Joaner

Hello Travelers,
My husband & I are planning on visiting the Azores in mid Sept. Hoping to have 12-14 days. I have read some trip reports & have been reading up trying to choose the best route for us. We are in our 50's , are adventurous( I think we would enjoy canyoning), love to day hike( by ourselves) snorkel,kayak, (would like to see whales but realize Sept. may not be the best month for that?? )take scenic drives, sample great wine & food, we enjoy small quaint towns & small coastal villages. We can enjoy the "city" for a day here & there but prefer quiet & even some rural settings to stay in occasionally ,but would do a city hotel if need be or if the location makes more sense. I am fairly certain any island we will visit we will rent a car. We like to have the freedom to leave super early in the morning to avoid crowds. We are not into bus tours or large group expeditions. Sooooo with all of that I am wondering if any of you expert Azores travelers have any tips for us . Particularly what makes sense itinerary order /transportation wise & even any lodging suggestions - we are not fancy five star hotel people. We just need a clean ,quiet & comfortable place - open to b&b's. Would prefer authentic place over hotel chain.
We live in Grand Rapids ,MI. So we would fly out of GRR or Detroit . I've read Toronto( 6 hr dr for us) has some direct flights? And of course Boston has direct flights so we may just have to fly to Boston . Do all of the flights fly in & out of Ponta Delgada or would we be able to say fly into PDL on Sao Miguel & fly home from Terceira(I'm not sure that is possible) .
I THINK we want to stay on Sao Miguel near Villa Franca ? I THINK we want to stay on Flores on the west side maybe in Aldeia da Cuada? I THINK we want to stay on Terceira in Angra do Herismo or Praia vitoria. But I greatly respect & appreciate all input from those of you that have already visited .This is why I love these forums because everyone travels differently & we learn from each other . We should have 3 or 4 nights to do on each island with maybe a day island hop in between by ferry ?? I appreciate your thoughts & feel free to change my mind I have only begun planning . Thanks Joan

Robert2016

I don't think you'll find many on this forum who have traveled to the Azores, which is a popular destination for some people we know from California's San Joaquin Valley, which has a large Portuguese-American population. You might find the information you're looking for at https://www.visitazores.com/en and Azores Holiday Destination Guide

Now if you were headed to Madeira, I might be able to offer a little help, but I haven't been to the Azores in years.

SusanInToronto

If you check Tripadvisor forums, you'll probably find a number of useful trip reports. I'm in the early stages of planning a trip to the Azores, also in September, but probably just a week or 10 days. There are direct flights from Toronto on SATA, which is what I would likely take. Otherwise there is TAP Portugal, but you have to fly to Lisbon first.

Joaner

thanks Susan will check it out

Joaner

thank you Robert

Joaner

check out crazy travelista on pinterest azore - a detailed 4 day itinerary - she gives a good report on sao miguel

johnstcyr

Rubicund

We spent a week in the Azores a few years ago. Starting off on Faial, we stayed in the Pousada in Horta which is a small village size place but with a good choice of restaurants and hotels. Pico is close and you can take a ferry across to see it. We did whale watch while we were there and spent a wonderful afternoon chasing whales across the Atlantic. The following is an excerpt from some info we had about whales:

The main ‘season’ runs from April all the way through the summer to October and during these months different species pass by the Azores on their migratory paths – April and May are usually a good time to go for a chance to see the larger whales such as blue, fin and sei whales, whilst October can be a good time to spot humpbacks. The most frequently sighted species of dolphin include bottlenose, Atlantic spotted and common dolphins.

From Faial we day tripped to São Jorge and had a great hike down from the top of the rim of the volcano to the coast and along to a small cafe past a village where we were picked up to return to the port. The whole trip took 6 hours or so on a very hot day! We were on Faial for 4 days

Again from Faial, we moved to Terceira for three days and stayed in a quinta overlooking the town of Angra. It's a fascinating town, again with a choice of restaurants and hotels. From Terceira we flew back via Lisbon to the UK.

We chose the islands we saw from the central group as they are close(ish) together. The north and south groups are a bit too far when you only have a week, but the friends we went with went back for a week to the north group and loved Flores and Corvo.

Joaner

johnstcyr

fairoaksjim

I will have boots on the ground starting NEXT WEEK!
Our itinerary
Flying in on Delta from JFK to Saõ Miguel. Four days there with car.
Staying a week on Pico. My great grandfather immigrated from there in the late 1800s
Will also ferry to Saõ George and Falial.
On Pico we are working with a tour group called ÈPICO.
• climbing Mt. Pico
• wine and cheese tours
• and much more