Travel With Me: São Miguel, The Azores (Day One)
This past September, a perfect opportunity arose: one of my best friends and long-time traveling buddies and I would both be able to have the same week free from work and (most) responsibilities, something that hadn’t happened since we took a three-week backpacking trip through Europe as fresh college graduates in 2017. After cycling through several options for our destination (Iceland was a top contender!), we settled on the Azores, an archipelago about 800 miles off the coast of Portugal. We’d come across the destination by chance many years ago after seeing it on an off-the-beaten-path recommendations list, and it had been in the back of our minds ever since. So, without further ado, this is the first installment of our travels to what is best described as the Hawai’i of Europe.
Accomodations/Rental Car: B&B In Ponta Delgada & Rental Car
One of the best decisions we made on this trip was booking a stay at Casa do Campo de São Francisco. This bed and breakfast was nestled in a beautiful row of older buildings, and though removed from the hustle and bustle of the most touristy areas of Ponta Delgada, downtown and the seaside was accessible by a short walk. The B&B itself was clean and comfortable, the staff was exceptionally kind and helpful (the owner even called a tour company for us to confirm the start time, since we don’t speak Portuguese), and the breakfasts were PHENOMENAL. There were cheeses and meats for sandwiches, fresh fruits (which are always better on islands), and the best part: pastries! The pineapple tarts were the perfect way to start our day, and the eating area overlooked a lovely garden.
As far as transportation goes, we opted for a rental car. Ridesharing like Uber and Lyft aren’t available on the islands, and taxis would have been expensive for the amount of driving we wanted to do to fully explore São Miguel. We rented through Micauto, and we had no issues with our experience! Coming from the US, driving here was fairly straightforward; the only difficulties came from how narrow some of the city streets are and how fast the locals drive on the winding roads through the countryside.
First stop: Jardim Botânico António Borges
After our overnight flight to PDL, we decided our first stop would be to see some nature before checking into the B&B. The Jardim Botânico António Borges was founded in 1861 by a wealthy citizen of Ponta Delgada, and it is now a free public park. There are tree species from across the globe, caves, and a viewpoint that you can access at the top of a restored cistern. This introduction to the island did remind me of Hawai’i, as that was the only other place I’ve ever seen Moreton Bay fig trees like the one pictured above.
Pópulo beach & Forte De S. Caetano
For lunch, we stopped by the grocery store to find some sandwiches, chips, and drinks for a little picnic lunch on the beach. This ended up being a super economical AND surprisingly yummy choice. I ate my bodyweight in these atum (tuna) sandwiches over the course of our trip. Even €2 sandwiches from the grocery in Europe rival a sandwich from Panera back home, both in terms of quality of bread and freshness of the toppings.
The Azores are volcanic islands (like Hawai’i), so it wasn’t too surprising that Pópulo Beach featured black sand. It was very windy there (and by September, the temperatures hovered in the mid-to-upper 70’s), and the waves looked a little daunting, so we just ate, read some, and listened to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack that the lifeguards were jamming to. Then we walked over to the ruins of Forte De S. Caetano, which was initially built in the late 1600s to protect the town from pirates, then used again in WWII to defend the beach with heavy artillery.
Lagoa das Sete Cidades - Vista Do Rei & Boca do Inferno
Our final excursion this first day was Lagoa das Sete Cidades, a twin lake inside a dormant volcano caldera. Legend says the lakes formed as a result of the forbidden love between a princess and a shepherd. Their farewell tears filled the lakes, one green for the princess’ green eyes, and the other blue for the shepherd’s.
We viewed the lakes from both the Vista Do Rei and Boca do Inferno viewpoints. The Vista Do Rei viewpoint is the most popular one, and you can’t miss it by the number of tourists with cars parked along the road. This viewpoint gives you the classic view of the lakes with foregrounded hydrangeas (for which São Miguel is famous). Boca do Inferno, on the other hand, can be accessed by driving to another side of the lakes and parking at Lagoa do Canário. There was a little bit of a hike to this viewpoint (only about 15 minutes), but it was well worth it. Boca do Inferno sandwiches you in the valley, which was an unreal shade of green, blanketed in mist. The lakes from this perspective seem absolutely massive, and it’s easy to see how this is the largest body of water on the island and one of São Miguel most important sources of freshwater.
On the drive home from Sete Cidades, we stopped at this random viewpoint to look out over the farms down to the ocean. We then ate dinner in Ponta Delgada at O Giro, a slightly more upscale restaurant for which we luckily didn’t need a reservation (a problem we’d run into later). We were served complimentary insert fancy Portuguese word that were essentially just potato skins and champagne to start, and for dinner, we both got fish of the day, which was a white, flaky fish served with sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and hilariously one half a cherry tomato. Fancy restaurants are always out here doing crazy things with portions.
All in all, it was beautiful end to a gorgeous first day in the Azores!
Up next: Dolphin-Sighting and Snorkeling at Vila Franca
Thanks for reading!