We all know: the beauty of Portugal is infinite. Show off treasures such as hidden villages that look like a fairy tale, natural pools or better-known places like Madeira. In addition, its capital, Lisbon, is also worth a visit. Today we come to add one more destination to the long list of dreamy corners of the neighboring country: the Azores Islands.
First, a little information about it. In Visit Portugal they explain that the group is made up of a total of nine islands: São Miguel, Pico, Terceira, São Jorge, Faial, Flores, Santa María, Graciosa and Corvo. The region’s capital, Ponta Delgada, is located on São Miguel, the largest island in the archipelago. Here, we find the main airport, although there is one on each island.
The Azores Islands are the perfect place to lovers of nature and lively vacations, as there are many hiking trails and marine activities. With so much frenzy, it’s a destiny top for those who want to disconnect from the routine for a few days and here we share several reasons.
There is so much to see, that you will not have time to look at your mobile
Visiting the nine islands in a single trip can be complex, unless the trip we plan is very long. If we stay with a couple of places, we would recommend you to go through Sao Miguel and Terceira first. Then move on to two of the central islands, Pico and Sao Jorge.
This route is limited by the proximity between islands and the connections. If you go for more than two weeks, you can add points to visit. yesIf you go less, it is best to reduce and see everything with relative calm.
Azoris Angra Garden – Plaza Hotel. 7 nights, 2 adults
Hiking trails top
Whether or not you are a hiking lover, if you drop by the Azores Islands you should take the occasional walk surrounded by nature. Among many, the Faja da Caldeira de Santo Cristo routes, the ascent to the Pico volcano, the Pico Esperança hiking route and the Salto do Cabrito route stand out. Perhaps you don’t even have coverage and you spend a whole morning with a single objective: to finish the road.
Some dream beaches
Although we recommend enjoying the mountains, the beaches are not left aside. Reading richly with your feet in the sand or cooling off in paradisiacal waters is possible in the Azores Islands. The following beaches are some of the most popular: Santa Bárbara beach (São Miguel), Água de Alto beach (São Miguel), Caloura beach (São Miguel), Silveira beach (Terceira) and Formosa beach (Santa María) .
There is also culture at close range
After falling in love with the hiking trails and the magnificent beaches, we can dedicate a day to cultural visits, with which we can enter a new world.
In this category, there are three points that should not be missing from your itinerary: Vila Franca do Campo in São Miguel (a beautiful town with a lot of tradition), the tea plantations on the island (called Plantações de Chá Gorreana) and Angra do Heroísmo in Terceira (UNESCO World Heritage Site), where low-rise pastel-colored buildings surrounded by white shine.
An extra point: they are relatively close to Spain
Finally, the proximity to Spain is another point that helps to de-stress a bit and disconnect, since the trip is not crazy (if we compare it with other points on the globe, where you have to make several stops to get there).
The average time that we will invest in the flight depends on whether we make a stopover or not. If we fly directly from Madrid, the average will be (approximately) about 4 hours.
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Photos | Unsplash (Luís Alvoeiro Quaresma, Damir Babacic, Ferdinand Stöhr)