The ultimate quick guide to Sao Miguel

Sao Miguel, also named Ilha Verde (Green Island), is the biggest and most sophisticated island of the Azores, an archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s the only place in Europe where you can find tea plantations. Not only can you swim in hot springs or at waterfalls, Sao Miguel is also the ultimate spot to go hiking. The most popular attractions are the Caldeira das Sete Cidades and the valley of Furnas. The capital Ponta Delgada is a fun town to wander around and discover some nice restaurants.

Planning your trip

You can find a lot of useful information on these websites:

Azores
Visit Azores
Azores Trails
Azores Geopark

Getting to Sao Miguel

Depending where you’re from the following airlines offer direct flights to Ponta Delgada: Air Canada, Air Transat, airberlin/NIKI, Alitalia, ArkeFly (charter), British Airways, easyJet, Jetairfly, KLM, Lufthansa, Ryanair, SATA International and TAP Portugal. It takes around three-and-a-half hours from London Gatwick/Heathrow and around four hours from Boston.

Getting around

I advise you to rent a car because this way you can drive around the complete island at your own pace. You can choose where to go and how to plan your day. There is public transport at Sao Miguel, but they don’t stop at the highlights. You could get a taxi to drive around, but this is more expensive than renting a car and the driver will only give you a limited time to explore each place.

What to see and do

Sao Miguel is the island with the most diverse landscape of the Azores, so there are a lot of different things to see and do! First of all there are a lot of craters (caldeiras) with lakes such as Sete Cidades, Furnas and Lagoa do Fogo. All the lakes are surrounded by miradouros so you get many wonderful views.

Another must do is hiking! There are so many trails on the island! I prefered hikes that lead to waterfalls such as the Salto do Prego and the Salto do Cabrito.

You don’t always have to walk for miles to enjoy breathtaking waterfalls, you can enjoy waterfalls at the Parque Natural da Ribeira dos Caldeiroes or at Caldeira Velha, where you can even swim!

You can also take a dive at the thermal water pool of the Parque Terra Nostra.

Sao Miguel is the only place in Europe where you can find tea plantations. There are two plantations that you can visit: Cha Porto Formoso and Cha Gorreana.

There are a lot of cute little churches around the island such as the Igreja Matriz De S. Sebastião at Ponta Delgada, Nossa Senhora da Paz at Vila Franca do Campo, which also offers a fantastic view of Ilhéu da Vila Franca do Campo and Nossa Senhora da Conceição.

Last but not least; Sao Miguel is the ultimate destination to spot whales and dolphins! According to the tour operators of the islands you have a 97% chance to encounter the mamals at their trips. At Sao Miguel these elusive species are spotted by people who are at a lookout on the coast. They use powerful binoculars and guide the boats from the shore to the location of the dolphins and whales.

Eat & drink

You definitely must try the pineapple or passion fruit liquor!
At Ponta Delgada I also discovered a fantastic fish restaurant at Portas do Mar named 100 Espinhas, where they not only served delicious fish plates, but also the best cocktails at a very low price!

Where to stay

I strongly recommend Hotel Talisman in the centre of Ponta Delgada where they had small but practical rooms and the best breakfast (waffles, eggs, fresh fruit,…)! The rooftop pool is a nice extra.

Getting off the island

If you have the time and money I advise you to visit other islands as well such as Flores. SATA offers flights to all the Azorean islands. Between May and September you can also take the ferry.

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