My husband and I are planning a 10 year wedding anniversary in Sept (we're in our mid 50's). We love, natural beauty, great food, charming towns, etc. We're wondering if we should go to Madeira and spend all of our time there with a more relaxed trip - is there isn't enough to do? Or instead should we split up the trip and do half the time in Madeira and half in Sao Miguel (or a few more days in one or the other)?
Or should we go to just the Azores- San Miguel and Terceira and/or Flores?

Thanks for any input!

If the logistics allow, then I'd split my time between the central Azores group and Madeira. Stay in Funchal on Madeira and explore the island frim there and six days is plenty to see the island albeit at a brisk pace. At a similar pace in the Azores, Faial, Sao Jorge and maybe Pico or Terceira, depending on how much time you want to spend on each place. We did a week in Lisbon and a week on Faial, Sao Jorge and Terceira. We did Madeira as a separate holiday.

I won't be of much help since I've never been to either.
BUT I want to put in a good word for Lanzarote, where we spent about 9 days last spring.
That island has all the elements you are looking for; it was a total surprise to me.

Rubicund, I think that's what we're leaning toward now but I didn't think we'd be able to do so many islands in the Azores in one week - is that what you mean? Do you have to fly to each or can you ferry between some? Are you thinking a night or 2 at each island? I'd love to see everything but that does seem like a fast pace and a lot of travel/airport time..Lmk if you can advise the best way to get around.

ekscrunchy, thank you - we just looked at the Canaries in more depth yesterday and added it to our list for a future trip - it looks beautiful! Did you just go to Lanzarote or did you also explore some of the other islands there?

12 days to see the Azores seems pretty rushed

We did Pico and Sao Jorge as day trips, ferry from Horta. We flew to Terceira and stayed just outside Angra in a Quinta up on the hill. Faial was four days including the day trips and three days on Terceira

We really enjoyed a whale watching trip out of Horta, 5 or 6 hours but well worth it.

I went online to Lanzarote.
I was never interested in the Canarias, as I thought they were for tourist from Northen Europe who were looking for large resorts, and sun.
I watched a food/travel program with Spanish Chef Jose Andres, who extolled the virtues of the island. And since I was already planning a trip to Galicia, and I found (surprisingly) good, inexpensive flights from Santiago to Lanzarote, I added the island to last spring's trip. I had no idea what to expect and was overwhelmed at how much the island had to offer. Honestly, I think this was one of the most surprising destinations I've ever visited, probably because I went with almost no expectations. You have to stay away from the coastal resort strips and you can find so much in such a relatively small island. (We actually stayed in a resort hotel--a very small one--but used it as a base to explore, and then have a heated pool to come back to; it was a very odd hotel in a lot of ways, but we liked it..

This is not the most comprehensive report, but you can get the idea, for the future:


LANZAROTE Nine Day Last-Minute Trip May 2024

On a road trip in the US, I stopped to eat at a hole-in-the-wall Portuguese place in Newark. Newark has a lot of them, especially in the Ironbound district. The proprietor was from Sao Miguel in the Azores.He told us stories of growing up in the Azores that, if I was given to caprice, would have made me look up flights from EWR.

It was especially fascinating having him compare his upbringing until he was 17 with that of his son here in Newark, same age. Guess which one wins out.

He said that in Sao Miguel you can experience all four seasons in a single day: a downpour in the morning followed by hail. Beach weather from 12-2pm, and then having to put on a jacket to go out to dinner. Sounds like we should all run away.

I would have a tough time deciding between the two as I would also be drawn to the hiking in Madeira with its many jagged peaks and waterfalls. So even though I would have no problem spending all my time in one place or the other, I can understand the temptation to hit both.

Running out of great things to do in either place would not be a consideration for me.

I cycle toured 4 Azores islands. The weather, the plants and the open honesty of the people was wonderful. Whale watching amazing. Spas, tick. Walking/hiking tick.

The Azores were the first part of Portugal to overthrow the dictator. They are very proud of this.

