Car Rental Companies on San Miguel, Azores

I rented 5 cars on 5 different islands in the Azores (including one on São Miguel). All from Ilha Verde, the major local rent-a-car company in the Azores (Ilha Verde means "green island"). They were awesome in every way, even went out of their way to help me when I wanted to do some last-minute switching (to change my pickup location from the airport on Pico to the ferry terminal there, as I was about to board the ferry) - before getting on the ferry, I popped into an Ilha Verde office in Horta, on Faial -- which I had not done any business with. I walked into one of their storefront offices and just asked them if they could contact their office on Pico for me (where my ferry was headed) and make the change for me. I gave them my name and confirmation number for the next rental; they told me to catch my ferry (leaving in 10 minutes) and they would take care of it. They did. The office on the next island even stayed open after their regular closing time to accommodate my pickup request because my ferry arrived later (their office is across the street from the ferry terminal so they knew the ferry would be late). Extremely helpful, friendly, professional, top-notch service, over and above the call of duty or what I would ever expect from most car rental businesses. Cars were good (all 5 of them!), not expensive. Ilha Verde was great.

I would rent from them again with no hesitation whatsoever (and I plan to the next time I'm there).

One thing to note: There are multiple Ilha Verde offices on São Miguel - one in the airport terminal, at least one in downtown Ponta Delgada (maybe others around the island, too). I would assume you will use the one at the airport. They're good, just be prepared for a long line at their counter if multiple flights arrive around the same time, as they will be busy. Ilha Verde handles rentals for many companies - my rental there was listed (on my reservation paperwork) as Avis. I could find no Avis counter in the airport. Turns out there is no Avis desk (or one for Hertz), but the Ilha Verde disk just had little signs saying Avis, Hertz, etc. They were clearly the major car rental outfit there (and all over the Azores) and they just handle most company's customers. It took me a while to get through the line but all was well, just be patient.

Cheers.

I sent you a private message.

Detailed Azores car rental Information is in my Freemium guide, located in the post written by the webmaster at the top of the Portugal forum, called “Azores Islands Travel Advice”.

Carl's guide is excellent - the premium guide available via the link in his sticky post is more than worth the cost (I bought my copy before my 2021 visit and it was quite helpful).

Thank you both for taking the time to respond. We are debating on a manual vs automatic due to the many hills on the islands…any thoughts about that?

Kindest Regards,
Lisa

I'm perfectly happy driving a stick anywhere, so that's never an issue for me personally. That said, yes, there are some steep hills, a few extremely steep, though you may never need/want to go on that road.

If you know how to drive a manual transmission car and are good at it, a stick shift is actually better for driving on steep hills than an automatic (you can get much better control and traction). But if you struggle with a stick shift, then you will probably do better (maybe a lot better), with an automatic.

I drove up (and back down) some seemingly impossibly steep hills on São Miguel, and I'm very glad I had a manual transmission car to tackle those hills. But those nail-biters are not very common. Most roads are not crazy steep, but if you are a more adventurous driver, you could find yourself at the top or bottom of a hill asking yourself if your car (and driver) can really handle it. If you're not up to it, just don't drive up/down that scary hill - the worst are mostly out in the boonies, not in towns or the places most tourists go.

Roads in the Azores are generally great, with the same high standard as you would expect in any developed European country. Driving is easy for the most part, and for the average visitor the biggest hazard will be keeping your eyes on the road because you will want to enjoy the views. But make no mistake, the Azores do have a lot of vertical terrain, and if you are adventurous, you may encounter the occasional short stretch of road where you should think twice before charging up or down it. We saw warnings like "Caution! 45° hill ahead" and they weren't kidding (these were in some out-of-the-way places, but they were public roads being used).

If you see a sign like this one, take the warning seriously. There are roads than plunge down a very steep hill that end abruptly at a cliff over a rocky shoreline far below. The one in the picture had a tight 90° turn about half way down, adding to the ways you could meet your end. If in doubt, park the car (someplace level, not on the steep hill!), get out and walk to see if you can manage it.

(And yes, I did drive our car down the hill in the linked picture; it wasn't that bad - it was not nearly the steepest grade we handled on our Azores trip. I was just glad there was a reasonably large area at the bottom to turn around in, so I didn't have to drive back up it in reverse.)

Thanks again for all the detailed and very useful information! You both have erased a lot of car rental stress surrounding our Azores adventure. A special thank you to Carl, we are enjoying reading your expert research. Obrigada!