Azores in Depth: 11-Day Island Vacation

Portugal’s natural beauty clashes beautifully in Sao Miguel as a tea plantation veils landscape behind your accommodation and crystalline seas meet the skyline on the horizon ahead of your patio. Across Sao Miguel, springs feed the lush gardens with nutrients, and they grow over the island like a carpet covering its volcanic surface. During a private tour today, you will enjoy a meat and vegetable stew boiled in the ground and heated by the piping hot volcanic steam for seven hours. Every step in Sao Miguel across its botanical gardens and vitalizing thermal pools will be well worth the adventure.

The former timber village of Horta brags a harbor famous for its century-old sailing heritage. Once riddled with pirates, voyagers, and armadas, Faial now boasts a seascape beset with superyachts. Though a trendy seaboard town, Horta’s history can still be seen within its old districts and marine museums. As you stroll around the neighborhood and along the promenade, you will listen to old tales and reminisce about a nostalgic time when seafarers staked their claim in bars overlooking the ocean. Then, you will board a boat for your dolphin and whale watching tour to view these creatures leaping above the surface of the sun-kissed water.

Commanding Horta is Capelinhos, an active volcano soaring from the depths of the Atlantic towards the sky and looming large over Faial. An eruption in 1958 left fields blackened with lava and ash, which have begun providing nutrients to the landscapes rippling towards the sea. You will cross the Valley of Flamengos and stand on top of the world at Caldeira, where views of its famous crater are unlike any you will have seen before. At the end of your tour, you will arrive at the remnants of Capelinhos and regard the blend of beauty and brutality that binds nature.

Gazing out across the Azores and peering towards the edge of the Atlantic sky, you will see the rising peaks of Pico Island. Fertile soil born from volcanic ash carpets the island and bears incredible grape harvests processed into exceptional vintages. You will cross the Azores, arriving on Pico, and meander along its hardened lava rocks to a historic cellar standing amongst the vineyards cascading Pico’s illustrious lawns. You will taste both wines grown from this soil and those imported from mainland Portugal alongside a sommelier who will indulge you with the nuances of each.

Step back in time as you transfer from Faial to the 16th-century town Angra do Heroismo in Terceira. In the old days, explorers would land on the town’s docks en route to Europe with riches and rewards. You will tour the UNESCO World Heritage Site and delve into the Age of Discovery as your guide recounts epic fables of bygone voyages and dramatic sea escapades. After a hearty seafood lunch at a legendary local restaurant, you will ascend the hill dominating Angra do Heroismo to witness bewitching vistas stretching as far as the sparkling red rooftops of Monte Brasil.

Terceira is an island of both immense cultural depth and stunning natural splendor that you will have the fortune of exploring today. You will find decorated churches planted in town squares of 15-century hamlets, busy piers jutting into the seas surrounding small fishing villages, and hedges of hydrangeas as you make your way to Praia da Vitoria for lunch. In the afternoon, you will wander through dimly lit lava tubes riddled with stalactites and stalagmites. Afterward, you may visit the steamy natural lava pools that are safe to swim in and unwind to views of Terceira.

Nature dictates the landscape of Flores, the Azores wildest and westernmost island. Towering cliffs, massive craters, enormous lakes, and sun-washed beaches dominate the inland and coastal regions of Flores, providing you with many opportunities to explore the wilderness riches surrounding Santa Cruz. The day is yours at leisure, and you may stand ashore with your eyes peeled for whales swimming to the sparkling surface or find refuge in the cool wine cellars pinned between the vast sea and spreading vineyard-veiled highlands.

On a private tour beginning this morning, you will pass lava formations and lush landscapes that roll out towards the furthest corners of Flores. Trekking through the untamed and overgrown wilderness, you will encounter varieties of creatures and critters dwelling beneath the shady canopy or within the trunks of tall trees. Your guide will outline several trail routes ranging in difficulty that will lead you through Flores’ luxuriant wildlife sanctuary to striking waterfalls beating natural pools flooding the forest floors or viewpoints peeking out from the greenery that overlook the Azores.

With records of civilization on Corvo Island dating back to the 16th-century church, mysteries surrounding the disappearance of established settlements like those around the Azores from the remote island remain a major part of Flores’ neighboring island’s charm. Today, 500 inhabitants occupy the lush lands of Corvo and maintain distinct cultural traditions not seen anywhere else in the Archipelago. On Corvo, you will meet the welcoming locals and learn about their traditions while you attempt to discern the stories shrouding the island, secrets you may wish to keep hidden from the rest of the world to keep the mystery alive.

Sunrise over Flores is dreamy, a colorfully painted sky view that you will appreciate waking up to every morning you spend on the wild island. Today, you will be leaving Flores and Portugal, though you will return home with many marvelous images and fascinating stories of your adventures across the Azores. After tucking into breakfast, you will collect your things, meet your private transfer, and journey to the airport, where you will check-in and board your plane bound for home.