Azores

Hello, Marsha! Lucky you to be planning a trip to the Azores! I was on Terceira and Sao Miguel this April, but did not visit any of the other islands. My travel companions all fell hard for Terceira, while I loved the individual aspects of both. A friend of mine visited Sao Miguel and Pico about two weeks before me, and thought Pico was amazing. I think Pico is much smaller, so I would maybe recommend taking one day from Pico and giving it to Sao Miguel. There is so much to do there! If Carl jumps in on this conversation, he will tell you whether that's correct or not, as his knowledge is much more extensive than mine.

I will give you a word of caution; find the smallest car you can live with, automatic if you're not an expert with a manual transmission, and be aware that the roads are very narrow, winding, and steep. It was common to come around a bend in a small village and find a car standing in the road directly in front of me! Also, as the days went on, I realized it was much better to drive in daylight. We left Furnas one evening after visiting La Doña Beija thermal pools. We ended up on a windy back road (thank you, Google maps) that was full of switchbacks and fog! I was literally driving at around 15 mph for about an hour, watching the center line the entire time. No Bueno.

Furnas was great, actually, and we all wished that we'd stayed there for one or two nights to be in closer proximity to things on the east side of the island.

Thank you. The reason I had the extra nights on Pico was because I think we will do 2 day trips to the 2 closest islands.

A two week trip is a fantastic introduction to the Azores. The key word is introduction, since there are nine islands. So much depends on a visitor's interests. Certainly I always recommend at least a week visiting Sao Miguel, but devoting two weeks is awesome and best.

After that, then you must choose from the rest of the islands, they are all similar, but differ greatly. What you do not want to do is gloss over an island in a day trip, except for the island of Corvo. Even that tiny island deserves 2 days and two nights. Visiting just Faial, Pico, and Sao Jorge could take up two weeks or more. Terceira can easily use up seven days. Driving distances on Sao Miguel, Pico and Sao Jorge can be deceivingly long.

I truly believe that a second visit to the Azores, and even a third, would be beneficial for everyone, unless you have an entire summer to visit all nine islands in one shot. This applies to anyone who thinks they can visit the Azores for less than two weeks (remember, nine islands) and consider island hopping (the year round ferry is only between Pico, Faial, and Sao Jorge), so flying is the only way with the higher costs .

August is the busiest month of the year for visitors, so you really should be reserving your rental car and hotel by January, or even now. The prices will only go higher the longer you wait. Worse than high prices is the chance that on Pico and Sao Jorge you will not have a rental car available. Only after you have these reservations (both should made with free-cancellation, just in case) should you book flights. Sao Miguel will always have hotel and rental car availability, but prices will be sky high for August.

My suggestion is to limit this trip to seven to nine days for Sao Miguel, and leave the rest for Terceira. Then you have multiple daily flights to Lisbon or Porto from Terceira, to connect to Madrid. Save Faial, Pico, and Sao Jorge for another two week trip. A third trip, again depending on how many days you have, would include Santa Mara, Graciosa, and Flores...with a side trip to Corvo from Flores. That would need at least another 14 days. Everything depends on your interests as to how much time to allot for visiting each island.

My second edition Azores guide is in the final stages of editing. I hope to have it ready by late October. Information regarding it is at the top of this Portugal forum. In it will be over 60 days worth of self-guided driving and walking tours covering all nine Azores islands. Also in it, which is always available in the free sample on Amazon, is almost all the Azores travel information you could think of for visiting this magical and enchanting destination. What is not included in the free sample is detailed information for each island. I do not include contact information for professional tour guides and what they offer.

Whatever itinerary you design, I am sure will be great, but exhausting.

You can Private Message me anytime with specific questions. Enjoy the planning!

Carl, I am new to this site so I don't know how to private message you. My Camino walk is Sept 2-12, we are on a waitlist for September 8-18 but it doesn't look promising. I thought we would do the Azores first because it looks quite a bit rainier in mid-late September. What are you thoughts on this?

Click on my username, which is in blue: Carl. From there you can send me a private message.

September is normally perfect in the Azores, with little rain and summer-like weather. Once October rolls in, the chance of rainy days increases. Even with that, many times it will not rain all day. I can even say with certainty that it could be raining in one area of an island all day, and in a different area it could be sunny all day. You really never know what the weather will be any time of the year. On one of my trips, it rained for two weeks straight, in early August. It was also very windy and chilly the entire time. That was not fun, but since we were visiting family, it did not matter.

Sometimes our family can swim in the ocean and sunbathe in the months of December and January. We always pack for any type of weather. The 10 day forecast is mostly incorrect.

There is so much to see and places to visit indoors that rain should not hamper any plans. Remember, with rain, the waterfalls are spectacular!