Located deep in the Atlantic, roughly between Boston and Lisbon, the Azores is a stunning off-the-beaten-path destination. While sometimes dubbed ‘the Hawaii of Europe’ or ‘Iceland without the ice’, in truth the archipelago defies such lazy marketing labels — being unlike anywhere else.
The Azores are easily reached from both Europe and east-coast North America. Its allure lies in its incredible volcanic geography, its many outdoor activities, and its lack of mass tourism.
The islands are a real gem - and we’re excited to tell you all about it in this jam-packed Azores travel guide, which is intended to be the jumping-off point to other specific guides on our blog.
We’ve covered most of the islands and have visited (or re-visited) several times, so whether you are planning a first introduction to the Azores or a bigger trip, we can help you out!
Know before you go
Before we get stuck into the best Azores islands to visit, there are a few things to consider. From how to get to the islands to when to visit, we’ll cover all you need to know for a stress-free time.
Where are the Azores Islands?
Good question!
Even some devoted globe-trotters might struggle to pinpoint it precisely on a map, as the islands are but little dots in a vast ocean. Roughly speaking, the Azores are somewhere between the US and Europe.
The Azores archipelago is about a 3-hour flight from Lisbon in mainland Portugal, 4 hours from London, and roughly 5 to 6 hours flying from Boston or Toronto.
There are nine islands in the Azores. While some are fairly popular tourist destinations and have plenty of infrastructure in place, others are remote and barely visited.
Most flights arrive at João Paulo II Airport on São Miguel Island, and from there, island hopping the Azores is done by local plane or ferry.
While belonging to Portugal, the Azores have their own identity, as well as historical connections with (and a large diaspora in) the USA and Canada.
The Azores is home to the westernmost tip of Europe, which is either in Faial or Flores depending on whether you measure it geographically or geologically.
Why visit the Azores archipelago?
First and foremost, The Azores is an adventure travel paradise. No matter which islands you choose, you will be rewarded with some amazing opportunities for hiking, caving, scuba diving, canyoning, whale watching, and many more exciting activities.
However, it’s equally an excellent destination for a relaxing rural holiday. The Azores stands out for its authenticity, gentle pace of life, and incredibly fresh seafood, meat, and dairy produce.
We also love that the Azores are nearly free from overbearing exclusive resorts or large-scale tourism developments. The local authorities have capped the total number of hotel beds and committed to sustainable tourism.
Due to the climate and lack of white sandy beaches, the Azores is not a typical beach destination. Nevertheless, there are some small but stunning beaches and natural pools to enjoy.
You can see volcanic craters, drive along meandering coastal roads, go dolphin and whale watching, gorge on fresh Azorean seafood, and go hiking all over the Azores.
Best time to visit the Azores
It all depends on your personal preferences. However, in terms of weather, the best time to visit the Azores is from June to September.
The islands have a generally mild climate, with maximum summer temperatures ranging from 22 °C to 25 °C (72 °F to 77 °F).
If you visit in summer, you’ll have particularly pleasant conditions for hiking and swimming. However, expect unpredictable weather regardless of which time of year you visit. It’s often said that you can experience all seasons in a single day on the Azores.
July and August are the busiest months during which accommodation prices will be higher. Some places may also be more crowded, in particular some specific spots on São Miguel Island (such as the viewpoints at Sete Cidades). However, the crowds are luckily nothing like in the most popular destinations around Europe.
Nevertheless, we recommend pre-booking your accommodations and especially car rentals during peak season, since there is a limited stock of rental cars on each island.
The Azores are quiet in winter, with blustery winds and more frequent rainfall. However, if you gear up appropriately for the colder weather, it can still be an excellent time for hiking.
The winter light and occasionally misty conditions will create different kinds of landscapes to enjoy. The hot thermal baths in São Miguel are much more rewarding in winter due to the cooler air temperatures. Last but not least, you may be able to benefit from some attractive hotel deals in the off season.