The joke is, doors only have locks to stop the wind opening them.

Hi everyone, I'm a local resident in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, and I’ve noticed many questions here about the island. Let me help clarify a few things.

First, a quick note for those comparing the Azores and Madeira:
They are completely different places. While Madeira has a long tourism tradition going back to the 17th century — even Winston Churchill used to visit — the Azores have only recently gained more visibility on travel routes.

The main difference is that Madeira, although very beautiful, has been significantly shaped by human development. In contrast, the Azores maintain a raw, volcanic beauty. Our landscapes are natural, largely untouched, and we are often ranked among the best sustainable travel destinations in the world.

I've just returned from 7 nights in the Azores, spending all of our time, for our first visit, in São Miguel, based on Ponta Delgada (at The Farm, complete with small banana plantation), so as not to complicate travel by plane to Pico or Terceira. We need to do Terceira on a separate visit, but for the many festas in June.

São Miguel is absolutely stunning beyond belief, with volcanic craters that one drives into, waterfalls galore, thermal springs to bathe in and also to cook cozido in, hydrangeas (blue, white, pink) everywhere, blanketing the roads, breathtaking cliff top vistas, thousands of viewpoints (miradouros) where one can picnic, terrific whale and dolphin watching (with Picos de Aventura) and constantly changing weather (the famous saying "four seasons in a day", rang quite true--bring a rain slicker). And simply wonderful, friendly people. Terrific seafood, fish specimens that I had never heard of (boca negra, peixe papagaio, abrótea, cherne, veja (these 2 also found on Lanzarote), great beef, "bife a regional" (on some islands more cows than people) plus tea and pineapple plantations.

I've also been to Madeira (for NYE celebrations at Reid's Palace and levada walking with my parents), based in very well developed, very well known Funchal and also to Lanzarote, simply for something entirely different, after seeing that same José Andrés episode.

They're all 3 wonderful locations, Lanzarote and the Azores still being somewhat off the beaten path, although Lanzarote has large, beach front, resort-like hotels on its coast that São Miguel has not, and will never have. Most visitors to São Miguel come for the walking, hiking experiences, the whale watching, snorkeling, surfing at Santa Barbara, for soaking in the thermal springs, and definitely not to sunbathe.

As eksrunchy, says, on Lanzarote, to see the "real" Lanzarote it's best to stay away from the tourist-filled coastal resorts.
We based inland for 7 days in Teguise (Palacio Ico), a lovely, pretty and quiet town, the old capital, and did our excursions from there, amidst its moon-like environment of volcanic rock.

As for the Azores, everyone we met in São Miguel (the largest) was just lovely, warm and welcoming, speaking very good English, as everyone seemed to have a relative living in Fall River, New Bedford or East Providence! In fact, at several miradouros, we saw signs indicating how many kilometers to Fall River! Our 3 guides from Azores-Tours (Pedro Ferreiro) also had relatives in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. And the food/wine tour guide (Hungry Wales) had relatives in Ontario.

We're planning a return visit, but next time, taking the short 50-minute flight from Ponta Delgada airport to Pico island on Azores Airlines, staying in Madalena (at the Vinhas do Calhau, where we had to cancel during covid), for more whale watching and wine touring (Pico & Graciosa being wine producing islands), plus the quite short ferry rides to São Jorge and Faial, on separate days. From Pico one can see those two very well in two separate day trips.
So next time, 4 islands out of the 9. And we'll plan 12 nights for those 4 islands. We're slow travelers. You can't see all 9 islands in one fell swoop, in 12 days!

United now has direct flights from Newark. We met several Americans who had come in on that flight. We traveled from Madrid on the Iberia non-stop.

For anyone planning an Azores journey, I highly recommend these two travel guides,

"Azores upclose and very personal" available on Amazon, 2nd edition.
Read about it here on the RS Portugal forum.

The Bradt Guide to the Azores
https://www.bradtguides.com/product/azores-8/