The Hawaii of the Atlantic – Azores Travel

Where are the Azores?

The Azores are an archipelago composed of 9 volcanic islands, and are an autonomous region of Portugal. They are located approximately 850 miles West of Portugal. They are a lesser known island chain, with view tourists, incredible hiking and diving opportunities, as well as phenomenal locally sourced wine and food. If you are looking for a Hawaii-like getaway without the price tag (and maybe without the super long flight for my East-Coasters), the Azores is your place!

What Islands make up the Azores?

Sao Miguel (main island, Ponta Delgada is the capital)
Pico
Terciera
Sao Jorge
Santa Maria
Faial
Flores
Corvo
Graciosa

See my blog post “Azores Island Breakdown” to learn more about each island!

How do you get to the Azores?

Lucky for us East Coast – USA people, there are now direct flights from JFK International Airport to Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel. Sao Miguel is the main island in the Azores, and Ponta Delgada is the capital, so you will have to fly there to get to the other islands. We subscribe to a super awesome cheap flight notification system (Shoutout Pomelo Travel), and were notified of bargain flights to Ponta Delgada from Atlanta, so we actually drove the 6 hours from North Carolina to ATL and flew from there.

How to island hop?

Flight or Ferry – those are your options! Both are great options, and it just depends on what you have time for, and your preferred method of transportation. We had 8 days, 7 nights, and wanted to see three islands. So we flew into Ponta Delgada and immediately jumped on a quick hopper flight to Pico Island. After a few days on Pico Island we took our rental car on a brief but beautiful ferry ride over to Faial Island for the night.

It was easiest to book a round-trip flight from Sao Miguel to Pico, and round-trip Ferry from Pico to Faial, so after an overnight in Faial we ferried back to Pico Island for the day and in the afternoon flew back to Sao Miguel where we spent our last few days. Islands like Flores and Corvo are quite a ways away from Sao Miguel, and would require a longer trip to make your way by ferry, unless you flew and spent your time primarily between those two islands. All of the other islands except for Santa Maria (Pico, Faial, Sao Jorge, Graciosa, and Terciera) are clustered very conveniently together and make for easier travel between them by ferry.

When to travel?

The recommended time to travel to the Azores is between June and September, which I can attest to. We traveled in mid-June, which was absolutely perfect. We saw very little rain, and the temperature sat perfectly between 70-80 degrees the entire trip. Since whale-watching is a must-do in the Azores, and that season runs between April – September, with the peak time being between April – May, you could go on the earlier side and still have great temperatures, moderate chance of rain, and be around for whale-watching season!

Where to stay?

We used Airbnb’s the entire trip, and I’ve got to say these were some of the best Airbnb’s I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. I can’t imagine recommending any other accommodation other than Airbnb on these islands, because the hospitality of each owner was just so tremendous, it really made the experience that much more exceptional. If you really are not into the Airbnb way of travel, there are plenty of hotels on Sao Miguel, with most of larger hotels being in Ponta Delgado. The other islands have ‘hotels’ as well, but they are less typical than the hotels you will find on the main island.

I repeat – stay in an Airbnb!

What to do in the Azores?

Whether you want to decend deep down into a lava tube, or summit Mt. Pico, there is something for everyone in the Azores. Surfing, scuba diving, whale-watching, shark diving, hiking, wine tasting, stand up paddle boarding, tea-tasting, and kayaking, just to name a few options. I will be detailing more pointed recommendations on must-see, must-do things in my next blog, stay tuned!