I am finally posting about my AZORES trip! In my opinion, 2023 was the ~ year of Portugal.~ So in case you missed it, let’s bring that same energy into 2024.
Cue the backstory to paint the picture.
About five years ago, I was introduced to a top three bucket list destination contender. Settled on non-active volcanoes forested with green landscape and blue hydrangeas accompanied with geothermic ocean coves and inhabited by many, many cows is a group of islands called the Azores or sometimes referred to as the “Hawaii of Europe.” These (hidden gem) nine islands are located about six hours east of Boston in the middle of the Atlantic and are territories of Portugal. I had been saving this spot for a while because I just didn’t think I could solo travel there. Five years later, I finally decided to apply the words behind my permanent tattoo and the name of this blog, live fully, and book a solo ticket. A couple weeks later, I was talking about taking my trip at work, and actually secured a friend, Meg, to come with me there.
THIS was so ideal.
It is stated that the truth sometimes does not sell and luckily that is not the point of this space, SO my real honest take is that the Azores is not a solo travel spot. I do know multiple people who solo travelled there and really enjoyed their time, but with the purpose of seeing everywhere you want to and going to more than one island, my personal opinion is you’ve got to convince a friend. And the great news is the stunning islands make it so easy to do that.
I have so much to say about my trip and I’ve found that there is really not a lot of information online about the Azores. This made researching the trip and visiting multiple islands hard to plan. Luckily, you know a girl who went and wants to talk all about it! I’ll just separate the info up between posts. So naturally let’s start with the basics.
Language: Portuguese. On main island (Sao Miguel) and the more populated islands, English is widely spoken. HOWEVER, for some restaurants, taxis, and excursions, some only speak Portuguese. Knowing Spanish vaguely helps, these languages are very different. The people are so kind though and it is helpful to have Google translate ready to get by or know some small Portuguese phrases.
Currency: Euros. Cash was king in a lot of places with no card machines. On the main island, major card companies worked great.
Food:
– Pastry heaven (shoutout Pastel de Nata, Donas Amelias, queijadas, especies)
– Meg enjoyed a lot of interesting and delicious seafood. Unfortunately personally cannot really elaborate more on this, but I guess you have to go and check it out yourself!
– Semi-difficult to be a veggie. Options are pretty limited and hard to know before hand if the restaurant has vegetarian options.
– Harder to find sit-down restaurants because many places will close randomly and are not updated regularly on the internet.
– Great idea to just have a stash of groceries on hand. Meg and I had a lot of make-it-ourselves meals from grocery store items.
You should absolutely visit the Azores, it is hands-down top spot. But it is definitely worth doing your research before going.
NUMBER ONE ITEM OF DISCUSSION: YOU NEED A CAR. I am a public transit queen, big proponent of “just walking there,” but, ladies and gents, you cannot get by without a car. You could get around this by potentially meet people there and join whatever itinerary they are doing with the car they have. However, Meg and I ended up renting a car on every island because it was just very necessary. DO THIS WELL IN ADVANCE. Unless you can drive manual (you talented Europeans & car fanatics), you should book the cars right after you book your flight. There are limited automatic car options and waiting until you get there or booking right before your trip is really rolling the dice. Driving is low-key stressful and scary, and I am saying this just as a passenger princess. The roads are tiny, sometimes build only out of dirt/rock, and have winding mountains with one wrong direction being a cliff. However, put this aside, rent one, and just do it because you will love your life so much more. The freedom and ability to actually see all that the islands have to offer is 100% worth it.
There are nine islands and each one has something to it. Sao Miguel is the main big island and has literally everything to offer. If you are solo or only have a short amount of time, just stay here and you will still have an incredible experience. That being said, I am so glad I visited other islands. This feat is not easy and you have to plan, but it was well worth it.
The other islands we visited were Sao Jorge, Terceria, and Pico. I loved something different about each one, but overall I am so glad I visited Sao Jorge. We did not get to Flores, Santa Maria, Faial, Corvo, or Graciosa.
Second point of discussion, you have to plan. I am very much a low-key traveler now-a-days. 90% of the time I book a flight and maybe a week or two before, book the accommodation, and then I show up and see what happens. I love doing this. The Azores is just not the place for that. Pull out the planner. Better yet invite your Capricorn, Virgo, type A friend and get together a color-coordinated travel Google doc. Or follow this blog, but it’s always better incorporating your own flare. To be completely honest, I’m not sure why everything on these islands book up so far in advance other than the assumption that they are small islands with limited sources, so they fill up quickly. And they do! So find the places you are going to stay at soon after you find the car. There is a bit more flexibility in booking what you want to do, but, again, things book fast here especially if you really want to see, eat, or do something. Just book it before. *Particularly hiking Pico or any water excursion activities.
Where to stay. Okay so again, there are a smaller collection of options probably due to the capacity management on the island. I, as per usual, love staying in hostels. There are options for Airbnbs too, however, I would say keep in the mind the location of where you book it if you are not renting a car for access to transport or in general of where to park your car if you are renting. Hotels are available of course, if you prefer to spend a bit, and you probably get breakfast included at most places. (And some have some beautiful spas attached to them.) Overall, I was really happy with staying in hostels and Airbnbs. In my next post, I’ll lay out which ones we ended up staying at when I get into the itinerary of the trip. Parking was easy and it was nice to occasionally meet people. I will say compared to my other travels, meeting people would have been more challenging on any island except Sao Miguel. Again, this depends on your preference of if you want to meet people traveling or you are ready for a calm island getaway.
Lookout for the next post for a listed itinerary, but I can guarantee you that there are SO many things to do. From wineries to hiking to water sports to natural hot pools, you will absolutely find something to enjoy. We actually found that an older crowd of retirement individuals were at most touristic spots. Along with being able to go do so many activities, just the views of the islands had Meg and I with our jaws on the floor probably 98% of the time. It never got old.
These islands truly are a hidden gem, but they are becoming a lot more talked about (and understandably so.) I still felt like places we visited were not overly crowded. Our stays on the islands other than Sao Miguel were a lot less touristic; this came with pros and cons of obviously having unique experiences but with a lot less information on things to do and less markers to find places. Since popularity of these gorgeous islands is increasing, I do think this is going to change soon.
I am working to finalize my itinerary list with all the must-see places on each island and where we stayed- stay tuned!
I take my travel love list seriously and I have officially added this spot in my absolute top ten. Basically if adventure and stunning views are something you want, RUN (after a quick little plane trip) to the Azores. I cannot rave enough about it.
*Disclaimer: I have no affiliation to any business or company listed. All reviews and opinions are based on my individual experiences and are subject to change.
LIVE FULLY 