2 Best Sights in The Azores, Portugal

This small wine museum isn’t worth making a detour for, but if you’re already visiting the charming town of Lajido it’s well worth a short stop. You’ll find exhibits in English and Portuguese about wine production in Pico, covering topics including vineyard landscapes, the local climate, and indigenous flora and fauna.

Set inside and on the grounds of a former convent, this compact but comprehensive museum explains the history of wine on Pico, from its beginnings in the late 15th century to widespread Verdelho wine production—which lasted until the vines were hit by phylloxera in the mid-19th century—to the reintroduction of traditional grape varieties, including Verdelho, in the 1970s. In the adjoining gardens, you’ll find magnificent dragon trees—grown throughout the Azores and so named for their red-colored resin—along with examples of vineyards using Pico’s traditional “currais” method, where square-shaped areas of volcanic gravel are surrounded by low stone walls that protect them from wind while still allowing sunlight to enter.