Travel Dates: April 2019 for 9 days
The Azores are an archipelago of nine volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean west of Portugal. Along with Madeira, the Azores are an autonomous region of Portugal. The islands are a result of tectonic activity due to their location at the intersection of the African, Eurasian, and Iberian plates. São Miguel is the largest and most populated of the islands with 140,000 people. Known as “The Green Island”, São Miguel contains some stunning, lush crater landscapes due to its volcanoes erupting and collapsing in its past. Any postcard or image search of São Miguel highlights these volcanic areas and they are arguably the main tourist draw. But upon arrival, we were surprised to find MOST of the island was drastically different than we expected (insert suspenseful music).
Having just spend a week on bustling Madeira hiking through amazing, lush, diverse landscapes, we were excited to continue our island adventures on São Miguel. Like Madeira, it is best to rent a car to allow yourself the freedom to explore the island. But unlike Madeira, São Miguel is surprisingly flat with green fields sprinkled with dairy cows as far as the eye can see. We had no idea! Yes there are still the scenic volcanic areas (which I will highlight below), but we were so surprised to find that our views while driving would be mostly cow fields! Despite not being what we expected, it was the most picturesque farmland we’ve seen which made for a pleasant surprise.
Maybe if during our research we had read that the Azores main industries are agriculture and dairy farming, we wouldn’t have been so surprised by the sprawling farmland. But once there it made sense to learn that São Miguel is home to the oldest and currently only tea plantation in Europe, Chá Gorreana. It is worth a visit to their factory as well as taking a hike through the tea fields. We also visited Arruda pineapple plantation which was neat and educational to see how pineapples are grown.
Because of its unique volcanic activity, São Miguel is home to several natural hot springs that have been made into thermal pools. We truly enjoyed soaking in the Poça da Dona Beija pools in the town of Furnas, and the Caldeira Velha pools. In fact, many of the restaurants in the town of Furnas slow cook pots of meat and vegetables in hot springs near Lagoa das Furnas, then serve it at the restaurant that night. We tried the dish at Miroma and it was pretty good!
Much of the population on São Miguel lives in and near the capital city of Ponta Delgada. As you drive around the island, it feels surprisingly underpopulated. Maybe it was because we were there in the off-season, but we kept asking ourselves “where is everyone?”. We did a few hikes where we didn’t run into a single person, just countless cows. Honestly, it’s a dream setting for hikers: well kept and signed trails with epic ocean views…but no people!
Where you do run into more travelers is at the 3 large lake areas formed from volcanic collapse. The western Sete Cidades offers a beautiful lake to admire from above and along its shore. There is the small, sleepy town of Sete Cidades which seems like mostly just a lunch stop for tour groups as they pass through.
Lagoa do Fogo is isolated high up in the center of the island. It is best experienced from the viewpoints on top, but there are also hiking trails that go down to the lake. We drove by twice and found out on the second time that even if it’s sunny by the ocean, the mountainous lake can be socked in with fog. It makes for a cool and eerie experience, but you can’t see the lake.
The picturesque Lagao das Furnas is located on the eastern part of the island next to the town of Furnas. We stayed in Furnas for a couple days and it is a pleasant small town with some good restaurants. We did an 8 mile hike from Furnas around the lake. We highly recommend this as it was very tranquil with few people around.
We imagine São Miguel would be more populated during the tourist high season. But despite not being exactly what we expected, our experience of a sleepy island with expansive views and endless cows proved to be lovely and we would recommend a visit to São Miguel.