Itinerary · 8 days · 34 places
8 Days in the Azores
Eight days on São Miguel: the crater lakes of Sete Cidades and Lagoa do Fogo, steaming caldeiras and thermal pools in Furnas, a morning out with the whales, and in between tea plantations, fishing harbours and the old town of Ponta Delgada.
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Photo: Regimantas Danys · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arriving in Ponta Delgada
Arrival in Ponta Delgada
Hotel check-in
A base in the old town between Praça 5 de Outubro and Rua de Lisboa, with the harbour promenade, market and restaurants all within walking distance.
Portas da Cidade and Praça Gonçalo Velho
The three basalt archways from 1783 once stood right on the quay and now mark the entrance to the old town with its black-and-white mosaic paving.
Evening: Portas do Mar and the marina
The waterfront promenade in front of the cruise terminal is lit up in the evening, and at the marina bars you sit looking out at the boats and the lights of the town.
Day 2Sete Cidades and the wild west
Miradouro da Vista do Rei
From the crater rim you see the green and blue lakes of Lagoa das Sete Cidades side by side, with the abandoned Monte Palace Hotel behind.
Miradouro da Boca do Inferno
A short walk along the ridge leads to the edge from which you overlook the small crater lakes of Santiago and Rasa together with the large twin lake.
Sete Cidades and the Ponte da Dona Amélia
The village on the crater floor with the neo-Gothic church of São Nicolau, and behind it the bridge separating the blue lake from the green.
Mosteiros and the sea pools
Four rock pinnacles rise offshore from the black beach; at low tide you can swim in the lava pools right next to the surf.
Evening: Rua de Lisboa and the Coliseu Micaelense
Around the old theatre are the bars where things actually happen in Ponta Delgada in the evening, often with live music.
Day 3Furnas: steam, garden and thermal water
Miradouro do Pico do Ferro
From the edge above the Furnas valley you see the lake, the village and the steam columns of the fumaroles at a glance.
Caldeiras das Furnas in the village centre
In the middle of the village, boiling mud pots and sulphur springs bubble away, and at the drinking fountains alongside every water tastes different.
Parque Terra Nostra
In the botanical garden from 1780, tree ferns, camellias and ginkgos surround an ochre thermal pool where you bathe at 38 degrees.
Lagoa das Furnas and the cozido pits
On the north shore the cooks bury their pots in the hot ground in the morning — in the afternoon the holes steam, and a lakeside path leads to the chapel of Nossa Senhora das Vitórias.
Evening: Poça da Dona Beija
Five warm pools in the streambed, lit up in the evening and much emptier than during the day — book a time slot in advance.
Day 4Lagoa do Fogo and the tea coast
Miradouro do Pico da Barrosa above Lagoa do Fogo
The crater lake lies in a nature reserve without a single house on its shore, and on clear days the pass road gives views as far as the north coast.
Caldeira Velha
In the fern forest below the pass a warm waterfall drops into a pool, alongside smaller iron springs with rust-red beds.
Ribeira Grande with the Ponte dos Oito Arcos
The eight-arched stone bridge from the late 19th century stands in the middle of town, with the Baroque town hall and the church of Nossa Senhora da Estrela with its broad flight of steps behind.
Gorreana Tea Plantation
Europe's oldest working tea factory, from 1883 — the English machines run during the harvest, and the tour and tasting are free.
Evening: Miradouro de Santa Iria
The viewing platform above the cliffs is the place for the sunset, with the slope dropping 200 metres to the sea below the parapet.
Day 5Vila Franca do Campo and the Lagoa coast
Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Paz
A zigzag staircase decorated with azulejo tiles climbs in several turns to the white chapel above the town, and from the terrace you can see the whole south coast.
Ilhéu de Vila Franca do Campo
The flooded crater off the coast forms an almost circular lagoon, which you enter by boat and stay in to swim.
Vila Franca do Campo old town
The island's first capital, buried by a landslide in 1522: around the Igreja Matriz São Miguel Arcanjo are pastry shops baking soft queijadas.
Caloura and Ponta da Galera
A tiny fishing harbour between vineyard terraces and lava rocks, with swimming ladders into the deep blue water and the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Ajuda above.
Evening: Vila Franca do Campo marina
In the evening you sit on the breakwater at the marina as the boats come in and the Ilhéu offshore becomes a silhouette.
Day 6Whales off the coast and the town
Whale watching from Ponta Delgada marina
Boat trip guided by a lookout on land: sperm whales are here all year, blue and fin whales pass by in spring, and dolphins almost always accompany the boat.
Museu Carlos Machado
In the former convent of Santo André, the island museum displays stuffed marine animals, sacred art and the history of orange exports to England.
Jardim António Borges
A 19th-century garden with lava-rock grottoes, tunnels and huge fig trees whose roots grow across the paths.
Forte de São Brás and the Military Museum
The fortress from 1552 guarded the roadstead against corsairs; from the ramparts you look over the harbour, and inside are weapons and photos of the Azores in the Second World War.
Evening: Praça 5 de Outubro and the waterfront
The square between the fortress and the church of São José is lit up in the evening, and from there you walk along the water to the bars at the harbour.
Day 7North coast: tea, beach and fishing harbours
Chá Porto Formoso tea factory
The smaller of the island's two factories, from 1920, shows in a museum room how the leaf is withered, rolled and sorted; afterwards you look out from the terrace over the plantation to the sea.
Praia dos Moinhos
Black sand cove below steep slopes, into which a stream tumbles down from the old watermills; the sea here is rough, and the beach café is open out of season too.
Rabo de Peixe harbour
The largest fishing harbour in the Azores: colourful boats, nets on the quay and, in the early afternoon, the catch sold straight from the hall.
Antiga Fábrica da Baleia in Capelas
In the disused whaling factory from 1941, boilers, winches and saws still stand in place — a sober reminder of what the coast lived on until 1984.
Evening: Largo da Matriz and the lanes around Rua do Aljube
Around the main church of São Sebastião are narrow lanes with tascas, where people sit in the evening over wine from Pico and grilled fish.
Day 8Last morning and farewell
Mercado da Graça
The town's market hall with greenhouse pineapples, cheese from São Jorge, passion fruit liqueur and the fish hall at the back.
Convento e Igreja da Esperança with the Senhor Santo Cristo
This is where the figure of Christ is kept that is carried through the town during the largest festival in the Azores on the fifth weekend after Easter; over the centuries its cloak has been hung with donated jewellery.
Departure from Ponta Delgada
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