Island Hopping in the Azores

Name: Island Hopping in the Azores
Brand: Exodus
Rating: 2 (1 reviews)

1 reviews

Activity Level

Easy & Moderate

Activity

Walking & Trekking

Overview

Explore 5 of the 9 islands of the Azores archipelago, a scenically varied area to explore, with each island having its own characteristics

It is hard to believe that the Azores are part of Europe. Born from the immensity of the Atlantic Ocean, this lush green archipelago of volcanic islands is a far cry from continental Portugal. The nine Islands of the Azores are Europe’s western most point located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Azores have long been known as one of the most scenically varied areas to explore, each of the nine islands has its own characteristics, from steep craters to abundant wildlife and sites of historical interest. The islands of the Azores are a paradise for walkers and nature lovers with their blue lakes bordered by flowers, dazzling views of the sea from high in the hills and lush green landscapes of ancient volcanic craters.

This 14-night island hopping holiday features the best of the Eastern and Central Islands of the Azores including Sao Miguel, Sao Jorge, Pico, Faial & Santa Maria.

Sao Miguel is famous for its beautiful landscapes and exceptional volcanic lakes. The largest of the Azorean islands it is known as Ilhe Verde – Green Island. A stunning coastline of small bays with black sand and precipitous sea cliffs interspersed with small harbours add further interest. The island features three major calderas (volcanic craters) now with lakes sparkling at the bottom. Sete Citdades even has a village at the bottom of the crater and two lakes one blue and one contrasting green.

Sao Jorge has the most-jagged coastline of the Azores Islands, with coastal cliffs surrounded at sea level by Fajas. These small flat pieces of land are formed by lava flows and are distinctive features of the Azores. Discover spectacular waterfalls, lush ravines and the chance to explore the interesting fishing village of Velas.

Pico is the most volcanic of the Azores Islands, renowned for its almost perfectly coned mountain of Pico Alto standing at 2352m, making it the highest peak in all of Portugal. Enjoy stunning walks through interesting fauna and picturesque villages. The local approach to wine production and vineyard culture has been preserved through the years, making for remarkable scenery of unique vineyards and dark grey basalt.

Faial is known as the Blue Island for the abundance of blue hydrangeas seen all over the island and due to its deep relationship with the sea, with its harbour proving important for many adventurous transatlantic sailors. Famous for its stewed octopus in wine amongst the Azoreans – you should most certainly try some! Faial island offers a contrasting picture of rich and diverse flora and a dry lunar landscape. The walking here takes you to volcanic crater rims with breath-taking views and the opportunity to explore the lighthouse and museum which shows the history of volcanic eruptions.

Santa Maria is the oldest of the Azores Islands and being the most eastern and southern island, its climate is also much drier. Due to its drier climate, Santa Maria offers unique characteristics including fascinating rock formations and stunning fauna (it is a geologists and botanist’s paradise). It also features what is considered by many to be the best beach in the Azores, Praia Formosa.

Key Information

Trip Code: W14EC
Ways to Travel: Self-Guided Holidays
Countries: Portugal

What's Included

Hotel-to-hotel accommodation
All breakfasts and 5 evening meals
Luggage transfers between hotels
Internal flights and ferries
Headwater Navigation App

12 days of Walking & Trekking

Terrain:

Walks are along dirt tracks (both broad and narrow) and minor roads with tarmac or gravel. Footpaths are marked reasonably well.

Highlights

Island hop across Sao Miguel, Sao Jorge, Pico, Faial & Santa Maria
Walk around the crater rim of legendary Sete Cidade on Sao Miguel
Discover stunning coastal cliffs on the island of Sao Jorge
Explore lava fields and vineyards on Pico with stunning panoramic views from Pico Alto
Embrace mother nature as you visit Capelinhos on the island of Faial, location of the last volcanic eruption in the Azores.
An authentic and untouched island, Santa Maria is known as the sunny isle due to its drier climate.

Itinerary

First Destination: The Azores
Next Destination: The Azores

Meals included:None

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast

Meals included:Breakfast

Meals included:Breakfast

Meals included:Breakfast

Meals included:Breakfast

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Meals included:Breakfast

Meals included:Breakfast

Meals included:Breakfast

Meals included:None

First Destination: The Azores
Next Destination: The Azores

Arrive at your hotel in Sao Miguel.

Take the bus (payable locally) to Furnas and walk to the Lagoa das Furnas. The walk starts and finishes in the attractive village of Furnas, with an optional extra walk round the village at the end. Confirmation of the volcanic origins of São Miguel is nowhere more evident than here. The picturesque Parque Terra Nostra is in the village centre, together with thermal baths.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Take the bus (payable locally) to Sete Cidades, set within the volcanic crater containing Lagoa Azul and Lagoa Verde, a must on any visit to Sao Miguel. Head up to the Vista do Rei viewpoint before either returning the way you came or taking a transfer (must be pre-arranged locally) back to Ponta Delgada.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Take the bus (payable locally) to Praia. This walk takes you from almost sea level, steeply uphill across meadows, through dense woodland, alongside a levada (water channel), and finally over heather covered mountainside to arrive at the remote shore of Lagoa do Fogo, the highest lake of Sao Miguel.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

Explore historic Ponta Delgada before departing Sao Miguel and flying to Sao Jorge, one of the greenest of the islands.