Keep in mind that from October to April, there are no inter-island ferries apart from some of the shortest routes like Pico ↔ Faial. You likely need to fly if you wish to visit multiple islands during this time.
How to get to the Azores
The Azores are geographically remote, but they are pretty easy to fly to. The biggest airport is on the island of São Miguel, followed by the airport of Terceira.
From Europe: Budget carriers Ryanair and Easyjet fly directly to São Miguel and Terceira from many points of origin. You can fly directly from places such as London, Munich, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Porto, and Faro. You can also find seasonal direct flights from Amsterdam, Zurich, Prague, Madrid, and Brussels (these go only in the warmer months).
From North America: There are direct flights from Boston, New York, Toronto, and seasonally from Montréal. These flights are run by Azores Airlines. United also flies seasonally from Newark.
Stopover on the Azores: If you’re travelling between North America and Europe, consider making a stopover on the Azores. Much like Iceland, the Azores promotes itself as a layover between Europe and North America. Azores Airlines has promotions for Azores stopovers.
How to get around the Azores
The nine Azores islands are not all close together. There are three island groups, each approximately one hour’s flight apart.
The easiest way to see multiple islands on one trip is to fly. The local carrier, SATA (also called Azores Airlines), provides inter-island flight services. All islands have local air connections.
It’s easy to travel between the islands by air, but it’s not always cheap. SATA is not a budget carrier, so sometimes an internal flight between two Azores islands can cost as much as a flight from mainland Portugal. Local residents are eligible for lower fares, but not tourists.
If you’re on a budget, then ferries are the better option. The central group is ideal for island hopping, as these islands are all relatively close together. You can check out our island hopping itinerary for the central islands for more specifics.
Island hopping by ferry
All ferries on the Azores are run by the same company, Atlânticoline.
Ferries are the easiest way to hop between islands that are close together. In the central island group, islands like Pico and São Jorge are just short (30-60 min) ferry rides away.
There used to be a ferry between São Miguel and Terceira, which we took a few years ago, but it ceased operations. There are no longer ferries between the island groups, only within them.
Ferries mostly run only from May to September, though some run year-round. The exact timetables can be found on the Atlânticoline site.
Do you need a car on the Azores?
For the best experience, we strongly recommend having your own transportation. Either rent a car or a scooter or moped could be an option too on some islands.
Don’t count on being able to explore easily by public transport. This is only vaguely practical on São Miguel Island, but even there, the network doesn’t support independent travel all that much.
If you absolutely can’t rent your own car, you can also stay in or near the island’s capitals and use organized day trips with local tour companies. Taxis are available on most islands near urban centres but are not economical for extended sightseeing or long drives.
It’s important to book your rental car early as they can run out in the peak tourist months, or at least your preferred type of car or transmission may not be available. You can search at Discovercars.com for prices and availability with all local car hire providers.
Best Azores islands to visit
There are 9 islands in the Azores, ranging in size from São Miguel (140,000 inhabitants) all the way to the small island of Corvo (population just 430). Each is different and worth discovering in its own right.
São Miguel Island
Best for: a perfect introduction to the Azores
Around two-thirds of tourist visits to the Azores are to São Miguel. It makes sense as it’s the easiest island to reach directly by air (from mainland Portugal or internationally) and it has the most things to see and do.
Among the sights are several waterfalls, hot springs, some epic views of volcanic crater lakes, and the many authentic fishing villages dotted around the island.
São Miguel is also one of the best Azorean islands for hiking — mostly thanks to the varied and lush landscapes but also because of the number of hikes available. Don’t miss some of the best hikes in São Miguel.
It’s the only island to have lots of volcanic steam vents and hot springs. The Caldeira Velha hot spring, in particular, is highly worth visiting.
We created a dedicated travel guide to São Miguel that will tell you everything else you can experience!
São Miguel is the most developed island and the only one with a couple of multi-lane expressways. The capital of Ponta Delgada is a small but busy commercial centre. While other islands may have a more remote feeling overall, São Miguel is still mostly defined by its nature and rural areas.
