After 40+ trips to Portugal over many years, we made our first visit to São Miguel last week, a four day trip thanks to Air Azores free stopover provision on flights from the US to Portugal. It’s a beautiful, green, lush, and friendly place. We will return and hope to check out the other islands as well.

Also, São Miguel has what must be the most beautiful and scenic public picnic areas anywhere. They’re found every few kms along the along the side of the road. Here are a few:

Boas pessoal, somos de Viseu e acabamos de chegar a Terceira para participar no festival de tunas que vai decorrer no próximo fim de semana. Se alguém aí desse lado se quiser juntar a nós para beber uns copos e ajudar a conhecer a ilha durante o percorrer desta semana, são bem vindos.

PS: Se alguém trouxer uma guitarra era brutal!

Hello everyone,

I would love to spend about 9 days in Sao Miguel in May.

However, I have checked available accommodation on both Booking.com and Airbnb only to find out that it is simply not affordable for me... :(. Most rooms cost about 45 to 50 euros per night for 1 person (maybe for 2, but I am gonna travel alone). Dormitory rooms are not a good way for me anymore, I used to do that in the past, but now I want to get proper sleep when on vacation :-).

Are there any other options, for example home stays, that could be found on other websites or platforms, where local people rent out their rooms/apartments? I would be able to spend about 30-35 euros/night.

Thank you for your recommendations or tips!

Just got to spend 4 days in São Miguel, and what a beautiful island. Here’s some of my favorite shots and my itinerary for anyone interested:

Day 1: - Arriving at Ponta Delgada airport at 8h. Pick rental car from “Wonder Island” (great experience by the way, and around 140€ for 4 days) - Head to “Lagoa do Canário” and do the hiking to “Boca do Inferno” point of view (Photos 1 & 2) - Drive to “Miradouro do Rei” to see the views of “7 cidades” lake (Photo 3) - Descend to “7 Cidades” village for lunch and to see the village’s church (Photo 4 & 5) - Go to “Ponta da Ferraria” for the views of the ocean and dramatic landscapes - Drive to “Mosteiros” beach to watch the sunset (Photo 6).

Day 2: - Start on the viewpoint to the “Fire Lake” (Photo 7 & 8) - Enjoy the natural geothermal pools at “Caldeira Velha” (Photo 9) - Watch cows in beautiful green landscapes all around the Island while driving (Photo 10) - Check the “Salto do Cabrito” waterfall (Photo 11) - Lunch at “Ribeira Grande” village, where there was a surf competition going on (Photo 12 & 13) - Go see and taste the local tea factory “Chá Gorreana” - Do the hiking trail to see the “Congro” lake (Photo 14) - Drive to “Vila Franca do Campo” village to see the famous church (Photo 15).

Day 3: - Visit the beautiful Terra Nostra Park (Photo 16 & 17) - Watch the famous natural thermal hotspots in Furnas (Photo 18) - Lunch the typical stew, cooked underground using geothermal heat (Photo 19) - Drive along the coast to check the numerous viewpoints (Pôr do sol, Ponta da Madrugada, Ponta do Sossego) and finish the day at “Nordeste” village.

Day 4: - Explore and lunch at the city center of “Ponta Delgada” - Visit and taste the pineapple plantation (Photo 20).

Hi, We (me and wife) are planning to travel to Sao Miguel from July 19-22 and looking for best places/locations to stay and also if we should consider going to another island for a night? Thank you for your suggestions in advance.

My wife and I are traveling to Sao Miguel in late June/early July of 2025. I've recently heard that there are snorkeling spots around the island, but I don't know what to expect. We have experience snorkeling in places like Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Bonaire. How does the snorkeling in Sao Miguel compare? Should we bring our snorkeling gear?

Does anyone know how trail running on São Miguel is throughout the year? Do trails ever dry out in parts of the island, or is it typically pretty wet from the shifting weather throughout the day?

Somehow in my quest to see all nine islands, Santa Maria always loses out. We will be in Sao Miguel with a day to spare. It seems entirely doable to fly to Santa Maria and back in a day and still enjoy a very full day trip. Has anyone done this? Too crazy?

I’ve been trying to decide on a fall trip with my 5 year old and the Azores seem like a nice destination from northeast US. Is there a lot to do with a 5 year old? Is 1 week enough time? Any insights/opinions would be appreciated!

Hey, me and my girlfriend will soon travel to Sao Miguel. I read online that there are actually no ferries who travel between Sao Miguel and the other islands. Is this true?

The area surrounding Vila Franca do Campo is in the enhanced warning zone. Is it an area requiring confirmation of compliance or you cannot even start a mini drone? If I want to unlock this area on the DJI site, what kind of permission I need to upload? Thanks.

My wife and I are planning on traveling to Portugal in September. Neither one of us are really big city people and enjoy our vacations mostly consisting of wine, beaches, small towns, and nature. We were planning on going to Azores for a week and then flying to Algarve for another week. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Is it crazy to skip Lisbon?

We will be in Sao Miguel during Easter. Any recommendations for Easter Sunday mass? We will be staying near Sete Cidades. Does the church there operate?

Hi guys!

I know the weather isn't really / shouldn't really be a topic, but we are still wondering: have these past three days with semi‐strong winds and periodic rain (north east Sao Miguel) been rather bad and stormy weather or totally normal for this time of year? We're simply trying to calibrate our impression of the weather. Thank you! :)

Hey,

Im planning to go to the azores in june/july and hike around there. Im will probably go to Ponta Delgada, Flores, Horta and Pico. Now to my Question, i searched a lot of time in the web and find a lot of campspots, but some without phone number website etc. Has anyone mabye one big list with all available Camping grounds? All tips reccomendations etc are welcome

Now to the wild camping, is it possible to request a permit to wilcamp from the goverment, like when you summit the MT. Pico? Otherwise, are there patrols that look after wildcampers, or is it safe? Ideally i dont want to break any rules, but my schedule leaves me minimal options. Of course i know the rules of camping, im respolsible to the nature and the surroundings. I will not destroy anything or start a fire, just sleep late in the evening and leave early.

And as last, does someone know how hospitable the people on the azores are? In that case one could just ask the owner of an garden/field etc for permission and camp there without problem?

I hope my questions are understandable

Besides the majors at the airport, what are some smaller, local rental car companies?

Also, is there a major rental car company that is notorious for claiming the car was damaged and charging you huge fees? (Hertz?)

When I was on Graciosa a few years back they were making bifana’s while roasting a whole pig. I’ve searched everywhere online for some kind of recipe and there’s none to be found.

Does anyone have instructions or ingredients they used for the pig roast bifanas.

Doing a van trip to Sao Miguel this week, super excited to explore the Azores. If anyone has a good route please let me know. I know the island is quite small so I intend on taking my time traveling.

Thanks!

Hi, looking for advise? Does anyone know of a shipping company that ships a palette or shipping bin to the azores via cargo ship? There is a company in Toronto however I was hoping to find someone that takes care of shipping from ottawa or montreal. Years ago there was a Freight forwarders the would take care of all the logistics.

Boas!

Estava a planear passar 5 dias na Terceira + 2 dias na Graciosa e gostava de saber que sítios aconselham para alugar um carro (tanto na Terceira como na Graciosa).

Os que encontrei são todos ~42€/dia, e queria algo um pouco mais barato (30-35€/dia).

Alguma recomendação?

Obrigada desde já :)

Hey there!

I'm planning to spend 5 days in Terceira and 2 days in Graciosa, and I'd like to know which car rental companies you would recommend for both islands.

The ones I've found are around €42/day, but I'm looking for something a bit more affordable (around €30-35/day).

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance! :)