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Headed to Sao Miguel Azores in mid October for a week then onto Maderia for our second week.

We like to do off the beaten path stuff .

Looks like lots of great Eco tourism, hiking, gorgeous scenery etc. We will likely rent a car and do our own touring around....any must sees/ suggestions?
Thanks for anything you can share

Back in the 80s, I was lucky enough to fly into Lajes Field on the island of Terceira 6 or 7 times - I was in the military. I never stayed more than 48 hours on the island, and most the time we would land around 6 am and take off the next day.

However even in those short stays I fell in love with the Azores. The stone streets, and rock walls lining the pastures were beautiful. The people, the food, and being in the middle of the ocean all added to my experiences.

One of my fondest memories was landing very early morning (before sunrise). With no rooms available in the transit barracks, we jumped in a taxi and headed downtown to as small café (ok bar) along the seawall. As the sun rose, fishermen who had been out all-night working began to filter into the small establishment. Eating warm bread, drinking Espresso with shots of brandy on the side we joined them in broken English telling tales of the sea.

The Azores is a place where I had the feeling that the modern world was still somewhere over the horizon. Please Please Please do a trip report.

Are you going to see Nick and Monzi at the same time?

No , that would make too much sense....if only we were retired ...we are going to Kenya for a visit for two weeks in February ....still in the working world so only 2-3 weeks off at a time for now

Hi Tony.

I love your story about the Azores, we went there on honeymoon over 14 years ago and are now moving there permanently. I don't know where you are based (I'm assuming the US.) The reason I say this is that Delta is now flying daily in the summer from NYC and Boston so if you fancy a trip back, now is the time. We have a guesthouse there and would be more than happy to host you at a special military rate (my own father was in the army so this is important to us.) Just Google "Solar Branco 1885."

Ali

Hi Kim.

I am sure that you will like the Azores. It is a very much "off the beaten path type of place." Sao Miguel is the main island and I believe you can get direct flights from Canada to this island. The hiking there is quite wonderful and the food is amazing. I highly recommend the seafood (all freshly caught) as well as the steaks which are organic and so cheap for what you get!

I would recommend a car for sure to get around, if you want an automatic then you need to book this in advance! Europe uses a lot of manuals and so the automatics get booked out quite quickly. The main highways are all new and well signposted. Google maps can occasionally get things wrong but overall it is pretty easy to get around.

For more suggestions and tips, I have written a guide to the island, if you google "solarbranco guides" then it will come up. I hope that this helps you and please do feel free to email me if I can be of any help at all.

Ali,

Thank you for the heads up on Solar Branco 1885. The Azores is definitely a place I want to return with my wife. This week both my wife and I turn 62 and we celebrate our 40th anniversary, so in the very near future our travel availability time is going to go way up. I have bookmarked Solar Branco 1885 web page.

We do live in the US and when I was travelling to the Azores I was in the Coast Guard flying on USMC C130s… long story and that was many moons ago.

How hard is it to get from São Miguel to Terceira? What options are available?

TomB

Yes thank you so much for your response . We do have lots of plans to eat fresh seafood but didn’t realize beef was also good .. yummy . I see surf and turf in my future. Ward has no problem with a stick so we will get hooked up with a car when we get there and get settled . We gave a full week on Sao Miguel before heading to Madeira so will be sure to check out all the highlights . Tom I can check into your question about getting around to other islands from there . I will take lots of pictures and will do a trip report once home the first part of November . Will be freezing cold here in Eastern Canada upon our return so lots of time to figure out the picture posting thingy . Getting excited