The first thing to say about the Azores is this: it isn’t about all-night parties or packed-out beaches, getting roaring drunk, mooning at passers-by, vomiting on the sand or clubbing every night. This place is the complete opposite of the fleshpots of The Algarve and Portugal’s coastal holiday hot-spots. It is peaceful, calm, and breathtakingly lovely here so leave your clubbing gear at home, forget the usual booze-fuelled frenzy, and prepare to chill out.
Nine islands await you, none of which is a party island. You can’t rely on the weather to be sunny all the time, it’s a lot more varied than that. Mother nature is in charge, leaving us humans to bob helplessly along in her fierce wake. Think thrilling outdoor activities, vast fantasy-like landscapes, and every sort of beach from black volcanic sand to pure white sand, pebbly, and downright rocky. The volcanoes are like something out of Jurassic park and the travel here is slow, slow, slow. Here’s what you need to know, along with some recommendations for cool things to do in the Azores.
A whistlestop tour of the Azores archipelago
To the East there’s the island of Santa Maria with its white sand beaches and vineyards covering the terraced slopes. The biggest island, São Miguel, is loved for its mighty Sete Cidades and Fogo Lagoons, hot geysers, thermal waters and volcanic lakes, a place where the land is so hot so close to the surface that they cook underground, a way to slow-cook food that leaves your tastebuds singing.
The Central Group of islands, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, Faial and Graciosa, are surrounded by whales and dolphins playing in the deep blue ocean. Terceira offers the delightful World Heritage town of Angra do Heroísmo, home to a slew of colourful festivals. The island of Faial is all about the blue of the flowering hydrangeas and the vibrant marina decorated with paintings by sailors from around the globe, along with the Mars-like landscapes of the vast extinct Capelinhos volcano.
The island of Pico is basically a mountain poking out of the ocean, with curious black lava fields and vivid green vineyards and well-deserved World Heritage status. São Jorge is famed for the Fajãs lava flows at the foot of the dizzying cliffs and the island’s uniquely tasty cheese. Then there’s Graciosa, a gentler landscape with lovely green fields, yet more vineyards, and strangely-shaped windmills.
To the West there’s the island of Flores, a place of wonderful waterfalls and glittering lakes carved out by volcanoes. Little Corvo features a massive central crater, an old volcanic crater full of drama and home to migratory birds en route between Europe and America. But wherever you go you’ll find the people warm and welcoming, and the vibe laid back.
So there you have it. Nine islands, nine different worlds, and travelling between them can be very challenging indeed. Unless you have oodles of time spare and are rich enough to charter something as costly and environmentally damaging as a light aircraft or helicopter, you’re best of picking an island or two and sticking to them.
This place has earned a spot on the UK travel green list, so let’s see what’s available to blow your mind on holiday in the Azores.
Why is Azores culture so varied?
The Azores islands were colonised by the Portuguese way back in 1432. During the historic period called the Discoveries Portugal had the world’s biggest fleet of ships, which it sent around the globe with some of the world’s best-known adventurers on board. Many of them stopped off for supplies at the Azores on the way to and back from Brazil, India, Japan and beyond, bringing with them the spices and produce that make the food – and the culture – on these islands so unusual.
The weather and the wines
The weather is just as varied as the cuisine. Sometimes there’s sunshine on one half of an island while the other half is being drenched by rain. Plenty of rain creates a particularly rich, lush landscape with countless waterfalls. They grow both tea and coffee on the islands as well as growing pineapples and, of course, the grapevines used to make beautiful island wines.
The grapevines that grow here are super-tough, managing to grow in minimal soil in stormy, windy places overlooking the wild Atlantic. No wonder some say the wines of the Azores have a slight salty tang. Pico is the most famous wine island of the archipelago, and you can taste its produce for yourself at the Azores Wine Company co-operative. There’s also fine wine made from grapes grown on the island of Terceira, at Biscoitos.
