SzatRyan

Hi All -

I snagged a steal of a deal for $310 Roundtrip Boston to Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores Portugal. We will be travelling for 7 days 1/30 - 2/6.

There seems to be VERY limited information written about this seemingly amazing island! I'm pretty well travelled (having been to about 35 countries), and have a pretty well travelled group of friends -- but when I mention that I am going to Sao Miguel, I get that (huh, where the heck is that look?). I find it to be actually kind of exciting travelling to such a "different" place.

We will be airbnb-ing it the entire trip to get the true authenic experience, but I would like to find some sort of 7 day itinerary to get going in my planning! There seems to many small towns (all unique!) which I can read about below..but that's about all I've found! I tried searching the Portugal form, but it only came up with one small post! I'm surprised Lonely Planet doesn't have a book on the Azores (I'm assuming it must just be a couple pages in the back of the Portugal book?) Any suggestions, ideas, links to week long basic itineraries etc would be greatly appreciated!

http://www.destinazores.com/en/index.php?region_id=3

"Towns" to visit per the above link:

Ponta Delgada
Lagoa
Ribeira Grande
Vila Franca do Campo
Furnas
Povoação
Nordeste

We plan to rent a car and explore the island ourselves -- but I can't even seem to find a good road map!

Palal

Tons of info but mostly in Portuguese. You should also look into the other Azorean islands.

SzatRyan

Hi Palal -

Thanks for the response -- unfortunately I can't speak/read portugese

We will be staying on Sao Miguel, for ferry services do not run the time of year we are going....

JY1024

Moving this over to the Spain/Portugal/Gibraltar destination forum for further discussion. Thanks! /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

IAN-UK

There's tons of web-based and book shop stuff on your target island, but you'll find it within information covering Acorean tourism and even the wider Portugal market. Sao Miguel is a single island in a group of islands that are usually seen as multiple destination trip in terms of tourism.

SATA has its own tour companies in Canada and the US. If you give them a call you'll probably get flooded out with leaflets, maps and schedules.

You might regret making a long trip without exploring more of the islands:

Terceira offers its lovely capital, Angra, as a contrast to Sao Miguel's rather stern Ponta Delgada. Both islands offer similar bucolic charms.

Faial has the "yachty" port/marina of Horta, plus spectacular views of Pico island and its conical volcano (and a short ferry connection if you fancy climbing a volcano).

Flores is a weird and wonderful island, completely different to the others, and (with miniscule Corvo next door) part of north America rather than Europe in geographical/geological terms.

SATA flies everywhere, at least daily, from Ponta Delgada. Fares are subsidised, so not in the arm and a leg territory: they may still offer tourism packages/discount/multiple coupon tickets.

Fragola

The other islands are definitely worth exploring although with only 7 days you might only have time for 2 days each on 3 islands. Many packaged tours only visit 5 of the more closely grouped ones: Sao Miguel, Terceira, Sao Jorge, Pico and Faial. Of these, the last 3 are a quick ferry ride apart.

The inter-island flights on SATA seem to experience frequent weather related delays and run pre-recorded audio announcements in English that conflict with information at the boarding gate, but there's no other choice in transit between Sao Miguel and Terceira unless the high speed ferry has become a reality.

There's excellent hiking on all the islands, whale watching on Pico, Ponta dos Capilinhos and old lighthouse on Faial. The bullfights on Terceira were interesting (no harm done to the bulls). Food-wise I would recommend the seafood, local hothouse pineapples, blood sausage, any local wines that don't exported out of the islands and the local blackberry liqueur. The water is a bit chilly for swimming at 20C but you can get used to it although you will need to find a protected area as most waves around the coastlines are strong.

If you don't have time for the all day hike up Mount Pico you can get a great super close view of it flying from Horta, Faial back to Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel. Sit on the left.

SzatRyan

Thanks for the replies!

SzatRyan

During our 7 days in Sao Miguel we plan to travel the entire Island (From Mosteiros to Nordeste)

I think a good plan is
First 3 Days exploring the western part of the Island
- Ponta Delgada
- Mosteiros
- Ribeira Grande etc...

Second 4 days exploring the eastern part of the Island
- Lagoa
- Villa Franca Do Campo
- Furnas
- Povoacao
- Nordeste etc...

Does it make more sense to stay in Ponta Delgada all 7 days and day trip to these places while returning to PDL each night? Or maybe Ponta Delgada for the first 3 days (western areas) then somewhere else (more eastern) for next 4 days? I know Sao Miguel is not the nightclub capital of the world, but my question is, if we stay outside of Ponta Delgada will there be any nighttime activities available elsewhere once the sun goes down?

iceblueshoes

I'm also going to PD, albeit on a 7.5 hour layover on the way to Lisbon.

Coming from YYZ, would I be clearing customs in PD or Lisbon? I presume PD since that's technically Europe and would prefer to just collect my baggage and go.

Thanks in advance.