Meals included:Breakfast

A real ‘must do’ walk with great variety from misty hills, lush ravines and waterfalls to high cliffs and an insight to life on the Fajas. Plenty of places to linger by the sea for a picnic so be generous with your time in arranging return transport.

Meals included:Breakfast

An easy walk, through meadowlands to the lighthouse at the far end of São Jorge, the views from the cliffs are spectacular. Sit here for a picnic and feel the real remoteness of these islands, with possible sightings of dolphins and whales.

Meals included:Breakfast

Take the ferry over to Pico and, time-permitting, enjoy an easy walk down the lower slopes of Mount Pico with interesting lava tunnels at the start and superb views over to Faial. Or you can opt for a more adventurous walk to the top of Mount Pico (2351m) guide compulsory, best arranged in advance.

Meals included:Breakfast

Take a half day whale watching (optional extra) or take the following walk. This is a stunning walk but with mostly descents down to sea level. The first section is very easy amongst wild scenery contrasting with the second half which is mainly down through interesting vegetation and forest leading to the picturesque village of Sao Roque. This could be a superb full day walk using your extra time to explore Sao Roque, visiting its Whaling Museum and maybe having a swim in the sea.

Meals included:Breakfast

Transfer to the port of Madalana for the ferry across to Horta on Faial, check in to your hotel and take one of our walks to Rocha da Faja. This short walk is ideal as an introduction to the Fajas of the Azores.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

In good weather this is the highlight of walking on Faial. Walk around the rim of a volcano (dormant), the Caldeira crater, it is breathtaking along with views over Faial and to the ocean and islands in the distance.

Meals included:Breakfast, Dinner

This walk is superb with stunning views and an opportunity to explore two crater rims, ending at the Museum in Capelinhos showing the history of the Capelinhos eruption, which only happened just over 60 years ago. Then take an afternoon or evening flight to Santa Maria.

Meals included:Breakfast

Today is an exhilarating walk, first along the cliffs then the sea edge for the last section of the walk. It is a dream for amateur geologists and botanists with the fascinating rock formations and the profusion of plants, beautiful flowers and butterflies.

Meals included:Breakfast

Your final walk goes along the western end of the north coast and goes through lovely woodland and past the Desert, almost 8 sq km of red clay caused by pyroclastic activity. You can visit viewpoints and a picturesque isolated bay, go through fields, round a headland and along cliff tops, finally emerging into the pretty little town of Anjos where there is an imposing statue of Columbus who returned here, having discovered the New World.

Meals included:Breakfast

Dates & Prices

Skip the hassle: We’ll handle your trip from start to finish, with competitive flight prices, deposit-only payments, and full ATOL protection available.

Call us: 020 3733 5948

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Accommodation

Hotels

On this trip we use a selection of hotels on each of the islands. We use a variety of mostly 3-star hotels and guest houses throughout with en suite facilities. They may be located either in the towns themselves or in the surrounding countryside.

All prices are based on 2 persons sharing, so if there is an odd number of people travelling in your party or you are travelling alone, there will be a compulsory supplement for a single room for the tour duration.

Essential Information

The tour normally begins at the start hotel in The Azores.

Portugal

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Portugal. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/portugal
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/portugal
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/portugal/entry-requirements
• USA:  www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Portugal.html

As a certified B Corp, we’re on a mission to improve our social and environmental impact across all our adventures.

We do this through our innovative Thriving Nature, Thriving People plan.

This ‘nature positive’ approach is designed to help nature and communities thrive in harmony through practical solutions, such as reducing carbon and waste on our trips, supporting conservation projects through the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation, and rewilding 100 square metres for every Exodus traveller.

Reviews

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Brian Struszczak

Added May 2025

Disappointing

We went on this trip April/May this year and the weather was cold, very wet and very windy with the odd bit of hailstone. Headwater (to whom this self-guided trip was seconded) need to get their agents in the Azores (Melo) to tighten up the transfer arrangements made by Melo and their agents (Novo Rumo) in Faial & Pico. Buses on the islands are very few and far between and cannot realistically be used for going to the start and ends of the walks. Taxis are mentioned but this needs to be stressed more in the notes. The Cantinho do Piano “self-catering” accommodation on Sao Jorge made it quite clear that the kitchen area could be used for coffee/tea making with the cooker not to be used (it was boarded in) and not even a table supplied. Not the best for making even just your own breakfast. The Aldeia da Fonte accommodation on Pico (in a gorgeous setting) really needs to put its staff on a customer relations course – a bit like Fawlty Towers where guests seemed to be an inconvenience. On Faial, the Pousada Forte da Horta was a very nice place but its dining was not equal to this and HB could be dropped there as there are many alternatives for food in Horta. As SATA has very few planes it is NOT advisable to have a domestic flight returning to Sao Miguel on the same day as the international flight home. One lost plane caused chaos one day.

Most Inspirational Moment

Seeing a blue whale.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Self-guided

Advice for Potential Travellers

Pick your time carefully if you prefer to walk in reasonably decent weather! Avoid the Cantinho do Piano accommodation. Check reviews for the Aldeia da Fonte accommodation. Possibly not a good option for self-guided walking.

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