Home-grown tea and coffee
Two tea plantations on São Miguel – Gorreana and Porto Formoso – produce excellent black teas like orange and ordinary pekoe, moinha, oolong and broken leaf tea, along with lovely green tea, and both plantations are open to visitors. For coffee head to the fajãs on São Jorge to sample the wonderful island flavours for yourself.
The beaches and the swimming
The beaches are usually rocky with dark volcanic sand, better for rock pooling and exploring than sunbathing. You’ll find natural swimming pools around the coasts, sometimes as simple as a ladder for accessing the water, others in their own small harbours. In late summer the waters get as warm as 23C but to be honest it never feels very warm, being the Atlantic. Luckily you can swim inland too, in refreshing waterfall plunge pools and hot volcanic springs. Watch out for whales and dolphins playing out at sea, visible from the shore, or book a boat trip to go see them close up and personal.
World-class fish and seafood
When you’re surrounded by endless miles of ocean you eat a lot of fish! Azores tuna is extraordinarily fresh and tasty. As are the local blue jack mackerel, chub mackerel, forkbeard, red porgy, swordfish, lobsters, crabs, limpets and barnacles. Limpets, AKA lapas, are usually served grilled and come in two types, orange-coloured lapa branco and black lapa mansa. Cracas, AKA barnacles, taste a bit like lobster but sweeter, a dish that’s particularly popular on Terceira.
Unique sweet treats and unusual cheeses
The islanders love cake, an endearing trait that we in the UK can sympathise with! Look out for tasty Dona Amélia cakes, the local treat Pudim conde da praia made from potatoes, sugar, butter, lemon, eggs and cinnamon, and Espécies de São Jorge, basically biscuits with a spicy filling made from unusual ingredients like fennel, black pepper, cinnamon and lemon. They taste surprisingly good.
You might not think ‘cows’ when you think about the Azores, but they thrive here on the rich green grass. They were originally brought over from Portugal by ship and the local butter, ice cream, yoghurt, ghee, milk, cream and cheese they produce is totally delicious. Two Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status cheeses are yours to test-drive, Queijo São Jorge and n São Jorge and Queijo do Pico, just two of a plethora of cheeses to enjoy. O Morro, made on the island of Faial, is quite something.
Magical hydrangeas and weird fajas
They’re everywhere, and the impact is breathtaking. The islands are famed for their great banks of hydrangeas, with their enormous flowers in blues and pinks, purples and whites. No wonder Faial is nicknamed the blue island, a place where the unusually fertile soil from an eruption in 1957 makes the conditions perfect for the plants to thrive. They don’t actually belong here. The hydrangeas were brought in by settlers in the 1600s. But they love it so much they’ve spread like wildfire, now a beloved feature of the archipelago. They start flowering in late April and keep going right through the holiday season, only stopping in September.
Lava flows downhill then when it reaches the sea, it stops. The result is fajas, steep cliffs that run down to the coast. The most dramatic examples are on the island of São Jorge, where their remarkably fertile soil is ideal for growing food crops like yams, veg, fruits, coffee and maize. The walk from Fajã dos Cubres to Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo, loved by surfers, is particularly gorgeous and the fresh clams there are delicious.
Festivals in the Azores
Holy ghost festivals are a big deal here, Catholic celebrations that vary between the islands. They all focus around little decorated shrines called impérios, scattered around each island. Terceira, for example, has seventy three of them. Expect singing, dancing, processions, food and drink.
Mind-blowing geology
The underlying geology that formed these islands is visible wherever you look: old lava fields, vast dry volcanic craters and vivid blue and green crater lakes, bubbling hot springs and massive echoing caves, fumarolic fields, hot springs, and steaming crevices in the rocks. You can sense the heat far below – and sometimes not so far below! Luckily the volcanic activity is mostly over with these days and while the islands are carefully surveyed and watched, a big eruption is unlikely without some warning.
Which island will you focus on first? Will you end up going back year after year to a different island or island group each time? It’s so easy to get hooked on this magical place.
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