Salvernaz

We have done 8 of the 9 islands this year and each island is spectacular in it's own right. I also noticed the Azores was voted 2014's Vacation Destination for Europe a few weeks ago on facebook. We found spectacular places to stay, great prices BUT, unlike what the books say, you should book in advance to get the best places with the best prices. Airbnb's service is one of the best for getting great places to stay. You can find rooms in private houses and houses at cheaper rates than staying in hotels. What do i like about each island most?
Sao Jorge - The hiking and vegetation is spectacular, probably the best hiking on all the islands. DiscoverExperience is a fantastic tour operator featuring a wide variety of experiences from Day Hiking Trips, Canyoning, not to mention a nice rapelling waterfall adventure hike. The guides are professional and knowledgeable and, have a lot of different language skills ie Portuguese, English, Spanish, French i believe. My husband and i did the Caldeira Hike and the waterfall rappel LOVED it! We also did others with them as well and have never been sorry. Pico, For me was more of a driving touring island as the island has fewer really nice hiking trails. It does feature some nice activities out of Lajes like Dolphin and Whale watching and, climbing Mount Pico is fabulous if you can do it on a clear day. Faial, is more of a touristy beach town, a lot of shops and some good restaurants. The island is pretty but it too is more of a driving tour island in my opinion. Caldeira on top of the island is pretty along with gorgeous views of the island and Pico on a clear day from there. Flores in my mind is undoubtedly the most beautiful island but, it is small and you could really see the most of it in 2 days time by car, unless you are committed to backpacking and carrying your food with you. I have great information on where to stay on Flores and an English speaking taxi driver for the Portuguese impaired visitor. Corvo, should be visited if you are going to Flores anyway but that depends on the Ferry running in between the islands there so you have to plan in advance. Graciosa, has some interesting caves and caldeira areas but, you can easily tour it by car and see everything really in one day. Terceira, our favorite place to stay is Praia da Vitoria.. wonderful little beach town with shops, restaurants etc. without it feeling like you are in a tourist trap. You can get a bus from Praia to Angra for a few euro and see some of the countryside along the way. Sao Miguel, Furnas is our favorite area but there's a lot to see. There's a beautiful park right in Ponta Delgada that we loved - Jose Garcia. Like some of the other islands, it is best to do this island via moped or via car. In the more hilly areas, mopeds go really super slow (you can walk faster) so I would advise you to enjoy your day and just do it by car. It allows you so much more time to stay longer in places you want to see. You can do taxi tours but they can be costly. I'm happy to share information on where to stay and what to see if anyone is interested... HAPPY TRAVELS, and get ahold of me if you want stay ideas or help getting around.

Graziella5b

Thank you for all the inf., may I keep it in mind? Tks a Lot.

Paula1022

Car rental and prices? I am wondering if the Azores are like the older Mallorca? I'm having trouble deciding whether to go ...beach, hiking, charming villages, good food? I presume all of that else you wouldn't be raving. What time of year is best? I will keep researching and thanks!

HappyTrvlr

Thanks for this report. We have considered the Azores as a possible destination.

GirlsRock

I was intrigued by your title "Lovely Lovely Experiences", yet it seems as if you spent your time trying to cram in each island and then "easily tour it by car and see everything really in one day". I wish you could offer up an example of one of the "Lovely Lovely Experiences", so future travelers don't get overwhelmed by the complex logistics.

That is NOT the point of the Azores.

This is the one spot on Earth where you don't have to rush. Take as much time as you can afford. Pick one or two islands. By all means, make sure you travel between them by boat. Enjoy everything and let it unfold.

The views are GORGEOUS. Allow yourself to see something spectacular more than once. The flora is amazing, but anyone can easily be overwhelmed by all of the beauty and quickly lose touch with the idea of such a lush ecosystem in the middle of the Atlantic.

It sounds as if you had a marvelous time and that you have a great variety of resources to share with future visitors. Don't judge your vacations by how many waterfalls/caldeiras/hikes you can see or how many "tourist traps" you pride yourself on avoiding. This is not something to just check off your list.

