São Miguel, Azores

Nothing hits deeper than an international trip after a long stretch of teaching. This past February, during mid-winter break, I went to an island called São Miguel. It is the biggest island that is part of the Azores. These islands are off of Portugal....and wow it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.

You probably have never heard of these islands. I was told many times that this beautiful paradise was our little secret. However, it was just too beautiful to not talk about. It also wasn't crazy expensive, so just really a 10/10 experience.

Here is what I did with pictures!

Day 1: I flew to São Miguel through Lisbon. However, there are direct flights from Boston and Toronto (so don't do what I did). We rented a car through Wayzor. It was very easy to book through them and I would definitely recommend renting a car. Having the flexibility with a car is really helpful. I stayed at a hotel called Casa Do Mercado. It was in Ponta Delgada. The hotel was very nice and Ponta Delgada was very walkable. It had beautiful cobble stone streets, beautiful buildings, and a nice walkway by the ocean. We spent the first day exploring Ponta Delgada. We ate at a restaurant called A Tasca. The place had such good food and really good sangria. Just good vibes all around.

Square in Ponta Delgada

Streets of Ponta Delgada

Day 2: Today we started out by going to Pico Do Ferro. It's this beautiful lookout onto this huge lake. The weather was cloudy and it was misting but it just added to the vibes (you know?). So at Pico Do Ferro, we tried to do this hike; however, we couldn't find any markers. We walked through a lot of beautiful land though (that might've been private land). It was so green and luscious. It then started pouring, but thankfully I had my adventure hat! After this, we drove to Terre Nostra Botanical Gardens. This botanical garden was insane. I've been to a lot of botanical gardens (thank you parents), but I've never seen one like this. I had never seen plants like this and it was massive and so well kept. There was a hot spring/pool however, we didn't go. We ate lunch at the hotel and I had the veggie soup and it was SO DELICIOUS. I would highly recommend splurging a bit to eat at that restaurant. After lunch, we drove to Faial Da Terra. We did the Salto Do Prego hike. Instead of going back the same way we came, we took the Sanguinho way back. You got to see abandoned houses (from not that long ago) as well as beautiful views of the ocean and cliffs. I highly recommend doing the route like this. After we drove back to our hotel and it was pretty late, so we just had subway (I know, I'm sorry!!).

way back. You got to see abandoned houses (from not that long ago) aswell as beautiful views of the ocean and cliffs. I highlight recommend doing the route like this. After we drove back to our hotel and it was pretty late, so we just had subway (I know I'm sorry!!).

Salto Do Prego Hike

Sanguinho Views

Random Hike w/ Adventure Hat

Saw a few Rainbows!

Terre Nostra Botanical Gardens

Day 3: Today we focused on the Sete Ciadades area. We started our morning by driving to Miradouro Vista Do Rei . From this viewpoint you see two beautiful lakes (twin lakes). One of the lakes is more blue and the other is more green. The view was gorgeous. There is also an abandoned hotel at the viewpoint that is under construction. After this we drove to do the Serra Devassa hike. The hike was amazing. It rained a little before we started which meant less people on the trail! You climb this hill which gives you great views and then you go back down. The scenery is amazing. You also pass this beautiful lake/pond if you take this quick detour. I would definitely recommend this hike. We then drove into the town of Sete Ciadades. You get some amazing views because you're going downhill. We ate this restaurant called Lagoa Azul. It was buffet style. If you are someone who is picky or vegetarian you may not like this place. It was packed though! After lunch, we went to the Boca de Inferno viewpoint. This viewpoint was one of the most beautiful views I've ever seen. It is a MUST SEE. Just look at the pictures, I don't know how to explain it. Back at Ponta Delgada we ate at Hamburger Suplexo which was so good!

View from the top of Serra Devassa

View from Vista Do Rei viewpoint

During the Serra Devassa Hike

View from Boca de Inferno

View from Boca De Inferno

Day 4: Oh god, this day was a lot. Well, first we had this amazing breakfast at Al Treze. It was SO AMAZING and perfect for a big hike! So this day was centered around Lagoa do Fogo. The goal of this day was to do the Praia Lagoa do Fogo hike. Except when I typed that into Google Maps it just took us to the lake...but not actually the lake...a view from the lake from the top. Now, these viewpoints were amazing; however, I was so confused where the start of the hike was. Anyways, yeah the start isn't near any of that so if you do this hike...look up the coordinates for the start. We finally found the start of the hike. This hike was so beautiful. Here's the thing, I say that about every hike. And that's because every hike was so cool. In this hike, you start off in a forest but it opens up to a valley. You walk through this valley. It's actually insane. You end up at the base of the lake. If you don't mind long hikes, you have to do this one. For dinner we went to Otaka which was fusion food. Again, amazing. The food at Ponta Delgada was just so good, everywhere we went.

Some of the beautiful plants you see on the way!

The Ending Lake!

Walking through the valley.

Day 5: We started out the day by driving to Santa Iria lookout. The weather was perfect and the sun was out. This was definitely the most beautiful lookout that we went through. From there, we drove to the Gorreana Tea Plantations. It was cool to see the the tea fields. Definitely not a must see, but if you have time, stop by! From there, not sure why we did this, but we went to this tiny beach in Porto Formoso. It was gorgeous and was in the middle of no where. From there we went to eat lunch at Tuka Tula. It was so good! Again, the food was 10/10. Lastly, we went to go see the Lighthouse Arnel. This lighthouse is a HIKE to get too. I don't recommend seeing this if you struggle with walking. Especially because when we went it wasn't open so we just looked at it from the outside. We then drove back to Ponta Delgada and we ate at Taberna Acor. This restaurant is so good. We had such good sangria and an amazing cheese board. We then walked around Ponta Delgada and enjoyed the beautiful city.

Santa Iria Lookout

Beach that we stopped by!

Tea Plantation!

Lighthouse Arnel

Day 6: We went to a pineapple plantation that was close to Ponta Delgada. I had no idea how pineapples were grown, so it was very cool to see! After this was our time to go. So sad.

Pineapples!

So that was it. Overall, the trip was so beautiful. We met people who were going island to island. So if you have more time, you should definitely do that.

A few tips to have the best trip:

- Stay in Ponta Delgada - it's convenient and a beautiful and lively city!

- Bring Layers - The weather was a little all of over the place, we thankfully barely had any rain. But still.

-Chunk the trip - If you look at how we split up the trip, we split it up by what part of the island we were exploring. This was good because we could change our schedule last minute based on the weather. Thankfully, we didn't really have any reservations since we went during the off season.

-Star what you want to do ahead of time on Google Maps and then download an offline map. You never know when you'll lose signal.

São Miguel looks literally like paradise. Everyone that we met was super friendly and helpful. The sights were gorgeous and the food was amazing. I would recommend visiting to everyone.