Best of Azores: Magical Atlantic Island Tour

Flores is a lush island of green landscapes and endless vistas. Craggy cliffs stand above the Atlantic surf. Valleys of flowering hydrangea stretch towards lakes and lagoons. Waterfalls are hidden away, best found by using your ears. On the west of the archipelago, most of Flores is protected as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Even the Azoreans rave about its nature, a veritable Eden that quickly transports you into a remote island vibe. Touch down, breathe in the fresh scents, and sense the remoteness of your location. The Azores are an island escape and nowhere is better illustrated than Flores. Meet a guide at the airport, and transfer to Santa Cruz, the largest settlement on the island (population under 2,000). Walk in any direction from the hotel and you’re wrapped in nature.

Feel the laid-back atmosphere of island life. Settle into the unhurried nature of time. Head off on a tour of Flores, starting along the rugged cliffs, where the views seem to extend for eternity. Flores is a mere dot in the vastness of Atlantic waters, and from spots like Riberia da Cruz and Ponta da Faja, you can really feel the ocean’s humbling scale. Stop at lakes, perhaps jumping in to swim. Walk to waterfalls, like slithers dropping into the ocean or flumes gushing through the interior. Admire the vertical lava flutes of Rocha dos Bordoes, and marvel at the solitude that exists here. It’s a flexible full-day tour at island speed, with the option to include a trek should you wish.

Just over 400 residents keep Corvo alive. Their language and culture are from pre-medieval days. Isolated on tiny Corvo, immigrants missed all the linguistic and cultural changes that occurred in mainland Portugal. They crafted their own way of life, and it still survives, with traditions and idiosyncrasies perfected over the centuries – they still use juniper latches to close their front doors (with no locks either). Take a boat to Corvo and take a look at Europe’s smallest cultural community, then explore an island of mostly untouched nature, where migratory birds flutter, and the hiking trails are superb.

In contrast to Corvo, Horta was the strategic port that everybody passed through: whalers, pirates, explorers, transatlantic sailors. Fly here and immerse yourself in history, with your hotel just steps from the water in a charming old town. It’s a place for gazing at the sea amid a rich maritime legacy, an island for sailing off into the sunset then returning to a two-century-old tavern. Fly here and spend an afternoon with a local historian, learning who came first, what happened next, and who came to attack the fortress. Later in the day, you take a short sailing trip around Faial’s sheltered waters, another way to reminisce about centuries past.

Faial is the best island base for whale watching. Flumes of water alert you to the blowholes of blue and humpback whales, who migrate past from April to October. Sperm whales are most common and this is the best place in the world to encounter them. A morning of whale watching goes in search of all three species and hopefully, an abundance of encounters will show why Horta became such a busy whaling station. Spend the afternoon on Capelinhos, the volcano that erupted in 1957. It rises ruggedly, then stops and stands proudly above the Atlantic, creating the most dramatic photos.

Cruising to Pico island, you look out for whales once more. A symmetrical cone is your compass point, over 7,000 feet of volcano thrusting from the Atlantic blue. Pico is all volcano and you can choose your adventure, with various hikes along its lower slopes and always a view onto the cone. Following the slopes, you find volcanic vineyards, a peculiar juxtaposition of ashen fields, and flourishing vines. Then you descend into Gruta das Torres, a three-mile lava tube that tumbles into Middle Earth, trees, and plants spurting from its crusty surface. You’ll return to Faial just before sunset and Horta has some great seafood taverns for an informal dinner.

Adventure reigns on Sao Jorge, the most dramatically carved of all the Azores. Broad-shouldered mountains dominate the horizon, hiding narrow ravines and lakes that are more akin to fjords. The topography is spectacular, and it makes for outdoor adrenalin, with options to go mountain biking, canyoning and hiking. Beneath these mountains lay rolling beaches and endless tubes, with Sao Jorge one of the best places in Portugal for surfing and canoeing. So today can go in two directions. Either stay along the coast or travel up onto the island. Both options could be laid-back or adventurous, on an island that really can reflect your mood.

