Azores Adventure

Begin your adventure in Ponta Delgada, the capital of São Miguel. Once a key port on transatlantic trade routes, today it’s a beautiful hub for our adventure with cobbled streets, ornate churches and harbour cafés to explore. Around 6pm, say olá to your tour leader and fellow travellers when we gather as a group for the first time to get to know one another and hear more about the journey ahead. Your leader then ensures a warm Portuguese welcome by arranging a group dinner at a local restaurant. Want more time in Ponta Delgada? Speak to your sales representative about booking pre-tour accommodation.

Set out on foot to get a feel for Ponta Delgada, the lively island capital. Our walk takes in the main landmarks, including the elegant Church of São Sebastião and the Church of Senhor Santo Cristo, home to a revered 15th-century image brought from Rome. After, we collect our bikes and ride north. Our three-hour cycle (16mi/26km) takes us to and around Pinhal da Paz with an overall elevation gain of approximately 1,483ft (452m). This forest reserve is a patchwork of native trees, gardens and open meadows, an ideal spot for a relaxed picnic lunch. In the afternoon, we visit a traditional pineapple plantation, where dozens of small greenhouses reveal each stage of the slow-growing fruit, nurtured using methods unique to São Miguel. We end the day at the António Borges Botanical Garden, created by a 19th-century visionary who filled his estate with rare and exotic species from across the world.

A 30-minute transfer takes us to Sete Cidades, one of São Miguel’s most extraordinary natural wonders and the start point of today’s hike. Our route follows the Serra Devassa Trail, a 5.5mi (9km) hike through volcanic highlands and wetland habitats. En route, we see the remnants of the Muro do Carvão aqueduct and reach Pico das Éguas for sweeping views over the island. Reaching the Grota do Inferno viewpoint, we can gaze over the magnificent twin lakes of Sete Cidades: one blue, one green. Descending to the village of Sete Cidades, we have lunch at a restaurant or a picnic lunch. That’ll be your fuel for this afternoon’s activity: kayaking/stand-up paddleboarding on Lagoa Azul and Lagoa Verde or, if you’d prefer, cycling around the water.

Today starts with a splash. Boarding boats, we head onto the Atlantic Ocean, accompanied by an expert team of lookouts, skippers and biologists in search of ocean giants. The Azores are a permanent home or site of passage for more than a third of the world’s whale and dolphin species: sperm whales, common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins and Risso’s dolphins reside here year round. Other species visit or pass through during specific seasons. Summer is the best time to see Atlantic spotted dolphins, pilot whales and striped dolphins, while spring is the best time to see migrating baleen whales, including blue whales or fin whales. The adventure lasts between 2hr 30min and three hours. Before departure, we also have a 30-minute briefing to learn about the dolphins and whales and how to respectfully observe these ocean giants. Following an unforgettable morning, the afternoon is free for you to enjoy as you wish, perhaps making a splash of your own in the hotel pool.

A scenic drive (50 minutes) along the south coast takes us to Furnas Lake. The first 3mi (5km) of today’s hike starts at the Nossa Senhora das Vitoria chapel, tracing the southern shores of the lake to a collection of hot springs (or fumaroles) where the local speciality, cozido das caldeiras, is cooked underground using geothermal heat. The second section of our hike follows a 2mi (3km) trail in Grená Park, home to emerald trees and crystalline waterfalls, before we arrive at a village for a typical cozido lunch. After, we visit Terra Nostra Garden, one of the most beautiful gardens in Europe, with more than 2,000 different trees and a thermal swimming pool where we can take a dip in the ferrous water. Continue crossing the island to the north side, where the tea plantations are located. After visiting a factory and sampling their produce, we return to Ponta Delgada.

After a 35-minute transfer, our day starts at the Salto do Cabrito trail, a 5mi (8.5km) circular route (with 1,000ft/306m elevation gain) that follows old water pipelines and forest paths via the Salto do Cabrito waterfall. Passing a disused hydroelectric plant, we cross suspension walkways and climb to viewpoints over the gorge before returning to our start point. After lunch, either at a restaurant or a picnic, we drive to 2,960ft (900m) above sea level for a glorious view over the Lagoa do Fogo nature reserve, before visiting the Caldeira Velha nature reserve to bathe in thermal pools. Finish with a 30-minute transfer back to the hotel.

We’re back on the bikes today to cycle (distance: 19.5mi/31.5km, elevation gain: 1,677ft/511m) along the south coast to Vila Franca do Campo, the first capital of the island and most important settlement in the Azores until 1522, when it was destroyed by a violent earthquake. After a short stroll through the village, with the chance to sample the local sweet pastries, Queijadas da Vila, we pause for lunch at a local restaurant or picnic. Then, we trade pedal for paddle, kayaking from Vila Franca marina to discover high cliffs, bays, and small caves. With our experienced guides, we learn some of the local legends and, if the weather permits, enjoy some snorkelling to explore beneath the surface. We transfer (25 minutes) back to the hotel and enjoy our last night together.