Need help in planning my first trip to Azores

Some advice at http://www.geekyexplorer.com

I can help you with your questions and offer much more. If you send me your email in a private message, I will email to you my PDF guide I put together regarding the Azores. I can also give you a scavenger hunt I made for the island of Santa Maria.

The reason I made a PDF guide is because I get asked quite often by readers on this forum for my advice regarding the Azores. I have visited the Azores about 15 times over the past 23 years and will be there this summer as well!

I just sent the info. If you do not see my email, it may have ended up in your junk folder. I hope my info helps. The Azores islands will be more than you can imagine for a photographer!

I've been to Terceira twice and the island is beautiful and not too crowded. You can rent a car and get out of the main city and into the countryside in no time at all. The small towns are amazing and you can even walk into a dormant volcano crater. That makes for some amazing photography!

Carl,
Any chance you could also email me your information about Azores? I will be going there tomorrow! Thanks! Laura

Hi Laura,

I just sent the info to your email address. Have fun in the Azores!

Carl

Hi Carl,

Could you send me the Azores pdf also? Or, perhaps provide a URL the we can download?

thanks

Bill

Hi Bill,

I need your email address...you can send it to me in a private message or here...

I can't send it through this forum, unfortunately.

Take care,
Carl

Dear Carl,
Please send me your Azores pdf as well. We fly into Ponta Delgada mid May. Thanks a lot

Is it worth going to the Azores for 2-3 nights? Seems like it may be a place where perhaps atleast a week is advisable. If only 2-3 nights, where would you recommend? thanks

Janemiritz7, I generally recommend a week for a first visit, but if you can stay for 3 nights, you will not regret your decision. Azores Airlines has started a program where you can stay in the Azores for up to 7 days as a stop-over for no extra cost. Sao Miguel is the best and easiest island to visit for a short time. I can send you my PDF guide to the islands I have visited in the Azores if you send me your email.

I will be visiting 3 islands of the Azores this summer, and one of the islands is Flores for the first time. I have yet to visit 5 of the other islands, and this is after almost 25 years of traveling there!

Hello Carl, would you please email us your PDF as well? We're heading there in September. Thank you, Nancy

Nancy,

I just emailed it to you. Enjoy the planning, as September should be gorgeous!

Carl

Hello Carl, Can you please email a copy of the pdf to me as well?
We are planning to go there from Sep22-27 :) Trying to figure a lot of things since we're traveling with our almost 2 year daughter.

Thanks Much
Priyanka

All set Priyanka...I just sent you the PDF. Happy Planning!

Hi, could you share your guide with me as well?

All set Aaron, I just emailed it to you.

Hi Carl, stumbled across this. We are planning a trip to Terceira in October for a week...would love a copy of your guide if it includes some good info on that island.

Thank you!

All set Kristine. I just emailed the PDF docs to you. Hope you have a great trip!

Carl

I've visited Sao Miguel, Terceira, and Graciosa. Sao Miguel has gooorgeous scenery (the two lakes at sete cidades being my favorite!!) and a lot to do in Ponta Delgada. Graciosa was super quiet, it's one of the smallest islands. My inlaws were born there and my husbands aunts, uncles, and cousins live there. I hear I t's a ghost town in the colder months. But they do have a hotel in the villa. We went in August and rented a house near the carapacho with ocean views, it was unreal!! Terceira was somewhere in the middle of Sao Miguel and Graciosa as far as how big/busy it was. Terceira and Graciosa are fairly close, you can take a boat there. Pico is near them as well (I've never been there, but you can see it's giant volcano from Graciosa!!). I also have never been to Flores, but my inlaws went there and said it was gorgeous!

Wherever you stay, I would recommend renting a car on the island. Too difficult to see all you would want to see otherwise.

Hi Carl, I also stumbled across this. We are planning a trip to Lisbon in September for a week...then we have two more weeks in Portugal unassigned as yet. I would love a copy of your guide if it includes some good info on the Azores. I'm thinking that West instead of North might be the way to go!

Thank you!

Hi Jaymaleabray,

I sent the docs to your email a few hours ago!

If anyone else reading this post would like the Azores docs, please contact me directly at: (removed)

In the subject line please type: Azores

I am in the Azores now and will be updating the PDF by November. It will probably be 100 pages long after doing travel research on this trip!

