Originally Posted by
Rykoshet
For sure we will visit Sao Miguel for the historical city. Also want to visit Santa Maria for a 1-2 day beach vacation. But then we only have 1-2 islands left and still want to see lagoons, volcanoes, everything!!!
Santa maria has its charms, and it has beaches: but I never really thought of it as a beach resort.
In fact all the islands have quite unique charms. Though Graciosa is the one perhaps most easily dropped from the list.
Faial/Horta is a delight, and you can take in Pico (with its volcano from central casting!) on a day trip from there.
Sao Jorge is great for dramatic walks, and Velas has a festival ("culture week") in the summer (I think July).
Terceira has an easy, rural charm while its capital, Angra, is (for me) the most attractive Acorean town.
Flores is other-worldy, very distinctive and feels very isolated. It's on the North American plate, separated (with Corvo) from the rest of the islands. You can get to tiny, tiny Corvo on a day trip.