000 miles) from the USA.
- The archipelago stretches for 650 km (400 miles).
- Autonomous area of Portugal.
- Created from ancient volcanoes.
- Islands of stunning natural beauty.
- Pico Mountain on Pico Island is the highest in Portugal.
- Local population of 240,000 people.
The nine-island archipelago of The Azores is without doubt one of the most beautiful, unspoiled places on Earth. The islands abound with emerald-green lakes, volcanic craters or caldeiras, pleasant vineyards and historic settlements. The islands have a temperate climate all year round with temperatures ranging from around 11-29 degrees Centigrade.
The Azores (Os Açores)
São Miguel
São Miguel is the largest of the islands of the Azores (65 km by 16 km, 40 miles by 10 miles) and the most populated (pop. 140,000). Known as the "green island", São Miguel is the center of government and the Azores' transport hub for international and inter-island flights.
The main town of Ponta Delgada on the south coast is beautifully located amidst a backdrop of small volcanic cones. The town contains several fine baroque churches including the 16th century Igreja Matriz de São Sebastião, the 17th century São Pedro and the 18th century São João. The fine Palácio da Conceição houses the present-day government buildings and is of architectural interest, as is the baroque Casa de Carlos Bicudo with its mermaid façade and the three arches of the city gates - Portas da Cidade.
The Museu Carlos Machado housed in a 16th century convent is of interest for its exhibits of the natural history, art and ethnography of the Azores and for a great view of the city head up to Reduto de Mãe de Deus.
Outside Ponta Delgada the interior of the island offers some wonderful sites. To the west, the twin lakes set within the Caldeira das Sete Cidades appear one green and the other blue. In the north, the historical town of Ribeira Grande is full of exquisite churches and a little out of town are the hot springs of Caldeiras da Ribeira Grande and to the south the Lagoa da Fogo (Fire Lake) which makes for a pleasant hike through the scenic surroundings.
Traveling east of Ponta Delgada are the small town of Lagoa noted for its ceramics, good beaches at Prainha and Agua d'Alto and the town of Vila Franca do Campo, the former capital of the island with some beautiful churches and an interesting civic museum. Just offshore is the picturesque islet of Ilheu - ideal for swimming or a picnic.
To the northeast, past the crater lake of Lagoa das Furnas is the village of Furnas, famous for its bubbling hot springs and mud. A local delicacy is cozido - meat and vegetables cooked in pots buried in the hot earth.
São Miguel is a center for whale-watching, has two good golf courses at Ponta Delgada and Furnas and also offers scuba diving, snorkeling and sailing and boat-hire opportunities.
São Miguel Tourist Offices
Ponta Delgada Av. Infante D. Henrique 9504-528 Tel: 296 285 743, 296 285 125
Airport: Posto de Turismo do Aeroporto de Ponta Delgada Tel: 296 284 569
Furnas Posto de Turismo das Furnas tel: 296 584 525
Ribeira Grande Posto de Turismo da Ribeira Grande Tel. 296 472 118
Getting to + around São Miguel
Air
There are direct flights to Porta Delgada Airport from Lisbon and other European cities including London (Heathrow) with TAP. Air Azores (part of the SATA Group) flies to many European cities including direct flights to London (Gatwick), Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt, Madrid and many other destinations in Europe including Manchester in the UK via Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Funchal. Porta Delgada has direct flights to Boston and Providence, Rhode Island in the USA. There are also now direct flights to the Azores from Canada.
All the islands of the Azores have air connections from Porta Delgada with SATA Air Azores. Inter-island flights are run by SATA Air Azores.
Ferries
There are no ferries from continental Portugal to the Azores. You will have to fly. Ferries do connect the various groups of islands in the Azores, however.
Sailings are subject to the weather and the season, being less frequent in winter when the seas can be rough.
The boats are operated by Atlânticoline (atlanticoline.pt).
Car ferries between the eastern group of islands São Miguel and Santa Maria take 3 hours.
Ferries also connect the central group of islands: São Jorge, Graciosa, Pico, Terceira and Faial.
Faial (Horta) to São Jorge (Velas) takes 2 hours; Faial (Horta) to Pico (São Roque) takes 1 hour, 10 minutes; Faial (Horta) to Pico (Madalena) takes 30 minutes; Pico (Madalena) to São Jorge (Velas) takes 1 hour, 20 minutes; Pico (São Roque) to São Jorge (Velas) is 50 minutes.
The western group of islands Flores and Corvo are connected by a small passenger only ferry (40 minutes).
