Hiking in the Azores - São Miguel

Welcome to São Miguel, the largest island of the Azores, out in the middle of the Atlantic. A private taxi meets you at the airport and drives you to Capelas, a peaceful village on the island's north coast where you'll stay for the first two nights. The rest of the day is yours. Unpack, take a dip in the hotel pool, and breathe in the Atlantic air. From the village it's a short walk out to the black lava cliffs and the natural ocean pools, a fine first encounter with the island's lush volcanic landscape.

A private transfer takes you to the island's wild western part and the Sete Cidades caldera, one of the Azores' most iconic views. From Lagoa do Canário you hike with your gaze down into the vast crater, where two lakes lie side by side: Lagoa Verde and Lagoa Azul, the green one and the blue one. The difference in color has given rise to local legends for centuries. The lakes are connected by an elegant bridge with seven arches, according to legend a symbol of the seven lost cities of Atlantis. The trail is mostly downhill, so your thighs and knees will get a workout. The hike ends in the village of Sete Cidades, where a taxi picks you up and drives you back to the hotel.

Today's destination is the Furnas Valley in the middle of the island, but first the taxi stops at Gorreana, one of the Azores' two tea plantations and Europe's oldest still in operation. Here the tea is still cultivated, picked, and processed using traditional methods. The path winds between the carefully trimmed tea bushes, and from the higher sections you can see out over the north coast. A small country road leads down to the village of Maia, where a beautiful coastal walk takes over. The path above the ocean passes the pools where the village women once washed clothes and a series of watermills from the time when the island lived off wheat. On the way back you pass the wild beach Praia da Viola, at the foot of the waterfalls. After that, transfer to Furnas, where you'll stay for three nights.

Today you hike straight into the Furnas crater. Through lush greenery you reach the lake Lagoa das Furnas and the archipelago's active volcano, where fumaroles hiss and sulfur springs bubble. The volcano and the kitchen are closely linked here: on the shore of the lake, the stew cozido is prepared by burying it in the warm ground to simmer for hours. Feel free to taste it at one of the village's restaurants. After the hike, you can step down into the warm water of Terra Nostra Park (admission fee applies) and rinse off the day in one of the island's most famous gardens.

Today's shorter trip follows the old paths between Povoação and Ribeira Quente on the island's south coast. In the past, farm workers walked here to and from the fertile fields around Agrião. Large parts of the route lead through dense forest of fragrant pittosporum and acacia, where the light filters down between the trunks. The hike ends at Ribeira Quente's beautiful beach. The name means roughly "the warm river," and the water here is actually lukewarm thanks to hot springs from the Furnas volcano. Perfect for a dip before you return to Furnas.

After a short transfer, today's hike begins in Água de Alto. The destination is Lagoa do Fogo, the fire lake, the island's most pristine crater lake and a nature reserve. You follow a levada, an old irrigation channel, cross a geothermally active area, and climb up to the ridges, where the view opens up in all directions. This is the week's most demanding climb. The descent follows a wide mountain road back toward the coast. After that, a transfer takes you to the capital, Ponta Delgada, where you'll stay for the last two nights.

A transfer takes you to the start of Rota da Água, the water route. The trail reaches Janela do Inferno, hell's window, a vertical cliff face full of springs where the water has eroded out a cave. Take a break here and recharge before continuing past a series of mighty aqueducts, which once supplied the old liquor factory in Lagoa with water. After a transfer back to Ponta Delgada, the afternoon is free in the capital. If you want more out of the day, you can add a guided food walk or whale watching in the morning and hike in the afternoon instead (see add-ons).

After breakfast, it's time to say adeus to the Azores. About 2.5 hours before departure, a private taxi picks you up at the hotel and drives you the short distance to the airport in Ponta Delgada. If you have time to spare before then, it's enough for one last round among the city's black-and-white stone mosaics, churches, and the city gates by the harbor. Até à próxima!