The Complete Guide to São Miguel Azores
The Complete Guide to São Miguel Azores
São Miguel island Azores in Portugal is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to! My expectations were high after seeing incredible pictures online, but I was honestly blown away as we explored the island! We happen to go in the summer during the hydrangea bloom and it was truly a sight to behold! There are so many amazing things to do in Sao Miguel, but not a lot of information out there. Hopefully, this Azores guide will help you plan your visit.
Where is São Miguel IslandSão Miguel Portugal is one of 9 main islands in the Azores archipelago located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. São Miguel is the largest and most populated island in the Azores and where all flights from the US come to in the Azores first.
How to Get to São Miguel IslandGetting to São Miguel is easy. There are direct flights to São Miguel coming from Boston, New York City, and Portugal. It’s an easy flight from the US, just under 5 hours. I can get to São Miguel faster than I can get to California.
How to Get Around São Miguel Island Take a Tour
There are several great tours on São Miguel island, Azores and it can be a great way to see the island and learn about it from a local. This is a great tour that will take you to see the best sites in the island. We took a full day ATV tour and it was seriously amazing! We were able to go on a lot of little dirt side roads that we couldn’t take our rental car down.
Rent a CarWhile taking a tour of São Miguel is a great idea, renting a car is a good way to see the island at your own pace. The roads are fairly good, but windy and narrow. Check here for the best car rental São Miguel Azores rates.
Where to Stay in São Miguel Island
There are plenty of São Miguel Azores hotels and Airbnbs on the island. Since it was our anniversary, we mainly stayed in nice hotels (a rare treat for us). These were the best São Miguel hotels that we loved.
Sao Miguel Azores Hotels Furnas Boutique Hotel
We loved this unique luxury hotel in the adorable town of Furnas. It has its own thermal pools, a swimming pool, and an amazing restaurant, A Terra!
Terra Nostra Garden Hotel
Located in the Terra Nostra Park, the beautiful botanical gardens, Terra Nostra Garden Hotel is a beautiful oasis with a great location. You’ll also have full access to the natural hot springs and natural pools.
The Azor Hotel
This luxury hotel, located in downtown Ponta Delgada, was beautiful. We had a huge corner suite with gorgeous views of the ocean.
Grand Hotel Azores Atlantico
This hotel is also in Ponta Delgada and is in a great location, walkable to great restaurants and anything you want to see downtown. Honestly, the Azor and this hotel are pretty close together and I preferred the Azor. So if you have to pick, I’d choose that.
Azores Packages
If you’re looking to go to the Azores, but don’t want the hassle of booking your airfare, accommodation, car rental, or tours, AND you want to save money, then Azores Getaways has some seriously amazing packages and deals! I honestly think they are the best bang for your buck. Their prices really can’t be beaten for a package tour.
Their deals start as low as $499/person. That includes airfare, hotel, and car! Insane! And they often occasionally have sales on top of that, so keep an eye out! Click here for a list of the Azores Getaways itineraries and deals.
This Sao Miguel Island package looks amazing!
São Miguel Azores Weather
We certainly had a lot of clouds on our trip to Sao Miguel Island.
Let’s talk about the weather in São Miguel, and the Azores in general. The Azores definitely has seasons, but they are much milder than you’ll find in other parts of Europe.
How cold does it get in the Azores? Well, not that cold. Even in the dead of winter, the coldest it gets at night is in the low 50s (11-12 Celcius) and it’s in the mid-60s (17/18 Celcius) during the day. The summer temperatures are even nicer at around low 60s (17/18 Celcius) at night and mid-70s (24/26 Celcius) during the day.
So with the weather only fluctuating about 20 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year, it’s a very mild climate. However, it does rain a lot! I mean look at these pictures! All that green, all those flowers, and all those lakes? How do you think they get like that? Rain! It rained almost every day we were in the Azores in July, but there was never a crazy downpour and the light sprinkle wasn’t too cold. We found that it mostly rained in the afternoon, so it’s best to get up early and prepare for some rain later in the day.
Best time to visit Azores
What is the best month to visit the Azores? This is a tough question to answer because I think the Azores would honestly be lovely year-round, but I think visiting São Miguel especially in the summer is quite magical because of the hydrangea bloom!
If you’ve seen any pictures of the Azores before, particularly São Miguel, you’ll see massive hydrangea blooms everywhere! These gorgeous flowers, that are actually an invasive species brought over from Japan, cover the island during the summer months, turning it into a colorful island of blues, pinks, and purples. The blossoms differ in color due to the content of the soil.
The hydrangeas bloom between June and September. This is also when the weather will be warmest. We were on São Miguel in the middle of July and it did not feel crowded or touristy at all. The tour companies all seemed happy to have us there and were grateful for the tourism.
That being said, they did say that tourism is really slow there in the winter. So if you are really crowd averse, or want to save some money, It might be a good idea to visit in the off-season.
São Miguel Food
The food in the Azores totally blew me away. I had honestly never read or heard anything about Azoreean food so it was an amazing surprise. I’ve never seen a culture use fruits and vegetables in such a tasty way in almost every dish! You can read more about amazing food in my Azores Food Guide.
São Miguel RestaurantsThe great thing about the food in the Azores is that it is super affordable! We ate out at nice restaurants every night for around $30 total! Be sure to order fresh grilled fish at least once! It was amazing.
The Best Restaurants in São Miguel AzoresWe ate out every day in the Azores, with the exception of a few lunches where we just ate food from the market or a homemade sandwich with bolos & queijo, but we were on an anniversary vacation and staying in hotels, so I was NOT cooking! There were honestly not any restaurants in São Miguel that we didn’t like, but these were the standouts for us:
- À TERRA: This modern restaurant located in the Furnas Boutique Hotel combines a new era of cooking with the traditional flavors of the Azores. All of their meats and produce are sourced locally, and I promise everything is delicious! We ate here for all three meals while staying in the incredible attached hotel. I didn’t want to leave!
- Restaurante Lagoa Azul: Our tour guide took us to this restaurant near Lago Azul in Sete Cidades. It was a great place to sample tons of different Azorean cuisine from fish, beef, oxtail, and passion fruit cheesecake! It was all super yummy and affordable.
- Tasquinha Vieira: This little hidden gem in Ponta Delgada, the main city of São Miguel, was a great surprise and celebration on the last night of our visit to the Azores! Locally sourced food meets gourmet cooking for a mouthwatering combination!
This São Miguel Azores map will help you see where the main sites on the island are. Everything seems really spread out, but honestly, you won’t have longer than a 1.5-hour drive from one end of the island to the other.
The Best Things to do in São Miguel Azores
There are so many amazing things to do in São Miguel Azores! For such a tiny island, you could honestly spend an entire week or more here and have action-packed days! There are many different guided tours that you can take, or you can rent a car and explore the island on your own. I’ll tell you our favorite things we did on São Miguel.
Take a Tour of São Miguel
* This article was originally published here
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