How long is sao miguel

This link might help you:. But once again, 4 days are only suffiecient to see some of the main attractions and not really in a relaxed way. I highly recommend you to rent a car.

We spent a week hiking and sightseeing from AM to PM every day and still missed a bunch of stuff. In hawai we rented a jeep to do the road to hana and some other sketchy drives.

Same sort of thing? No, you don't need a Jeep in S. Miguel, all sites reachable by paved roads, so a pretty standard car is ok. This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one. If you have your own car, then in my opinion there is no strict requirement to stay in Ponta Delgada.

The capital city is fine — it has some nice shopping streets with old houses — but it mostly functions as the commercial and industrial heart of the island. Despite its relatively small size it is ringed by a highway, has fast-food chains, home improvement centers, and all the rest of it.

For a lot more hiking tips, see my top hikes on the Azores. Although the Azores is not a typical beach destination due to its climate and relative lack of sandy beaches, there are nevertheless a fair number of beaches around. There are also numerous natural rocky pools and harbors where you can jump into the sea from the docks.

For a few ideas, see my list of beaches and natural pools on the Azores. Tip: pack some old swimming gear for use in the hot springs, as the iron content can leave hard-to-wash orange stains! The waters around the Azores are filled with whales and dolphins. I highly recommend heading out to sea with Moby Dick Tours in Ponta Delgada, a family-run company whose captain is truly passionate about spotting these incredible creatures.

Even the most cynical bastard will crack a big smile when seeing a pod of dolphins hopping all around the boat. Go for some freshly caught seabass, or go for something more adventurous like some gnarly barnacles, which take a little specialized hook to get the meat out. Bom apetite! Did you know that tea is grown in Europe? At the Gorreana Tea Factory, you can learn about tea cultivation on the island and how the product was brought to the Azores by two Chinese tea experts in The town of Furnas is where the secondary volcanic activity is at its most obvious.

Sulphuric steam rises up from a dozen or so vents at the center of town, lending the place a certain pungent smell as well. Consider trying the Cozida de Furnas , a stew that is slow-cooked over a volcanic steam vent for many hours.

Multiple viewpoints let you enjoy the epic view — that is, when the lake is not shrouded under a veil of mist, as is sometimes the case. A small trail leads to the lakeshore. The two volcanic lakes split by a dam in the middle can be best seen from the Boca do Inferno viewpoint. Keep in mind this is a popular drone- and selfie-spot, but you can get there early in the day for an uncrowded experience. Your itinerary was so helpful for our recent trip to Sao Miguel!

Thank you very much! We are headed to Sao Miguel for 5 days in December. Do you know anything about this hotel? It looks decent, but does not seem to have some of the charm that some of your suggestions have. Thanks very much for all of your wonderful suggestions. Cathy, Boston. Sorry for the late reply. Great choice and perfect location. Went Surfing with Azores Surf Centre. Pin them on your map! Fantastic instructors and great place to stay. Had so much fun!

This is excellent!!! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. We plan to travel there in May and will definitely take advantage of your recommendations!! Wow have you read all your reviews? You are amazing! Just wondering if I dont rent a vehicle is there another way to do all on your list? Also, I am kinda nervous driving in another country, are these trips mainly highway driving? Or dirt gravel roads? We just came back from this vacation — best 7 days EVER! Covers all the must-see points — with detail, passion and humour We fell in love with the island — and you are partially to blame!

Thank you for your blog — Obrigado! Aw Kate, thank you so much for sharing your experience. This is so informative…we are going late January and will be following this itinerary. Your post has been very informative! I just came back from 11 days Sao Miguel and I thought I would get bored…I was wrong, in fact, I want to come back and see more!

Slow paced is the best way to experience everything the island has to offer. They do research on whales as marine biologists and only act out of best interest for all cetaceans. The itinerary for Sao Miguel specially has been really helpful. Thanks for posting. I will follow the itinerary for Sao Miguel, its fantastic the details you have added. What should the rest of my trip be like, Which islands and how long.