The ferry terminal on São Miguel is in Ponta Delgada.
*All journey times are dependent on sea conditions.
Bus travel in Portugal
Buses from Ponta Delgada connect with most towns on the island. There is also a local bus service in Ponta Delgada.
Car Travel in Portugal
Car or taxi rental are good options for exploring the island.
From the Airport
The João Paulo II Airport is 3 km west of Ponta Delgada, there are hourly buses to the town center.
Portugal Hotel & Hostel Accommodation
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Hotel VIP Executive - Rotunda de São Gonçalo 131 - S. Pedro, Ponta Delgada - 229 rooms, 4 star
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Royal Garden Hotel, Ponta Delgada
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Eating
São Miguel has some of the most varied cuisine in the Azores with a number of good local fish restaurants and international cuisine also well represented.
Drinking
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Santa Maria
Santa Maria, located due south of São Miguel is only 17 km by 9 km (10 miles by 5 miles). The island is blessed with golden, sandy beaches and is the driest and sunniest of the Azores islands.
The main town is Vila do Porto. Christopher Columbus stopped over on his way to the Americas. Santa Maria was the first island to be discovered (1427) and the first to be settled during Portugal's early Age of Discovery. Settlers, mainly from the Algarve, and cattle to support them, were dispatched by Henry the Navigator.
The main town of Vila do Porto ("Town of the Port") in the south west of the island has a population of around 3,000 inhabitants out of the total of 5,000 who live on Santa Maria. The town received it charter (foral) in 1470, the first to do so in the Azores.
The island's airport is west of the town and most of Santa Maria's accommodation options are also here. The main post office (CTT), supermarkets and hospital are all in Vila do Porto.
The rugged coastline and steep cliffs of Santa Maria offer some superb sea views. Near the northern coast is the desert-like Barreiro da Faneca, a protected landscape which also includes the bays of Cré, Raposo, and Tagarete, and a popular habitat for multitudes of marine birds.
The highest point on the island is Pico Alto at nearly 600 meters with wonderful views. There is a memorial on the mountain to the victims of the deadliest plane crash in Portugal's history, the loss of Independent Air Flight 1851 which struck Pico Alto in bad weather in 1989. All 144 passengers and crew tragically perished.
The Cascata do Aveiro is a 100 meter high waterfall on the east coast. It can be reached on one of the many walking trails that crisscross the island or by hire car.
Terceira
Terceira, 29 km by 17 km (18 miles by 10 miles), takes its name from the fact that it was the third island of the Azores chain to be inhabited and is now the second most populated. The interior of the island is wet and covered with heather. Nearly all settlement is on the coast including the magnificent Angra do Heroismo - now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This ex-capital of the Azores, though damaged in the 1980 earthquake contains a number of beautiful palaces including the Paços do Concelho (now the city hall), churches, castles and a cathedral - the Sé Catedral Angra do Heroísmo. June 24 sees the lively festa of São Joaninas complete with a bull run. Bullfighting is an important island tradition. The island also plays host to an American air force base.
Attractions in the UNESCO World Heritage listed old town include the Palácio dos Capitães Generais, the former Jesuit college that later became government buildings, the Jardim Duque da Terceira full of ferns and other native plants and the Casa do Capitão do Donatário, an historic residence.
The Palácio Bettencourt is a former residence of the Bettencourt family and now houses the public library and regional archive.
Most of Terceira's accommodation options are here in Angra do Heroísmo. The main post office (CTT), several supermarkets and hospital are all in Angra do Heroísmo.
Museums of interest in the town are the Casa Museu Oliveira Martins and the Angra do Heroismo Museum.
The Casa Museu Oliveira Martins was the former home of the writer Francisco Ernesto de Oliveira Martins and exhibits a collection of coins, sculptures, pieces of furniture, religious art, stamps and porcelain. Martins who passed away in 2012, aged 82, wrote extensively on the art and culture of the Azores.
The Angra do Heroismo Museum, housed in a former 17th century Franciscan convent, has an eclectic collection including coins, marine instruments, paintings, sculptures and weapons. The convent includes the beautiful Church of Our Lady of Guia.
The Museu Vulcanoespeleológico details the geology and history of the volcanic islands of the Azores and is housed in an historic building.
Terceira Tourist Office
Delegacao de Turismo da Terceira
Rua Direita 70-74
9700-066 Angra do Heroismo
Tel: 295 213 393
São Jorge
The island of São Jorge - 56 km long by 8 km wide (35 miles by 5 miles) is another jewel of the Azores and a superb hiking destination. São Jorge affords spectacular views of the other central islands, Velas is the largest town. The island's green pastures are ideal for diary cattle and São Jorge is rightly known for its cheeses.