You can spend about 3 days on São Miguel island just to see the top sights, but ideally 1 week to take it easy, include several hikes, at get a much more complete picture. This São Miguel itinerary will give you some ideas.
It’s best if you can rent a car, but if it’s not possible to self-drive you can still see São Miguel using organized trips. For example, this São Miguel 2-day island tour with meals and pickup from your hotel is a great alternative to self-driving.
Central Island Group
Best for: a varied island-hopping itinerary
The central group is perfect for island hopping, since ferries between the islands never take more than an hour or so. However, you can also choose to stay on just one of the islands (in which case we suggest looking at Pico with a potential day trip to Faial).
Taken all together, the central islands easily have as much to see and do as the biggest island, São Miguel — possibly even more. Since they’re somewhat less visited, exploring them can make for a more unique trip. Let us introduce you to each island.
Pico Island
Pico is the geologically youngest island of the Azores, so the landscapes can be rockier and characterized by dark volcanic terrain.
It’s known mainly for its unique vineyard culture. Some of the landscapes are checkered with little walls made from volcanic rocks that protect the vines against the harsh elements—a typical feature that earned parts of the island UNESCO World Heritage status.
Besides this, it’s home to the eponymous “peak”, a 2351m tall conical volcano that is the highest point in all of Portugal. If you’re fit and up for the challenge, you can hike up to the top for some epic views. We suggest doing this with an organised tour as it’s an intense 7-9 hour hike through gravelly terrain that will take you far above the clouds.
We’ve now visited the island on two occasions and created this guide to Pico Island to tell you about all there is to see. There’s easily enough to fill 2 to 3 days of activities.
Faial Island
Faial may be small, but it’s not one to miss. It usually doesn’t get the most hype, but there are some excellent sights that warrant at least a day or two if your travel time allows.
The island has some epic volcanic landscapes, especially its lush green central Caldeira and the site of Capelinhas — where a volcano erupted for over a year in 1958. Walking around the grey and dusty landscape here will make you feel like you’ve landed on the moon. These are easily among the most impressive landscapes in the Azores.
The cute town of Horta, built on hills beside a pretty sailing harbour, is also highly worth exploring. The adjacent bay of Pim is known as one of the best snorkelling spots.
Faial is also legendary among sailors. It’s the one place where recreational sailors crossing the Atlantic tend to make a stopover, giving the island a lively atmosphere during summer. All along the harbour barriers, you’ll find colourful paintings left there by sailors to commemorate their journeys.
There’s also a cultural element to Faial, with several museums providing interesting insights into its whaling history, as well as its one-time status as an important transatlantic node for the early telephone and telegraph lines.
Faial is a small island. Although it has some truly great things to see, you need at most 2 days — but you can see the highlights in a day. You can spend longer, of course, but this is just to indicate the time needed for purely the main sightseeing.
São Jorge Island
Longing to go off the beaten path? Then São Jorge awaits! Here, you can appreciate some stunning nature on an island that does its own thing and is not preoccupied with tourism very much.
Keep in mind it’s less populated and somewhat more remote. There are fewer facilities, restaurants have shorter opening times and there aren’t as many typical ‘sights’ that you can visit. We’ve spoken to tourists (who weren’t hikers) who found the island less engaging.
However, if you love to hike, then you may in fact consider São Jorge one of the best islands to visit. We believe it is an underappreciated gem that will reward explorers. It might be our personal favourite of the central islands!
A mountain range runs along almost its entire length, forming more or less an elongated plateau. Down the shoreside cliffs are so-called fajãs, which are small plains once formed by lava flows or landslides. At these fajãs, you’ll find tiny villages that can be reached only by windy roads or sometimes by walking trails only.
These thin strips of flat coastal land backed by huge cliffs are the most common in São Jorge. There are over 40 fajãs on São Jorge, while the other islands usually have just one or two.
Whatever you do, do not miss the Caldeira de Santo Cristo hike. It goes through some lush valleys on São Jorge, past several waterfalls, and through two of the fajãs.