We need to fly back on 24th from Sao Miguel so thinking 1 more day in SM. Too late of an answer, but anyone in the same scenario can have a look at my blog article which islands to visit for extra inspiration. Thanks for writing this blog, super helpful. We would land up following it in our upcoming trip :. We are planning to be on Sao Miguel Island for 5 days, and would rent a car.

Would you suggest an all wheel drive crossover? My wife and I used this guide to help plan our 3 day Sao Miguel trip and it worked wonderfully.

We cut the whale watching and tea plantation and were able to shuffle some of the other activities depending on weather and location. The trip was incredible and this guide was spot on. I would just emphasize to potential travelers the importance of renting a car. Between the views and the rally car styled roads, exploring the island by car was one of the best parts of the trip. Oh, and AirBnB is active and great on the island.

Thanks for the guide! Do you mind suggesting places to eat each day? My group will be fine packing lunch if necessary but restaurants are preferable. Thanks for all the great info! Thank you so much for this itinerary!

We were just there for 5 days. We referred to this every day and had such a wonderful time. There is still so much to see do and eat, I hope we can come back soon.

Thanks again. HEllo, we just booked two houses thru homeaway. We are stoked!!! WE will be on Sao Miguel for 10 nights…. Can you recommend other sites…. We were just in Furnas-the corn was there, though the old ladies were not. Thanks for the thoughtful itinerary! Thank you so much for the helpful guide!! Are there any options to rent a boat with nightly accommodations to visit multiple islands?

This article about Sao Miguel has made me really want to go there although it was already on my plans. Nicely explained! I guess it also appeals to me since I share the same geek travel attitude.

I have a question regarding the best time to visit the island. Thanks and keep up the brilliant work! Not the best time for whale-watching though. But still very much worth to go! We want to thank you for your awesome travel itinerary and tips. We used many of your recommendations when traveling to Sao Miguel last week. We based ourselves in Ponta Delgada and booked our rental car with Micauto excellent service! It was a great experience driving the island ourselves. Everything that you described is spot on, and I enjoyed your humor, as well!

We want to go back so badly. Thanks again and cheers! Your itinerary is amazing thank you so much for sharing and making it user friendly! How lucky you are to be from somewhere so beautiful!!! We have learned the hard way. Book book book in advance! Also, do you suggest an itinerary for Sao Jorge…or a guide book?

Looking forward to your itinerary and guide…thanks for the hard work! I believe whale watching in the islands of the central group is superior with a slightly bigger chance of sightings. Thanks so much for all of the information! Great question! Some of the spots in the eastern part of the island are remote and are more than 1-hour drive from Ponta Delgada.

We just came back from our 6 days in Sao Miguel traveling with our 3 year old and checked off most of the places on this itinerary. We had the best time and it was easier to use your tips to find places even with our car rental having a GPS system. Anyway, the island is beautiful. We hope to make it back again soon! Thanks for the update Shirley, I was there recently too. One of the best, most useful, non commercial BS and honest location guides I have ever read. Fantastic work, will be using this for our trip and many thanks for the time in making this!!

Have a great trip! Good plan, if you want to take your time and have a chilled trip leave the most remote spots for another time. This blog was literally our bible on our trip to Sao Miguel!

Not a single location was a disappointment, and all the details and directions are really helpful. We used your itinerary when we visited in June and it was perfect! It was our only source for what to do in Sao Miguel and we really appreciated all of the information. A tip I stumbled upon was we could download an offline map of the island through Google Maps. It helped us navigate the island via rental car and provided real-time directions in airplane mode. Thank again!

Thank you Jennifer for sharing your experience. This is amazing! Azores is on my bucket list and you just gave a perfect amount of description and resources to make it a reality. Thank you so much for such a helpful post!!!

We will only have about 7 nights-would you recommend staying on Sao Miguel the whole time or combining with another island and if so which island? Like you, I prefer to relax and enjoy a destination rather than rushing through a checklist! Thank you again for your help!!! Great plan! I wish i can find the same for Madeira. Have you seen something similar about Madeira? The instructions for getting to viewpoints, trailheads etc were perfect and so helpful, and your explanation and guidance on everything about car rentals, weather and everything else practical was key to making our trip so wonderful and memorable.

