jimfritsche204

Sep 53 min read

Azores Blog Part 1

The Beautiful Azores

Welcome to the beautiful islands of the Azores! This stunning archipelago is comprised of nine islands located in the Atlantic Ocean, 900 miles off the west coast of mainland Portugal. It’s just a two-hour flight from Lisbon and just four and half hours nonstop from Boston.

The Azores are often referred to as the “Hawaii of Europe.” I would agree, but more like Hawaii 50 years ago! It felt like stepping back in time. There are no big hotels, resorts, or large condo projects. The Azores is a total paradise for nature lovers, adventure seekers, and those wanting to be surrounded by gorgeous unspoiled volcanic nature.

The Azores offer a diverse range of experiences, and the unspoiled natural beauty will leave you in awe. From lush green landscapes, volcanic craters, sandy beaches, and naturally formed volcanic lava pools, sometimes the sheer beauty felt like sensory overload. How can so much beauty be in just one place?

From hiking along the rugged coastline to exploring the lush green interiors, there was no shortage of adventures to be had.

And the flowers? Hydrangeas everywhere and I mean everywhere. July is apparently the time to see them in full bloom, but was awed by just how wild and plentiful they grow. I also loved the wild ginger. It too grows wild and dots the hillsides with its yellow flowers.

Traveling with my longtime friend Jamie, our first thoughts of the Azores was “it’s high season August, so where were all the tourists?” Except for a few of the most-popular tourist sights—mostly on the main island of São Miguel, we never felt the crowds, lines, backups, or traffic. We kept waiting for the onslaught.

We were very glad we chose tiny cars to rent on each island. Driving narrow, two-lane roads (sometimes barely enough for two Smart cars) was challenging at times. The roads were endlessly winding with hairpin turns near sheer cliff drops. Not only winding but homes built up to the road. Thank goodness no one walked out their front door! We had to navigate steep downhills to beaches then back up those steep hills and hope that no bus or large car would be whipping around a curve. Not fun in a manual shift car. It kept us on alert and was tiresome and stressful at times. Luckily with minimal traffic, we had zero incidents and sometimes we would end up behind a tractor and just had to slow down and go with the flow.

Often it felt like there were more animals and cornstalks than people. Much of the vast open land is green pastures or crops, where cows graze and stare out over the ocean. Yes, much of this gorgeous farmland overlooks the ocean. There are no condos, mansions, or resorts grabbing up the stunning views. As of now it remains unspoiled. We hope it can stay that way.

We both agreed that vacation life on these islands seemed mostly chill. It’s pretty easy to navigate the small islands, easy to get around—with a car! Most people speak at least a bit of English. Outside the few main villages, we found restaurants and markets were very limited or non existent. So, unless we wanted to drive 30-40 minutes on winding roads over and over, we really needed to plan our meals!