Terceira Island
Terceira is the second most populated island after São Miguel and is home to a US Air Force Base, playing an important economic role in the Azores. It also has a good range of things to see and do, albeit having fewer hikes to offer.
Subjectively, we love Terceira, as we have local friends whom we visit there. From a general tourist point of view, Terceira may have slightly less interest than other islands, and the landscapes a bit less in-your-face amazing. However, it’s still highly worth including in a central island-hopping itinerary.
Firstly, because of the capital, Angra do Heroísmo. This city (which feels more like a large town) has earned UNESCO recognition for its old centre and 17th-century fortresses. We’d argue it’s more appealing than Ponta Delgada in São Miguel, boasting a lot of historical architecture and a beautiful harbour.
There are also several great sights in Terceira. The Algar do Carvão is the biggest and most impressive cave in the Azores. It’s also fun to take a boat ride to the small Ilhéus das Cabras (Goat Islands). Smaller stops, such as the Wine Museum in Biscoitos, can further fill up your itinerary.
What makes Terceira easy to include in your travel route is its international airport, which makes it a perfect launching pad into the archipelago. If you’re not renting a car, consider booking this tour of Terceira Island, which will cover all the top sights in one day.
Western Islands (Flores & Corvo)
Best for: remote hiking trails and bird-watching
These two islands form the westernmost group. They are located far away and best reached by plane. Flores is among the smallest islands, with just under 4,000 inhabitants, while Corvo has only one small settlement with a few hundred people.
Flores (meaning flowers) is known as the greenest of all the islands. It features epic cliffs with numerous waterfalls, making it one of the top places to go hiking in the Azores. Although Flores doesn’t have as many accommodations or restaurants, dedicated travellers make their way here for its raw beauty and remote edge-of-the-world feel.
The nearby crater island of Corvo (meaning crow) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It’s tiny (just 17 square kilometres) and doesn’t feature on the usual Azores itinerary, receiving only about 1,000 visits per year. However, it’s known by birdwatchers as an excellent place to spot many endemic and migratory species.
How many days do you need?
As you can tell, there is a lot to explore on the Azores!
And we’ve not even covered all of the islands here.
It’s hard to say how much time you should dedicate to your visit, as it all depends on your travel style and interests. However, we can say that most of the islands in the Azores can take about two or three days just to see the highlights.
One exception is the largest island, São Miguel, where you can easily spend a whole week or more, as it just has so much to see and do.
It’s possible to visit São Miguel for a couple of days for some high-level sightseeing, as a side-trip from Portugal or even as a stopover. But you could also easily spend 3 weeks hopping around the entire archipelago. It’s all up to you!
Azores itinerary ideas
To help you create the perfect Azores vacation for you, here’s a quick breakdown of my recommended itineraries for any traveler:
- 3 days on São Miguel. Good for a weekend trip from mainland Portugal or for a layover, though you’ll only have time for some of the highlights.
- 7 days on Faial, Pico & São Jorge. A fun island-hopping itinerary including some of the best of the Azores! It takes a bit more planning than just staying on São Miguel Island, but it’ll be highly rewarding. Check out our suggested itinerary here.
- 7 days on São Miguel. Perfect if you love to hike a lot, swim, and see São Miguel in depth. Consider staying in two different parts of the island and renting a car to explore far and wide. Check our guide to São Miguel and our one week in São Miguel itinerary.
- 2 weeks or more. Start in São Miguel or Terceira, then see as much as you want! Have a browse around our blog for some inspiration.
Final thoughts
So there, you have it, an in-depth guide to exploring these Portuguese islands. Whether you’re looking to zig-zag around Portugal’s unique islands or have a short layover during your American-to-Europe trip, the Azores is a fantastic place to go.
There is too much to share about the Azores to fit into a single guide, so don’t miss our other posts about these beautiful islands:
- Are the Azores worth visiting? Honest pros and cons
- Best beaches & natural pools on the Azores
- A complete guide to São Miguel (3 to 10 days stay)
- Amazing hiking trails on the Azores
- Do you really need a car on the Azores?
