My husband and I are flying in and out of Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel. We are active retirees who like slow travel, stay in nice hotels, sightsee and enjoy parks and gardens, walk/hike, enjoy cafes and small restaurants and avoid overly touristed places. We'll most likely have to rent a car on some islands. My friend went to Sao Miguel, Pico, Terceira and Faial for 9 nights in 2019 and loved it. Three to four islands is probably about right. The Azores is the last leg of our 5 week trip to Paris, Andalucia/Spain, Madeira and the Azores. Thank you.

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, as you're staying in the central group of the islands, of which there are four, apart from Graciosa which is a bit further away. We flew in to Faial and out of Terceira, visited Pico and Sao Jorge to complete the central group. Faial is a lovely island, with good restaurants and bars and we stayed in the Pousada overlooking the sea. Apart from touring the island, we went on a whale watching trip which was fantastic.

We day tripped across to Pico and went up the mountain and visited the vineyards. We also day tripped to Sao Jorge and took a taxi to he top of the volcano. walked down and along the shoreline. Long and hot walk but spectacular. Lastly we flew across to Terceira and stayed close to Angra and day tripped around the island. Angra had a number of good restaurants and is of course a United Nations world Heritage Site.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angra_do_Hero%C3%ADsmo