Azores Itinerary: Our 5-Day Itinerary
Summer has been a whirlwind for our family complete with lots of travel and visitors. I thought I’d have this blog post up weeks ago but finally, a month after our family vacation to São Miguel in the Azores, I’m sitting down to share our trip with all of you! The 5 days we spent in the Azores were filled with some of the most breathtakingly gorgeous seaside views, thrilling hikes, animal experiences and oceanic magic. It was a destination we selected because it seemed like it would offer so much of what we loved about our Alaska family vacation — whale watching, fishing, hiking, stunning nature — but in a warmer climate. Azores Itinerary If you can believe it, the Azores first popped up on our radar thanks to ChatGPT. We asked for a list of destinations that would mesh well with our kids’ ages and our family’s interest in nature. We gravitate toward destinations that aren’t too touristy and love it when a trip includes an animal focus. Our 10-year-old son and my husband also love fishing, so a destination that offers the opportunity to fish is a huge plus. Fishing is an easy sell for me and our younger two boys when you throw in the possibility of seeing whales! The more time we poured into researching the Azores, the more and more convinced we became that these lush islands would be a great fit for a family vacation for a crew that shares a love for the outdoors and animals. From there, we began researching the heck out of the Azores and quickly narrowed our Azores itinerary down to one island: São Miguel. This decision was based on a myriad of factors, mostly centering around our desire to have a “home base†that still allowed us to see and do a lot without spending a ton of time traveling from place to place in what can be very unpredictable weather. This worked perfectly for our family and São Miguel was a fantastic choice for a family with three young kids, ages 5, 7 and 10. São Miguel in the Azores is big enough to spend days exploring but very, very easy to navigate. (Ryan and I both commented on the quality of the highways and infrastructure.) You can get from the northernmost point to the southernmost point of the island in 90 minutes. And travel from east to west is 20 minutes max! We rented a hybrid SUV and found driving ourselves to be an easy and simple way to get around São Miguel. We only had to refill our gas tank once right before we returned our car! Where Are The Azores Islands The VAST majority of comments I received when I shared our family’s plans to visit the Azores were some iteration of, “Where is that!?†The Azores are an archipelago of Portugal composed of nine volcanic islands located in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Azores Islands’ relatively remote location in the Atlantic Ocean has helped preserve a truly dramatic natural landscape, unique ecosystems, and a slower pace of life, largely untouched by mass tourism. While the Azores are a hidden gem to most Americans, the islands are relatively easy to get to from the east coast of the United States which was a big selling point for our family. (A small number of east coast flights fly direct overnight to São Miguel.) We never in a million years could’ve predicted the intense travel headaches we faced getting to São Miguel but we made it safely and our return flights back to Charlotte, while very delayed, were thankfully much smoother. (You may read about our not-so-fun travel to the Azores here: An Unexpected Two Days in Lisbon, Portugal.) How Many Days Do You Need In the Azores Personal preferences will play into this decision, as well as whether or not you wish to visit multiple islands during a visit to the Azores. For our family vacation, we planned for 6 full days but had to do a LOT of last-minute scrambling and shuffling around of our plans due to the travel headaches we experienced getting to São Miguel. We ended up spending 5 days on the island after we postponed our return flights home. We all said we could’ve used another day or two in the Azores, and that was our feeling after visiting only one island! There is simply so much to see and do and explore if you love the outdoors. What To Do in the Azores Now onto the fun stuff: What to do in the Azores!! When we were creating our Azores itinerary, our focus was primarily on planning a trip that would work well with 3 young kids, minimize car travel once we arrived on the island and allow us ample time to experience all the natural beauty São Miguel has to offer. When creating our Azores itinerary, the following activities seemed to be most popular on São Miguel: Volcanic landscapes and crater lakes Hiking trails Natural hot springs Whale and dolphin watching Black sand beaches Tea plantations Miradouros We ended up experiencing all of the above during our trip! Here’s the way our Azores itinerary unfolded: Night One: Arrive in the Azores We landed in Ponta Delgada on São Miguel in the Azores late at night and checked into the house we rented in Ribeira Grande around midnight. (The house is about a 15-20 minute drive from the airport. Nice and close!) We selected the house we did for two main reasons: Its location (central to the island and drivable everywhere) and THIS GARDEN. Incredible, right!? The owner of the home highly encouraged us to pick whatever produce we could find during our stay and we thoroughly enjoyed fresh strawberries every single day, as well as zucchini, potatoes, lettuce and onions. We loved this home and it worked well for our family, but I would strongly advise requesting the owner to drop a pin to its location if you book this home, as it can be quite challenging to find, especially at midnight! Day One: Whale Watching, Islet of Vila Franca do Campo, Hiking Whale Watching