I also loved all the food recommendations! Otherwise you were such a big help in providing the tools for a perfect trip, so perfect that my boyfriend proposed at the end of our vacation!

Ferraria is a hit and miss and sometimes depending on the current, you can only feel the warm water in very specific spots. Hi Bruno, we just had to rebook our tickets, we were supposed to leave today and our 5 full days became three plus an evening.

What would you suggest for such an unexpectedly short trip? Great Guide Bruno. Helped me out a bunch. A note for all and if possible to add this to the guide to save others. If you Google Map Lagoa do Fogo, it takes you about 30 minutes away from where you should head. Your guide was a great help — muito obrigada for so many great tips. Lagoa do Congro is a gem!!! Hello, We are 2 Erasmus students in Lisbon.

We visited the island last week. Thank you for your excellent recommendations for Sao Miguel. We stayed 4 nights and nearly done everything you said. It was one of the best trips we had. The island is like heaven and was luckily sunny everyday we were there. Your recommendations were very helpful and your plans for each day are very detailed and logical.

Thank you once again!!! Hi a friend and I will travel here for 4 days in July Did you rent a car or scooter? If so, which company did you use and how much was it? I bought your book but am having trouble downloading the map offline.

Can you give me any advice? In sao miguel now! Wish you had a short itinerary for every location to which I want to travel!

This morning, we explored the old monte palace hotel- super awesome. By the early afternoon, a few larger buses had pulled by, and the abandoned hotel had quite a few people! Same with boca do inferno. Regardless, still a highlight of our trip. Sao miguel is a beautiful island.

The nature is gorgeous, the people and food have been great, and I love the cows!! We are staying at the Azor Hotel- also wonderful — staff, location, service, food. Thank you for your guidance!!! Also- spotazores. Sadly many spots of the islands are becoming crowded and I particularly find those big buses quite visually polluting! Thank yo so much! Amazing website you got here!

Do you think travelling towards San Miguel early October would be a good option? Whale season just about to end, but weather should be okay?

October is a shoulder season so anything can happen. We are going to Azores in June. We are going to rent a car but I am a bit nervous as I am scared of heights. Are there any roads to avoid? If there is a small stretch of land on either side of car, I am fine but I do not like to be driving on the edge of a cliff!!!!!!!

Sorry, just seen this now. Unfortunately some of the roads are on the edge of cliffs, especially on the eastern side of the island. Wow thank you so much Bruno for this amazing itinerary. Do you have any tips on Terceira by chance or know of any bloggers that do? There is a very nice, easily accessible waterfall which you can walk right up to just outside the park entrance opposite side of the road and a few smaller ones inside the park.

Great photo opportunity! An hour is easily spent here. Entrance is free so no increase to the budget! This is immediately cancelled upon delivery of the car safe and sound. We just parked, dropped the keys off at the office and caught our flight back!

For this upcoming visit, we have ore-booked a car from Ilha verde via Ryanair. That was the cheapest I could find after all my research. Bruno, Angels literally sang from heaven when I found you online! My husband and I 40s but adventurous fly into Lisbon for awhile then on to sao Miguel for A few days in May. Your itinerary and advice are perfect! Is it normally crowded on the island? Should we avoid or engage any local areas more for a cool experience? The big religious festival is Santo Cristo and tends to concentrate in Ponta Delgada only.

I have been researching for my Sao Miguel trip next month, and you shed a lot of light on how to plan. As a single traveller, I am frustrated with the tour sights pricing for singles but there are minimums, so very few tours are available to me.

It seems that a rental car is the best advice rather than hiring a full day driver. Parking in Ponta Delgada might be an issue though. This is wonderful, thank you! What is your advice for the amount of time to spend on the island. I plan to hike, swim, and enjoy the hot springs and views.