From Sao Jorge to Faial to Terceira, you can fully appreciate the archipelago’s diversity. Dry-stone walls separate patchwork fields on Terceira, fairy meadows that suggest the island has been occupied for a long time. Angra do Heroismo is the islands’ oldest city, its Renaissance core and towering fortress carefully preserved since the 16th century. Ships would gather here, traveling in convoy back to Europe to ward off pirates. Riches were left behind and wealth flowed through the port. The old city is now a World Heritage Site and a local guide leads you through the streets, the experience somewhat incongruent to what you experienced over the last week; being on Terceira is like stepping into a completely different world.

Those patchwork fields only extend so far. Follow them over a ridge. Then watch how they blur into indigenous laurel forest as a volcano casts its looming shadow across the landscape. You’re out exploring Terceira, following the hydrangeas to the forest before exploring huge lava tubes covered in stalactites. At Biscoitos, you swim in lava pools. Then along the coast, you stop in tiny fishing villages, Altares and Sao Mateus two more places that are seemingly frozen in time. Here you’ll remark on the dramatic contrasts to other islands, as well as sit down to a lush seafood lunch with views over the Atlantic.

Terceira is a bucolic island, so easy on the eye and mind. Inhale the salty ocean breeze. Listen to the soft ripple of the surf. Walk the pedestrianized streets. Realize it’s been a week since you slept in a town with roads. With two weeks in the Azores, you can properly escape. It always takes a few days to shed yourself of pressures and stresses. By day six or seven you’re fully immersed in the Azores. By day ten you walk slower and are happy to wake up without knowing much of the day’s plan. Today, explore the vineyards and fishing villages. Learn about the wines, particularly how Verhelho tastes from its volcanic soil. Dine on the freshest of seafood platters.

Fly to San Miguel and complete the journey west to east. You land on the largest island of the Azores, the island with most to do and the most famous of the archipelago’s attractions, Sete Cidades. You see two crater lakes side by side, one blue the other of a greenish hue. One sits in a postcard-perfect cone, the other stretches towards forest and mountain slopes. The views are staggering and there are many ways you could explore beyond the introductory hike along the crater’s rims – if you’re adventurous then kayaking on the lake is unmissable. Spend the day at Sete Cidades and you’ll see why it’s such a famous spot. Yet, you’ll also see how few tourists there are in the Azores. You can easily find solitude at the archipelago’s grandest attraction.

A day on Sao Miguel, roving and roaming across what volcanoes have left behind. Swim in hot springs that were first used as a fashionable spa resort for 19th-century European aristocracy. Travel through Furnas, where steam surges from craters, mud bubbles beside waterfalls, smoldering fumaroles splutter away. Your lunch is cooked by an underground volcanic stream. It’s a meat and vegetable stew, slow-cooked for seven hours then pulled up from a hole. Cross to the island’s north coast, stopping at various viewpoints along the way, then take a stroll across the only tea plantation in Europe. Sao Miguel is a pretty substantial island, so today really is a full day of exploring, but like always the vibe is relaxed and it’s up to you how long to stop in each place.

This final day is left free. By staying in Ponta Delgada, you will have returned a little to the modern world. Mosaic cobbled streets dominate old Ponta Delgada, most of the buildings creating harmony with their black and white facades. You’re staying here, one foot in history, but just a few steps from the modern glamor of the new town’s waterfront. It’s a place with outstanding restaurants and nearby beaches, plus hiking trails that lead to majestic Atlantic Ocean views. You could go out and do something today, like an excursion to Lagoa do Fogo, the lake of fire. Or you could do nothing at all and enjoy this final day of island life.

It’s a fond farewell to the Azores, the plane window providing a glance onto the archipelago that became your home for the last two weeks. Volcanoes provide your final impression, those looming mountains, and cones the last piece of the archipelago to disappear. This morning is at your leisure before a private transfer to the region’s main international airport.