AZORES

TOPICS: DAY TRIPS - BREAKFAST - DINNER - PLACE TO STAY - SURFING

Thanks to the low-budget flights, offered by Ryanair, it is nowadays possible to go to the Azores Islands for few money. The following description of the magnificent places might be a guideline what you can do with your friends and 250€ in total. We arrived on Friday evening and left on Wednesday around midday so we had 4 whole days to explore San Miguel – the main island of the Azores.

DAY 1:

Picture 1 (view at the Miradouro do Pico do Ferro)

FURNAS – We left our rental car near the Calderiras das Furnas and we hiked the trail from there up to the Miradouro do Pico do Ferro (Entrance: 0,50€ if you go by foot). It’s a kind of humid on the trail and there are a lot of meters to go up, but it’s totally worth it! Up there you have an amazing view over the Lagoa das Furnas and you can see the Atlantic Ocean as well. From there we hitchhiked to FURNAS and went to the amazing…

Picture 2 (Parque Terra Nostra)

TERRA NOSTRA – The botanic garden has been named as one of the most beautiful gardens in the world. So years ago, there was a guy who traveled around the world in order to import all kind of different types of plants and to plant them in his garden. After the exhausting hiking-day we took a bath in the main attraction of the Terra Nostra: the thermal water pool with 38°C degrees. The water is orange because of the high concentration of essential minerals. For me it was an unforgettable experience, I don’t want to miss. (Entrance: 6€ and don’t take your white bikini!)

Picture 3 (pool in the middle of the Parque Terra Nostra at night)

DAY 2:

Picture 4 (Vista do Rei with the car)

SETE CIDADES – There’s a viewpoint called Vista do Rei. It’s a hotel which has been shut down more than 20 years ago. It’s opened for the public but no one cares about that place so it’s an originally ruin. If the weather conditions are sunny you recognize that the two lakes have different colors: blue (Lagoa azul) and green (Lagoa verde).

Picture 5 (View over the lakes)

Picture 6 (piscina da ferraria)

PISCINA DA FERRARIA – not far away from Sete Cidades is a natural hot spring pool (natural piscina). It is free to enter for the public but you should consider to go there DURING the low tide.

Picture 7 (Sete Cidades by night)

Take maybe some sleeping bags and spend the night at the lake, in a distance to the Sete Cidades City itself. You will see a lot of shooting stars and a beautiful sky full of stars.

DAY 3:

Picture 8 (Salto do Prego)

SALTO DO PREGO – a nice trail to hike starts in the city Faial da Terra and ends at a waterfall called Salto to Prego. Because it’s very humid you quickly start sweating. In the summer days you might jump inside to cool down. So take clothes for swimming and a lot of water to drink.

DAY 4:

Picture 9 (natural thermal pool)

CALDEIRA VELHA – In the north of the central Lagoa do Fogo you find the Caldeira Velha, a place where you find two more natural hot spring in the middle of the forest surrounded by palms. The water is similar orange to the one in the Terra Nostra pool, but less concentrated. Nevertheless it’s super nice to go to relax especially after hiking from the Miradouro da Serra da Barrosa down to the Lagoa do Fogo (Entrance: 2€ per person)

Picture 10 (hot water pool)

BREAKFAST:

Picture 11 (breakfast)

LOUVRE MICHAELENSE – a wonderful place to have a breakfast. Healthy and not expensive at all.

Address: Rua Antonio José d'Almeida 8, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

DINNER:

Picture 12 (fried Octopus and Vinho Verde)

A TASCA – to have seafood or typical food from the Azores freshly prepared by the islands MasterChefs

Address: Rua do Aljube 20, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Picture 13 (lovely menu at Rotas Restaurant)

ROTAS – one of the best vegetarian restaurants I’ve been so far. Originality at its best!

Address: Rua de Pedro Homem 38, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

PLACE TO STAY:

Picture 14 (our terrace with barbeque)

A superb Accommodation via AirBnB for around 11€ a night. Very friendly and open-minded hosts.

Contact via airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/45019202

SURFING:

On the last evening we headed to the World Cup surfing spot at Ribeira Grande. The waves looked amazing and unfortunately we didn't went surfing because it was almost dark. But this would be one of many reasons to come back for sure!