Please sign in to post.

Portugal islands?

Wondering about a side trip to a Portugal Island. Which one would be recommended and how far of a boat trip is it?

Posted by
28247 posts

When I think of Portuguese islands, it's of the Azores and Madeira. Neither is what I would consider a boat trip from Portugal. Except for cruisers, I assume most visitors fly in. That's how I got to Madeira. Madeira is drop-dead gorgeous. I haven't been to the Azores.

Posted by
374 posts

Hi
The closest islands are the Azores which has 9 islands and Sao Miguel is the largest.
It's about a 2hr20minutes flight.

Sao Miguel has 3 volcanic areas:
- Sete Cidades caldera is very beautiful, if the light is just right the lake in the caldera will have two different colors. If you look carefully you might see ferns the size of trees.
- Lagoa do Fogo caldera is the highest point in the island, you can see both sides of the island.
- Furnas is the only one with some activity, fumaroles and hot thermal water and a strong sulphur smell.
https://azoresgetaways.com/en-ca/destination/azores/islands/sao-miguel/sete-cidades

Sao Miguel is famous for it's cheese, pineapples, vegetation, extinct volcanoes, seafood, great vistas, black sand beaches ( that soak up the sunlight and burn your feet- wear beach shoes).

Ponta Delgada (the capital city) is fairly walkable. It has cafe's, restaurants, hotels a waterfront with an old fort at one end ( you can pay to visit the fort - ask the soldier at the front gate).
At the north end of the city towards the airport you can visit a lava tube, the tube is short in length but still interesting to be inside a lava tube where millions of liters of lava once flowed.

Terra Nostra is a natural area with local vegetation and a hotel.
https://www.parqueterranostra.com/en-US/menu.aspx

A word of warning, if you're driving go slow in the low visibility , twisty roads with lots of blind spots and above all WATCH OUT FOR THE COWS!! yes the cows, they go on the road without warning as they walk from field to field, they do this on their own without a sheppard.
I had several close calls, it sure gets your heart racing.

Happy travels

Posted by
238 posts

I think you need to look at a map, and see where the portuguese islands are located.