Places: The Azores

Here’s something you might want to try almost any time of year (we went in early spring). It’s a relatively inexpensive alternative to ‘mainstream’ Europe: the Azores.

The Azorean archipelago is part of Portugal, but it sits almost in the middle of the Atlantic, 1300 miles off the coast of Lisbon. The main island is Sao Miguel, and most international flights (including from Toronto and Montreal) land in its capital, Ponta Delgado. The town itself is very walkable, and the island is very drivable. For those of us used to Canadian distances, getting around is a piece of pie. You can drive from one end of the island to the other in under 90 minutes, and a lot of that drive is on very well-maintained highways. It’s the kind of place you can often see both the north and south coast of the island from the same vantage point.

The Azores are amazingly scenic, with lush vegetation all year round. It’s not quite tropical (although Azoreans grow their own bananas and pineapple), but because it sits in the middle of the Gulf Stream, it has a ‘goldilocks’ climate- never too hot, never too cold.

The main language is Portuguese, but most signage is in both Portuguese and English, and virtually everyone in the service and tourist industry speaks English, even in the smallest towns. And if they don’t speak English (and you, as a visitor, don't speak the local language), it’s easy enough to communicate using menus, maps and apps.

Geographically, the Azores are the remnants of old volcanoes, and almost a quarter of its power comes from geothermal sources. There are hot springs (and hot water falls), and even fumaroles in the middle of some towns (you can pretty well guess where the village of Furnas gets its name). The two main industries in the Azores are tourism and farming, but it’s not the over-crowded tourist Disneyland that some places have become. For places to stay, the usual choices are available, including hotels, guest houses, AirBnB, VRBO, camping etc.  

What to expect in the Azores? Spectacular scenery, lots of eating, biking, hiking, swimming and even hang-gliding. It’s the kind of place that you can’t walk for more than 10 minutes without seeing another spectacular view of land and/or sea.

Here are some links to other sources of info for the Azores. The Guardian, VisitAzores, Lonely Planet.

 -Tom New