To be honest, I only heard about the Azores last year, a couple of weeks before I had planned to be in Portugal, so I extended my trip forward in order to visit. I spent 2 days and 3 nights in Ponta Delgada, the biggest city in the Azores, located on the Sao Miguel island. Beware that there are limited flights (only 2 airlines) and no ferries to the islands from Lisbon and Porto so plan ahead.
I landed in Ponta Delgada at about 8:40pm and took the airport bus to the city. The bus drives in a loop around the city so most places are within walking distance from bus stops. A one-way ride is €8 and my place was only a 4 minute walk from the bus stop. It felt really exciting to continue my financial wining streak*** on this solo trip. It was closer to 10pm by the time I got off the bus and it was a sleepy Monday night in Ponta Delgada.
The next morning, I did this prebooked Airbnb Experience which was an 8 hour tour of the Eastern part of Sao Miguel (and like I said, it cost me free.99 due to airline miles). We were 6 guests in total, 2 couples and 2 of us single ladies, all strangers and our tour guide, Miguel who picked us up at the meeting point.
We drove out to the lookout at Miradouro De Santa Iria Azores for one of the most stunning look outs on the island.
Next up, we drove to the historically active volcanic complex of Furnas. Furnas also houses the most beautiful botanical garden in the archipelago and there are wild hydrangeas all over the roads.
We started with a lookout and got a panoramic view of the entire crater (Lagoa das Furnas aka Furnas Lake) on one side and then the city on the other side.
We then went down to Lake itself and walked by the geothermal fields where our lunch was being cooked. The meal, a traditional Azorean stew called Cozido Das Furnas, is usually cooked for about 6 hours in the ground, using volcanic heat.
Cozido Das Furnas has various kinds of meats and vegetables and you can either make it yourself or eat from a restaurant that makes it... we opted for the restaurant of course and had lunch at Vale Das Furnas (lunch was included in the tour). I also had honey custard cake and green wine.
After lunch, the tour gave the choice of bathing in geothermal hot springs or visiting the geothermal fields and tasting the sparkling waters... I chose the bath. Miguel dropped 3 off the guests and 1 at Poca Da Dona Beija for our bath then took a couple to the fields.
Due to the volcanic activity in the area, there are a few geothermal pools in Furnas and they are all high in iron which historically provides therapeutic measures in combating anemia, allergies, and parasitic diseases, allegedly. Per the pool's website, "the mineral properties of the clay/mud found in the Dona Beija thermal pools make them suitable for pelotherapy."
Entry to the hot springs was €8 (not covered in tour fee). We could also pay a locker fee of €2, which I did, but you honestly don’t need it because entry fee comes with a free basket and there are changing rooms. You can also rent a towel for an additional fee. In order to regulate traffic, you can only stay there for 1hr 30mins max, per payment. Dona Beija has 4 pools with varying temperatures and best believe, I went into all of them, for 20 mins each. It is recommended to not rinse or wash off immediately after the bath in order to allow the iron properties penetrate your skin. Therefore, be mindful not to wear light colored clothing or take a white towel because they will be stained with yellow and I don't know if it will wash off.
After our bath, Miguel drove us to the dazzling water fall called Ribeira dos Caldeiroes.
From here, we drove to Nordeste, the most rugged and forested part of the island. We stopped at a viewpoint (miradoura) called Miradouro da Ponta do Sossego. It offers a stunning ocean views from the mountainside botanical gardens.
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Finally, Miguel drove us home. I showered, took a nap and went to look for dinner with a new friend. We actually didn't know where to go and just walked around the cobbled streets of the city center, past shops, bars and restaurants until we found something promising. We stumbled on Taberna Acor, afound a super fun restaurant and bar with incredible service, really good food and wine. Unfortunately, we decided to wing it and order random things from the menu but somehow ended up ordering 3 different versions of the same thing - bread, cheese and bacon/ham/preserve. It was delicious but honestly kind of a miss because I would have liked to try a variety of foods. All 3 incuding 2 glasses of wine cost us 17 euros.
The next day, I had planned on having a super slow day, faffing about Ponta Delgada at a chill pace and eating my heart out. However, I outdid myself by socializing at breakfast and next thing I knew, I was on the bus to Cha Gorreana (aka Gorreana Tea Factory/Plantation) with another new friend.
The bus ride was only €3.70 and it took about 30 minutes to get to Sao Bras-Rua and then another 17minutes of walking to get to the plantation. It was a pretty walk and totally worth it because there are several wild hydrangeas on the road. You can choose to rent a car to go there because of the lack of access but I didn't think that was worth it.
The tea plantation is a family business that has been in operation since 1883, it is the oldest tea plantation in Europe.
When you get in, you can get a tour or walk around yourself. You get to walk past the tea leave sifting and drying process then have free tastings of 3 teas as you watch a video of the history, if you like.
Afterwards, there’s a little store at the end where you can buy a variety of their teas, knickknacks and ice-cream. I bought a pack of lemon tea and had green tea ice cream on the patio, overlooking a corner of the plantation and the ocean on the horizon. Tbh, it tasted like frozen sugar free tea… not impressed, not recommended.
We then walked an hour through the plantation. The views were great and it goes uphill so be sure to wear good walking shoes.
Afterwards, we took a leisurely 20 minutes to Maia and took the 5:25 bus back to Ponta Delgado. We were pleasantly surprised by farms and panoramic views of Maia on the walk and I couldn’t have been happier.
For dinner, we went to the famous Atasca and of course had an hour long wait. While waiting, we went to the Prince of Cheese, a cheese shop around the corner, known for selling Portuguese cheese and letting you get free tastings of most. I tired some cheese and bought some snacks.
Dinner was quite honestly underwhelming and I would not recommend going to A Tasca at all. However, if you want to go for the hype, the only thing I recommend having is the Acorda de Camaroa (a Portuguese dish made with bread, poached egg, shrimp and herbs) - they add the egg table side and mix it up before serving. We also got octopus but it was way too soft (I read on Yelp that someone else had the same problem) and the fish of the day was just very basic grilled, salted fish though the side salad was yummy. A bottle of wine washed our tears away, of course.
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| Cobbled streets of Ponta Delgada |
I 100% recommend going to the Azores! If you can help it, stay longer and visit as many of the 9 islands as you can. If you have only a few days, either rent a car and drive around yourself or book the eastern tour one day, the western tour the next day and save one day for rest/leisurely exploration.
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| Igreja Matriz De São Sebastião |
***I used credit card points to refund myself for my Airbnb apartment, the Airbnb tour ($80), and to pay for the $711 flight to Porto with $0 in taxes and fees (all thanks to my Chase Sapphire Preferred card - I wasn’t paid for this). I however, paid €138 from Porto to Sao Miguel but you can certainly find a cheaper flight if you plan ahead.