If you are thinking of visiting, I'd highly recommend it. But take a deep breath and let yourself catch up with The Place.

TheTravelzine

Our Azores travelogues will provide further insights into the "Lovely Lovely Experiences" that await the visitor: http://www.thetravelzine.com

Salvernaz

@Graziella5b - You are welcome!
@Paula1022- There are a LOT of great options for places to stay along with car rentals... why don't you email me and i'll discuss the more cost effective ways to see the islands [email protected]
@HappyTrvlr - If you do visit the Azores and i can help you navigate to get the most of the experience.
@GirlsRock - Considering we've been visiting (and continue to visit the Azores for more than 20 years, I would agree that there is no reason to rush if you have the time and desire to. BUT, everyone vacations differently.

In our travels, we have met those who are happy lying around, others with serious hiking ambition and others yet who prefer car tours. This year, we hit some of the things we missed from other years by car and, because i have some bone spurs that made hiking almost impossible this trip, we chose to do what we have done and, while i consolidated our experiences, we have been in the Azores 7 months this time so, the assumption it was done rapidly was an assumption on your part.

In any case, our experience is that most want to visit the central islands and, many in fact will spend 4-5 days per island. I think you could spend 2 weeks per island and still probably not see everything!

Salvernaz

@The Travelzine - Thank you for posting your blog links. Your blogs are great! I think the only thing i would have to add where the Azores Islands are concerned is that you can rent a whole house or even a room, on a lot of the islands for the price of a hotel and, you can meet some really cool people and experience a bit of the culture.

EastCoastCanadaGuy

Salvernaz: We are travelling to Ponta Delgado at the end of August 2014, and will spend 4 days on the island. After that, we are looking for suggestions to spend the spend the next 6-7 days. We would fly to another island, and perhaps ferry to a 3rd. We do not want to visit all islands, as part of the reason for the travel is to relax. We like to sightsee, soak up the nature views, browse little shops, take easy (not extreme) hikes, etc. So, in your opinion, what 2nd island should we visit (and perhaps ferry to a 3rd for a few days)

After visiting the Azores, we plan to fly to Madiera for 4 days, so what is the best :last" place in the Azores to visit to catch a flight to madeira?

janisj

Eastcoadtcanadaguy: the OP hasn't posted on Fodors since October - but maybe someone else will have ideas for you.

lynnalan

Eastcoastcanadaguy - I just returned from the Azores and am getting ready to publish my trip report. We only had one week and ultimately decided to split between Sao Miguel and Faial. I was happy with our choices, especially since we were able to easily visit Pico by ferry (30 min, inexpensive) from Faial. I was very glad that we stayed on different islands as the personalities of the islands are quite different, and it was very interesting to talk with the people from the various islands about how they are perceived (of course they are all very proud of their island!) Two islands were plenty for the short duration of our trip - especially since we were able to visit the third in a day trip.

We visited off season (March) when the weather is less predictable, so I chose to spend the last nights on Sao Miguel so that I would not have to worry about an inter island flight being delayed by weather (as I understand they often can be, especially in the "winter") and potentially interfering with my international flight home. This may not be a concern in August but something to consider. Turns out we were quite lucky with the weather and none of our flights were significantly delayed.

Also, I would consider headquartering in Furnas rather than Ponta Delgada. PD is a really large city and I have to say that I didn't really spend time there so perhaps it is unfair of me to judge but the small villages are so charming and easy to navigate (though your dining options are fewer).

It is an extraordinarily beautiful place - happy planning!

Sberg

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WetMars

I moved to the Azores from Northern Europe. It is nice climate and beautiful views here and nice people. I got an apartment under the house and am thinking of letting it weekly for tourists (300) which is on the main road between São Roque and Madalena.

Bedar

Mars - you should tell the folks on which island you live.

janisj

>>Mars - you should tell the folks on which island you live.<<

He did (he said where the house is- from the towns mentioned its on Pico) . . . but hopefully he doesn't plan on advertising the rental on here