Escape / Portugal
How to Escape to the Azores
Azores · 8 min read
The Azores sit roughly halfway between Lisbon and New York, which explains both the isolation and the weather. Nine islands, volcanic, farmed, green to an almost cartoonish degree, and still largely undiscovered by the crowds that flattened other Atlantic destinations.
It is not a beach holiday. It is a walking, swimming, hot spring and cow field holiday, and it suits people who would rather come home rested than tanned.
Choosing your islands
Sao Miguel is the biggest and easiest, with crater lakes, thermal pools at Furnas and enough infrastructure to make a first visit simple. It deserves five days on its own.
Pico is for the mountain and the wine, Faial for the harbour town of Horta and its painted sea wall, Flores for waterfalls and near total quiet. Two islands in ten days is comfortable. Three is a lot of airport time.
The weather is part of the deal
Locals say you can get four seasons before lunch, and they are not exaggerating. Cloud will sit on the caldera all morning and then lift completely at two in the afternoon. The correct response is to keep the plan loose and drive to the other side of the island.
Bring a waterproof and stop treating rain as a ruined day. The landscape is that green for a reason, and the hot springs are considerably better in drizzle.
Thermal water and slow food
At Furnas, food is cooked underground by volcanic steam and dug out at lunchtime. Cozido das Furnas is heavy, communal and worth building a day around. Afterwards the iron rich pools at Terra Nostra will stain your swimsuit orange and be entirely worth it.
Elsewhere, look for cheese from Sao Jorge, pineapple grown under glass on Sao Miguel and tuna that was landed that morning. Restaurants are unfussy and prices remain refreshingly reasonable.
Why it works as an escape
There is very little to consume here and a great deal to look at. No queues, no set pieces, no pressure to have seen the right thing.
You come back with the specific tiredness that comes from fresh air rather than from itineraries.
