Azores islands: São Miguel Island – Day 1

In October 2023, we took a trip to the Azores Islands. I hadn’t known much about them until a friend found herself unexpectedly stuck on São Miguel during the COVID pandemic. What was supposed to be a one-day layover on her way to Lisbon turned into a two-week vacation on the island. She enjoyed it so much that she called it one of her most memorable vacations. From then on, the Azores became a top destination on my list.

The Azores Islands are a Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic, consisting of nine major islands: São Miguel, Santa Maria, Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico, Faial, Flores, and Corvo. For my 9-days vacation, I decided to visit four of them: São Miguel, Faial, Terceira, and Pico.

Our flight arrived early in the morning at São Miguel, landing at Ponta Delgada airport. After picking up the car and getting on the road, we were immediately greeted by a flock of cows running towards us on a narrow road. We barely avoided a collision by quickly turning onto a side road. On a side note, the milk and bread on this island turned out to be the best—and cheapest—I’ve ever had.

We made our first stop at one of the many viewpoints we’d encounter along the way: Miradouro de Santa Iria. The spot offers breathtaking views of the northern part of São Miguel Island.

From there, we headed to Gorreana Tea Factory, the only tea plantation in Europe that has been in operation since 1883.

The factory produces several types of tea. The black tea varieties include Moinha, Broken Leaf, and Orange Pekoe, while the main green tea varieties are Hysson and Encosta de Bruma.

Visitors can take a guided tour to learn about the tea production process or explore on their own. The shop offers free samples of the tea, and you can purchase tea to take home.

We just walked around, took a look at the machinery used in production and tried tea samples with cookies from the shop. I wasnt impressed by the tea, but cookies were good.

There are also two hiking trails nearby, both marked as easy and relatively short, but we decided to skip the hiking and just stroll through the tea plantation.

Our next stop was Parque de Ribeira dos Caldeirões. This park, which charges no admission fee, is a beautiful terraced landscape featuring waterfalls, hiking trails, and plenty of stunning hydrangeas.

The park has several viewpoints where you can pause and take a picture, and there are picnic and BBQ areas.

An interesting feature of the park is its water management system, which channels rainwater through the roofs of traditional buildings to help manage runoff.

After leaving the park on our way to the next destination, we made a stop at the Ponta do Arnel Lighthouse.

The road down to the Lighthouse is very steep, narrow, and full of sharp turns. There’s a sign at the top warning that it’s dangerous for vehicles, and access is not recommended. The hike down, though, is fun with incredible views. On the way down, we passed quite a few people huffing and puffing as they made their way back up. Definitely leave the heels behind for this one. To be completely honest, view from the top is more impressive than at the bottom.

Our next stop was Miradouro da Ponta do Sossego, a gorgeous lookout with a beautiful mini botanical garden and stunning views.

The trees and plants had an exotic appearance, and I spotted the biggest, fluffiest pampas grass I had ever seen.

Our final destination that day was Furnas Valley, a dormant volcanic crater. The last eruption was in 1630, but you can see the geothermal activity everywhere—steaming fumaroles, thermal pools, and mineral springs are around every corner. In the town center, you’ll find nearly 30 bubbling calderas and fumaroles, with sulfur in the air and temperatures ranging from 70°C to 100°C.

It’s so hot, people even cook food in the calderas, like boiled corn on the cob.

Around Furnas, you’ll find several spouts (20 to be precise) of fresh mineral water, which the locals call “água azeda,” or “sour water.” Each spring has its own unique taste and is believed to have healing properties.

For dinner, we visited a local restaurant and tried a traditional dish – Portuguese stew, known as cozido, is cooked in fumaroles—holes dug into the hot volcanic soil of Furnas. The stew consists of a layered pot filled with pork, beef, chicken, sausages, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and kale, all slow-cooked in the ground for about six hours.

I didn’t find the cozido as good as it sounds. Maybe each restaurant has its own recipe, and it might be incredible at some places, but in my opinion, it wasn’t worth the fuss or the money.