Would you recommend Fri-Wed or will Sat-Wed be sufficient time. Ciao Alice, I am planning to go to Sao Miguel from I am a girl, traveling alone and would like to go hiking, swimming and perhaps kayaking one day. What time are you there? We could perhaps hike one day together if times matches.

Enjoy your stay! Can you tell me if you think it is a nicer stay on the east or the west end of the island Beira or Nordeste? I am traveling with my family and we enjoy the beautiful sights, perhaps a small beach, relaxation and proximity to a village and a few restaurants.

Or just pick between sunrise or sunset? Hello, I am wondering if you have any advice for traveling with someone who is mobility impaired and will likely be using a wheelchair? Well obviously the hiking trails are not a good choice for you, but you can get around by car on the island honestly driving around is a great part of the experience by itself.

Tour agencies can also provide assistance. Great post!! Loved your story. Just wondering what Portuguese morning tv show are you referring to? Nellie host of GenteTV. Hi, Bruno.

You mentioned in the article 2 beaches that you prefer. I not them, who plan to swim and sunbathe fully understand that the Azores is not the right place for such activities, but nevertheless maybe you name a pair of decent beaches not far from Ponta Garca Moradia T5 , if there are some. Thanks ahead. Thanks a lot for so proper instructions. Would you be so kind to give some more pieces of advice. So perhaps you know anyone to recommend with the van for 9 passengers, cause 2 vans for 6 persons each as taxies tend to be rather pricey.

As for the tides, you can check them online too. Awesome post! Definitely going to refer to your blog as I get prepped for my trip this year. Do all the car rental companies charge an absurd deposit fee? Have you taken photos of your car to ensure that you get your deposit back? Not sure what is the standard these days, but that seems like a very high deposit indeed. Maybe try to negotiate and compare with other agencies? I am wondering if you have this more in an itinerary form. I would like to print the different locations and tips, but to print this whole article is 70 pages!

I was wondering if you have any particular restaurant recommendations in Mosteiros? Bruno Optima dica. Boas Bruno, nos vamos a sao miguel agora em marco, e nos queriamos alugar um carro. I am coming to Sao Miguel with my boyfriend for 5 days and we want to do hiking. We were wondering that we would like to stay in Ponta Delgada and an other place also? Could you recommend any other town in the island? A car rental is a must I guess? Thank you very much for this nice post, it was very helpful!

Please read the entire article, the answers to your questions are there. Yes car rental is a must in my opinion! Quit writing travel blogs.. I recommend Azul! Hey I am hoping to visit Sao Miguel in June of do you just stay on one place as a home base and travel each day to the specific places listed on the itinerary or do you go to a different place and stay there each day?

As I mention on the article, I choose a base. Thanks Bruno for all these detailed info! I know there are many hiking trails in addition to your itinerary suggestions, but do you think we will be bored in Sao Miguel for 11 days? Btw I also read your Lisbon blog posts and loved them! Lots of new insights for our Lisbon stop after the Azores… Thanks!

Alternatively, you can look into the option of ferries to go to other islands, they are cheaper, but more time-consuming. Coming from New York City, I very rarely drive. How easy are the roads to drive on? And is there always enough parking at the sights you listed? We do not drive.

Roads are narrow, on mountains and drivers pass you on blind spots, but the locals are used to it. Lovely tour, wonderful itinerary, BUT hotel recommendations are way too pricey! Thanks a lot for the feedback. Anyway I will include a cheaper alternative to my posts. Thank you so much for putting together this itinerary!

We are definitely using your guide for Sao Miguel and will be so excited to report back!! As everyone says your itinerary sounds perfect. BUT can you believe car companies are sold out for July th already??? We all much appreciate all the hard work you put into this site. Right now my mission is to secure a car. Actually I can because same thing happened last year! There are some particularly beautiful spots to stop and admire around the towns of Mosteiros , Bretanha , Santo Antonio and Capelas.

