One of my absolute favorite destinations in the WORLD are the magical Azores Islands. A couple of summers ago, my husband and I had been looking for an island destination, and out of thin air we heard of a new flight route that included direct and affordable flights to this island chain called the Azores. To be honest, I had never heard of it – which was quite shocking, especially as a couple who lived for years in Hawaii – but boy, I know it now! If you’re like me and haven’t heard of the Azores, or just want to know what they have to offer, I wrote an overview blog of the ‘Hawaii of the Atlantic‘. I also published a complete Azores Islands Breakdown, so you can learn all about the 9 islands that make up this archipelago.
When you fly into the Azores Islands, you will fly right into the ‘main island’ called Sao Miguel. The airport is located in the capital city of Ponta Delgada. It is the largest and most populous island in the Azores, which is noticeable in its higher levels of tourism compared to the other islands we visited. While I highly encourage you to hop on a flight and/or ferry to visit other islands, I’m ready to give you the low-down on what Sao Miguel has to offer!
For perspective, we spent 3 days and 3 nights on Sao Miguel Island, which in my opinion was plenty of time, giving you lots of extra time to hop to 1-2 other islands on your trip!
Disclaimer: This island is absolutely more touristy than the others we visited (Pico Island and Faial Island). We were a bit frustrated by the feeling of ‘point to point tourism’ where it was almost like a big carpool to all of the top sights / activities on the island. I say this, because while tourism here is nothing like Hawaii or other island chains, Sao Miguel can get quite busy.
Also – these images were taken with my Fujifilm X100F Digital Camera – my favorite lightweight travel camera!
Ponta Delgada
The island’s capital city is full of charm and appeal. It houses some pretty incredible restaurants (shout out to Calcada de Cais, A Tasca and Taberna Acor), it is clean and safe, and it is very easy to walk and navigate around. While visiting Sao Miguel we actually stayed in a flat in Ponta Delgada, and are glad we did! It was very easy to take our rental car out and about covering all parts of the island during the day, and come back to our flat to stroll the city and have a (very late) dinner each night. I say very late, because they genuinely do dinner late there, close to 9:00pm!
We rented an Airbnb with parking included, as having a rental car was critical to seeing the rest of the island!
Make dinner reservations ahead of time, if possible. We failed to do this, as we prioritized spending more time venturing around the island, and didn’t want to give us a timeline to be back to the city. Had we known how busy the best foodie places in town would be, coupled with how late dinner would be, we would have just put in reservations way ahead of time for a 9:00pm or later dinner time!
Sete Cidades
Sete Cidades is the name of both the 3-mile wide crater of a dormant volcano, as well as the small parish that exists within the crater. Lagoa das Sete Cidades “Lagoon of the Seven Cities” is the twin lake situated in the crater, as seen above. It consists of two ecologically different lakes connected by a straight, which can be crossed by the bridge in the middle. As seen here, one lake is of a blue hue, and the other a green hue.
It is very noticeable in person – and we had the pleasure of getting a closer look by renting stand-up paddle boards and working our way across both lakes. I highly recommend not only enjoying the panoramic view, but getting in the water – there are several opportunities to do so!
Boca do Inferno
Want a totally epic view that is easy to access? Here you go. Boca do Inferno is one of the most infamous Azores viewpoints, and for good reason. It is both stunning, and wildly easy to access. Park your car, walk for about 20 easy minutes, (mostly on paved road, then briefly on a trail) and there you are, looking out at lagoa das sete cidades from one of the best viewpoints out there. When we arrived the viewpoint was covered in clouds, but they are low and fast moving and within 10 minute the view opened up.
You can either park at a little dirt parking lot outside of the gated area, walk along a paved road for a couple of miles until you reach the short trail to the viewpoint, or, if the gate is open, you can pull right in and park by the short trail to the viewpoint. The gate was closed when we arrived, and the entire visit still took less than an hour!
Ribiera Grande
Our initial visit to the beaches of Ribiera Grande, on the North side of Sao Miguel, was purely with the intention to surf. We had read that this was the “surf capital” of the Azores, and believed it given there are several major surf competitions located here. There are a couple of surf schools and rental shops located near the beach, as well as a delicious restaurant.
Unfortunately, there was little to no surf when we were there. We sat and watched a couple of surfers attempt to make something out of nothing, and were a bit disappointed. We even came back to this beach a couple of days later in hopes of a bigger swell, with no luck. That being said – the beach itself is beautiful, expansive, and is a great break from the busy tourist areas.
Salto do Prego
A trip to a tropical island wouldn’t be complete without a waterfall hike, am I right? There are countless opportunities across the Azores Islands to hike to a spectacular waterfall, and this is just one of them. We chose this hike because we didn’t have a ton of time, and had been in the car driving the island for quite awhile and wanted to stretch our legs!
This hike is about 3.7 km and is moderately easy. You definitely reap the reward without putting too much effort in! There were only a couple of people at the waterfall when we arrived, so given its relatively easy access, there was very little traffic.
If interested in hiking this trail – check out AllTrails for details!
Lagoa do Fogo
There are a lot of, as I call them, drive-by highlights, that you can experience if you are short on time. This was one of them! This beautiful lake had several overlook points, which was exactly what we took advantage of.
Our time on Sao Miguel allowed us to see nearly the entire island, but at times that meant hitting the overlooks, rather than hiking down to the lake/waterfall/valley, etc.
Monte Palace Hotel
Once a 5-STAR hotel, the Monte Palace has been closed for 28 years, and completely abandoned for 9 of those years. It sits on a remarkable piece of land, atop Sete Cidades. Mind you – this hotel had been open for only a YEAR before closing it’s doors. It was closely monitored by guards for over a decade until people stopped caring and paying attention to its existence and protection.
When we visited in 2018 the hotel was barren, but filled with intrigued visitors who navigated themselves through the graffiti covered walls. We heard and read that a Chinese real estate company had just purchased the property with plans to renovate and reopen in 2021, but I have yet to hear an update on this as of January 2020.
The hotel is stunning, you can tell it was just magnificent during that one open year. It has endured quite a lot over the past 29 years, however, so take caution while roaming it’s empty rooms. If you make your way to the rooftop, you will have completely unobstructed views of Sete Cidades.
Cha Gorreana
Europe’s oldest and last remaining tea plantation is located right here on Sao Miguel. They produce black and green tea, both of which we purchased to take home after our tour. It is a self-guided tour of the facility and property (facility being quite small, property being quite large). We watched the tea-making process, tasted their tea offerings, purchased tea, then spent about an hour roaming the beautiful plantation grounds.
A Blonde Escapes 
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