Carl LaPietra

Hello Carl! I'm leaving for the Azores Thursday! Could you possibly send me the PDF you created as well? Thanks!

Hi,

I just emailed the docs to you. I have been updating my original 26 page guide since I returned home from the Azores last week and it is now up to 49 pages. I still have about another 50 or so pages to go. It is not complete, but I wanted to send what I have so far. Let me know if I can be of further assistance. Hope you have a wonderful vacation in the Azores!

Carl LaPietra

Carl:

You're a popular guy! Have you ever considered starting "an e-cottage industry" (preparing such PDFs for other venues)? I do have a question, but very limited in scope.

My question focuses on Ponta Delgada and vicinity. We are on a trans Atlantic cruise and will stop in Ponta Delgada. While not originally scheduled to be an over-night stop I've learned this may be the case. We will be there April 22 and/or23. We're not interested in the beach and enjoy learning about the history and culture of places we visit. What would you suggest for this brief stop?

Hi Jon,

My only desire is to share my personal insight of the Azores with as many people as possible. The ultimate dream is to one day see a section for the Azores in a certain famous travel writer's "Portugal" guidebook! You never know ;-)

In two weeks since I returned from this latest Azores trip, my PDF guide has expanded from 26 pages to 79 pages as of today. I am writing a section for the island of Flores which is the 4th island of the Azores I have visited...5 more islands to go. Once Flores is complete, the Azores guide will be about 100 pages long. I knew 23 years ago on the first visit to my wife's ancestral homeland that these islands were, and are, not on the North American radar as vacation destination.

I am 100% confidant that the section for Sao Miguel will have what you are looking for. Specifically to answer your very good question, I have a designed a full day self-walking tour of Ponta Delgada along with maps to guide you. You will be walking through 500 years of history, art, religion, culture, and hopefully much more. With a second day, if you overnight, look over my other 3 full day options I put together to pass a day outside of Ponta Delgada. Maybe it will make you think about returning there for a proper vacation.

All I ask is for you to send me a request at my email address and I will send my PDF guide: (removed)

In the subject line, please type: Azores

And thanks for your kind words of inspiration!

Carl

Hi Carl,

I would love it if you would share your guide with me too!

Many thanks in advance,

All set Cathy, please check you email. Happy planning! Carl

Carl
I received the PDF. What a piece of work! Your passion for the Azores is clearly evident. Thank you.
Jon

Hi Carl.
I have been following your posts.Oct 15 and will visit San Miguel, Terceira and Faial
Would love to see your pdf Doc so that we can plan our details
Tx Jan

Hi Jan,

I just emailed to you the link to the guide. It is 20 mg (88 pages) and is too large for many email accounts so I created a Google document. The link will always be available for future updates.

I have not visited Faial yet, but the other 2 islands you will visit are in the guide.

Hope you have an amazing trip!

Carl

Carl,

My husband and I are in the process of planning a trip to the Azores. If you would kindly share your PDF with us as well I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank so much,

Kaitlin

Kaitlin,

I just emailed the link to the Azores guide to you. Hope you enjoy it.

Carl

Carl, can you please send me the pdf guide also? Thank you, Cath

All set Cath. I just emailed to you the link for my Azores guide.

Carl,
My family and I are planning a trip to the Azores early June 2018. Could you share your pdf with me as well.

Thanks so much!
Jessica

Hi Jessica,

I just emailed the link to you. Enjoy the planning!

Carl

All set Doris. I just emailed the link to you.

Hi, So glad I've found all your useful info before my first trip to the Azores in May. Could you please send me your PDF too! Thanks,
Kate.

All set Kate. I sent you a Private Message with the link to my Azores PDF Guide. Happy planning! Carl

Hi, this is a reminder to please do not post your email address on this public thread. That's a good way to get your email address scraped, sold, spammed, etc. I've removed all email addresses from this discussion. Please use our forum's Private Message system to safely provide your email address to the intended individual.

And a big thanks to Carl for the many people he has helped here!

Oops. Sorry and thank you webmaster!

If anyone else would like the Azores Guide PDF in the future, just ask here or on any other Azores posts I have written or responded to. I will see your username and send it to you through a private message on the forum. You can always send me a private message with a request for the guide as well. There is no more need to use your or my email address because it is a Google link I will send you, not a 20 mb file. Thanks!