A close friend of mine told me about the Azores several years ago. I’d never actually heard of it, and sometimes when I mention it to people, it’s still not super well-known.
Seriously, you need to check it out. Some photos to make the case:
‘
If you need more reasons to check into the Azores for a vacay, another one is that it’s easily accessible – if you’re on the East Coast in the U.S. or Europe, especially, it’s really easy to get to. It’s the Atlantic Ocean’s version of Hawaii.
From Boston, it was about a 5.5-hour direct flight to Ponta Delgada (PDL) on Azores Airlines.
Here are some tips on places to check out while you’re there. Note: I ended up with a horribly sprained ankle due to tripping on an Amazon package on the stairs just before our trip (yes, seriously), so there were some additional hiking and walking options, but unfortunately, we had to skip those for our trip.
First, our hotel was incredible – Santa Barbara Eco-Resort
looking out from our patio over the resort
The views, the rooms, the restaurant, and the cool vibes in the lobby and main building. All of it. Oh, and the amazing food, including my favorite, which seems to be available a lot in the Azores: chocolate mousse.
There are also some nice hotels in Ponte Delgado and rental homes around Saō Miguel Island (the main island was the one we stayed on). I’d love to return to see others, but with only a few days, we decided to stay on one so we could explore it thoroughly. The people are so nice, the landscape is gorgeous, and the food is delicious, with a wide variety of fresh fish, fruits, vegetables, and even steak, thanks to the plentiful farmland.
A few tips for visiting the Azores:
- Definitely rent a car, so you can easily get around the island. There are numerous areas to visit and explore, so having a vehicle of your own makes it easy.
- It’s easy to explore on your own, or you may prefer to take a few tours to see a lot in one day and gain some extra local insight into Furnas, volcanoes, lagoons, and tea plantations.
Some top places to see in the Azores:
- Sete Cidades – gorgeous views where you can drive around yourself, take a tour in a Jeep, get a private tour, hike around it a bit, or take a quad bike tour around it.
- Furnas and Thermal Baths – there are many ways to explore these, including visiting during the day, taking a tour, or even enjoying an evening thermal baths experience. You won’t want to miss Terra Nostra if you explore on your own.
- I’m sure the other islands are amazing as well. You can also take boats, ferries, and tours to explore them.
- They also have wineries, so you can take a ferry and wine tour around Pico Island if that’s more your speed.
- You can swim with wild dolphins off the coast of the Azores, and it’s incredible. Probably one of my favorite travel experiences ever… just after snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. The water is cold, so you wear a wetsuit, but the boats take you off the coast and scout out pods of dolphins, where you hop in the water and they swim around and below you. We also got to do some whale watching on our tour as whales were in certain areas. (They have Azores whale watching tours, too, if you don’t want to get in the water.)
Other spots and restaurants in the Azores we loved:
We asked for an off-site restaurant recommendation at our hotel, and they recommended two spots that we loved. The first may have been one of my favorite restaurants – the combination of the private space, view, and delicious food and drinks was one of the best.
The White Luxury Boutique Hotel didn’t disappoint. Here are some pics of the view, space, food, and drinks. Highly recommend a reservation as well.
Another casual and delicious spot with fresh fish and prawns grilled was Caloura Bar Esplanada. We didn’t have reservations here, but just had a short wait because we went early. Some pics from this one, too:
Want help planning your Azores trip?
Just reach out to me via email, and I’ll help you with any hotel, tour, and other bookings. Or curious about another location. Happy to help with that as well.