Lagoa das Furnas is back on lower, volcanic ground further east again. A detour en route to the Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Paz is essential. This beautiful church , implanted into the hills high above the town of Vila Franca do Campo , is one of the most remarkable buildings on the whole island. Tiered like a wedding cake, two symmetrical staircases lead the long climb up to the small church that sits at the top, where you meet another mesmerising Azorean view over land and ocean.

The chapel — built by Jose do Canto, the man responsible for the botanical gardens of the same name in Ponta Delgada — has a touching backstory and for a few Euros somebody will let you in to look at the delightful interior and stained glass windows. The northern end of Lagoa das Furnas is flanked by numerous calderas , the geothermal pools of molten mud that only being in an active volcano can produce.

There are even more calderas in the town of Furnas itself, parked between streets and houses, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to have molten jets of volcanic mud burping out steam into the sky all day long. The smell is best described as an acquired taste. Furnas is also home to the Terra Nostra park another of the Azores magical botanical gardens. Above it sits the park house, a grand house that sits on the site of the original summer home built by Thomas Hickling, the American who gave up Massachusetts for the Azorean way of life in the late s and who originally began the planting of the gardens that we see today.

The tiny picturesque town of Ribeira Quente is worth dropping by to sit and watch the beach and admire the few narrow terraced white streets that sit jaggedly facing the sea against the high green cliffs and hills.

Along the route are wonderful views of the valley over Faial Da Terra and the coast. The final day of our Sao Miguel itinerary begins on the eastern side of the island. The Miradouro da Ponta da Madrugada is a particular highlight as is the Miradouro da Ponta do Sossego a little further north, a beautiful view within an equally beautifully kept garden park that is not to be missed.

Just south of Nordeste is the Farol do Arnel , a lighthouse perched picturesquely on the edge of the island. The pretty town of Nordeste is the main place to stop and stroll on this side of the island. Beneath the bridge sits a small warren of winding roads flanked by typically colourful Azorean bungalows. The park is packed with dense forestry and fauna and home to a beautiful gushing waterfall, as well as a series of old stone water mills that date from the 16th century.

At the centre of the northern side of the island are its two tea plantations, the only tea plantations in Europe. Tea production on the Azores has a long history, going back to the late s having been imported by the Chinese. It has a strong reputation as a fine brew, with the Azorean soil and climate perfect for cultivating the crop. Tea Porto Formoso and Cha Gorreana are both open to visitors as are the tea plantations, with Cha Gorreana having around 50 hectares of tea plants on site.

Further along the north coast is the attractive town of Ribeira Grande , with its beautiful narrow cobbled streets and stunning central square, where the town hall, the grand theatre and beautiful old Church of Espirito Santo all stand proud.

The sea front and the small beach is the perfect place to stop and admire the view, knowing that there is nothing between here and the southern tip of Iceland 1, miles away. Forneria Sao Dinis is a relatively new but fantastic restaurant with a great Mediterranean menu with superb beef and seafood dishes. The main draw are its incredible pizzas and authentic pasta dishes. A Tasca prepares incredible traditional Azorean cuisine in a wonderfully Mediterranean atmosphere in the heart of Ponta Delgada.

A strong menu full of the freshest ingredients makes this one of the best places to eat on the island. Eating at A Tasca feels more like being at a huge family gathering than a restaurant.

Booking in advance is essential during the high season. The portions are enormous and the food is exquisite. A meal at Quinta Dos Sabores is more than just a meal. The set six course dinner, held in a large open dining room on a farm hosted by the owners and their incredibly friendly staff, is almost worth visiting Sao Miguel for on its own.

Booking ahead is required. Sao Miguel is small enough that it only takes around an hour and a half to reach the furthest point on one side of the island to the other by car.

Hiring a car also allows you to carry out your own Sao Miguel road trip and get to any part of the island easily whilst being based in just one place. To search for the best car hire deals in Sao Miguel click here. There is some public transport between Ponta Delgada and the larger towns of the island, though services are infrequent and information and timetables are hard to come by.

Taxis are also another option. Whilst it is a bit light on detail in some areas, and a bit overly focused on horticulture, it proved to be very useful on a number of occasions and it was good to at least have something to refer to.