Velas can boast some of the most beautiful calçada in Portugal laid after the destruction of the 1964 earthquake.
The interior of the island is a mountain plateau that drops steeply into the sea forming São Jorge's rugged and spectacular coastline. Several fajãs or flat lava flows dot the coastline and provide level ground for habitation.
Sao Jorge Tourist Office
Posto de Turismo de Sao Jorge
R. Conselheiro Dr. Jose Pereira 9800 Velas
Tel: 295 412 440
Faial
Faial is dominated by the central Caldeira, a volcanic crater over 300 meters (1,000 ft) in depth. The island is well-known for the beautiful hydrangeas that scatter the island in hedgerows. The main town and capital is Horta with numerous historic buildings and churches - its natural harbour and marina mean it has become a center for yachting. At Ponta dos Capelinhos are dunes of dark volcanic cinders left by an undersea eruption in the late 1950s.
The main town is Horta on the south coast. It is close to the airport in Castelo Branco and is the ferry port. It has a population of around 6,400 inhabitants out of a total population on Faial of 14,500 people.
Horta hosts the Regional Parliament (Parlamento Regional) of the Azores and has a number of historic buildings, churches and museums.
The marina in Horta also attracts trans-Atlantic yachts and is a colorful and busy sight.
Faial Tourist Office
Posto de Turismo do Faial
Rua Vasco da Gama
9900-117 Horta
Tel: 292 292 237
Graciosa
As its name of "gracious" suggests, Graciosa is a pleasant island of sloping hills and pleasant villages. Here too are remnants of the island's volcanic past - with a volcanic sulphurous lake at Caldeira do Enoxfre. Santa Cruz, the small capital is known for its white-washed houses. The island produces some good wines and brandy and the "White island" as it is known is famous for its rugged coastal scenery and its thriving colonies of sea birds.
The Igreja de Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe church is the starting point of a religious procession featuring the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in August called the Procissão dos abalos (Procession of the Aftershocks).
Graciosa Tourist Office
Posto de Turismo da Graciosa
9980 Santa Cruz da Graciosa
Tel: 295 712 509
Pico
Pico is dominated by the Azores' and Portugal's highest mountain, the 2351 meters (7,712 ft) Mount Pico. The fertile, forested interior has relatively recent lava flows (mistérios), fascinating caves and grottoes and some fine vineyards sheltered by stone walls. The island, the second largest in the archipelago, has a long association with whaling (Moby Dick was set in its waters) and the town of Lajes do Pico has a small but interesting whaling museum - the Museu dos Baleeiros - which now organizes whale-watching trips in the May-September season. In São Roque on the north coast is the larger Museu da Indústria Baleeira (Whaling Industry Museum).
Pico is also host to a unique man-made environment on its volcanic coast - a 987 hectare site of protective dry-stone walls built to shield the thousands of tiny plots of land (currais) from the elements.
The sheltered plots have been used since the 15th century to grow vines to produce the island's distinctive Pico Wine (Vinho do Pico). They were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.
Pico's fortified, sweet red wine resembles somewhat the wine from Madeira.
The Church of Santa Maria Madalena is located facing the sea in the port town of Madalena.
Inside, the 19th-century church is known for its exquisite tile work showing scenes from everyday life on the island and its stained glass. It is the largest church on this island of 13,600 people.
Pico Tourist Office
Posto de Turismo do Pico
Rua Conselheiro Terra Pinheiro
9950 Madalena
Tel: 292 623 524
Flores
With a rugged coastline the lush island of Flores, 17 km by 12 km (10 miles by 7 miles) abounds in evergreens, crater lakes and steep mountain waterfalls. Together with Corvo, Flores forms the western group of islands of the archipelago. The main settlements are Santa Cruz and Lajes.
Flores Tourist Office
Posto de Turismo das Flores
9580 Santa Cruz das Flores
Tel: 292 523 69
Corvo
The tiny island Corvo ('cormorant' in Portuguese) is only 6 km by 3 km (4 miles by 2 miles) and is reached by daily boat from nearby Flores. With around 300 inhabitants in the solitary village of Vila Nova, the island is a haven of tranquility and a center for bird-watching in its crater lakes. The island is designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
The average high June temperatures for Portugal is between 22 degrees Centigrade and 26 degrees Centigrade.
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