Amazing Azores Family Holiday

I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect much of an Azores family holiday. I only booked the flight there because it was a cheaper way to get to Madeira. I booked with Sete Azores Airlines, a Portuguese airline headquartered in the city of Ponte Delgada. It was a really good flight, with blankets and snacks onboard, such a treat after going on budget airlines like Ryanair for so long.

this …

On arrival, I instantly felt at home and happy we made it to this jewel of an island, Sao Miguel. Our hotel, the Sao Miguel Park Hotel, on Rua Manuel Augusto Amaral, in the capital city, Ponta Delgada, was just a ten-minute drive from the airport. It’s perfect for kids, offering a massive indoor and outdoor pool, as well as a restaurant on-site (although the food is not great). It offers large enough bedrooms that one doesn’t feel cramped, like hotel rooms can often make you feel.

Every night we parked all our beach toys (that we instantly acquired from the Chinese shop that is right behind the hotel) and hung our wet swimsuits on our large balcony. The hotel is near Parque Atlântico, a big shopping mall and a five-minute walk uphill from the charming main town square of Porto Delgada.

We arrived just after the towns white festival so the streets were adorned with big white statues of sea animals in white wicker hanging from the rafters. Myself and my daughter dined the first night in the sleepy alleyway just off the town square, in a cheap cafe called “TABACARIA AÇOREANA” that matched up to my expectations for cheap Portuguese prices. We had two sandwiches, a compal juice ( the most amazing natural juice sold all over Portugal) and a Sagres beer for €8.

For those considering an Azores family holiday, this destination truly offers something special for families.

After dinner we explored the library at the back of the restaurant for books. I bought a children’s book in Portuguese for €2.50 and a colouring book for Maya for one euro, and enjoyed the air conditioning while doing it. It made me realise how much I missed our much cheaper cost of living in Portugal before we had moved back to London.

The next morning Frigate Tours picked us up for an 8 hour jeep island tour. Rui the driver does on & off road excursions. It’s not a cheap tour but we were meant to be doing it with my brother and his family who had gotten delayed on arrival thanks to terrible customer service at Ryanair.

The first thing Rui taught us about was the ginger lilly flowers adorning the side of the road. He explained to us that they were introduced to the island because they secure the root of the soil – and that they are in full bloom until September hence the island being covered in them. They smell divine and you can even suck it and taste a sweet kind of honey tasting sugar in them.

While driving Rui explained that Azores has big farming fisheries – in fact it has the biggest area for fish farming in the EU and tourism is only the third biggest industry there as cattle farming comes in second. Rui said 90,000 people live on the island but there are 2 cows for every one person and given the number of cows we saw chewing the grass on the misty hillsides I could see he was not exaggerating.

Furnas is the usual place for bathing in the hot springs Rui explained but they recently found bacteria there so he took us to Termas das Caldeiras, a place opened in 1803. I paid 12 euros for my daughter and me to enter, but it was disappointing because it was overcrowded, the floors were dirty and the changing rooms were tiny. I complained to Rui but he said it was only overcrowded like this since the main hot springs at Furnas were closed.

Our next stop was the Cha Gorreana tea plantation which was opened in 1883 and is still owned by the same family. Surprisingly they use manual labour to fill the tea bags, with ladies sitting there doing it by hand while the men operate the heavy machinery.

After a half day day of driving in the hills past beautiful rivers and mountains we were ready for a break so we look lunch at the tea plantation with some free tea and for me some traditional liquor tasting.

Afterwards, we slowly drove to Furnas. This town was really the highlight of the tour—stunning views and hot springs all over. They even boil corn for you, which tastes simply amazing. We liked it so much that we bought two corns and then washed them down with sparkling water that also comes up naturally from the ground. The water has different sulphur content and coldness depending on the springs.

After we ate our corn beautiful weaver birds flew over to eat the remains, it was just amazing to be surrounded by so much natural wonder.

I asked the guide for his recommendations for restaurants, he suggested the mercado do peixe and also the Roberto restaurant both on the main road looking onto the harbour. Later that night the hotel suggested the Stage Restaurant and when my brother arrived after his disastrous Ryanair experience, we wandered down to eat in the harbour. Stage had great customer service, decent food and good prices and a lovely setting sitting among the yachts in the harbour with a breeze at sunset who could ask for more!?

Talking about sunsets the next morning we headed to Sunset beach restaurant on Populo Beach, Sunset Beach – Restaurante & Bar. This is the best and closest beach in Ponte Delgado and the water was warmer, refreshing and nice to swim in and the sand, soft lava back sand, but nice to lay on. The sea morning was amazing as was the food and views from the Sunset restaurant, which as the only restaurant there, was packed. It offers seafood and typical Portuguese dishes as well as local wine and alcohol. There are other beaches dotted along the coast but we didn’t get the chance to explore them.

Our last day we booked a tour with Denis at Azores Magictours. He was so fun and friendly and owns several vans on the island so is a good person to book with last minute. We had been very undecided how to spend our last day but he came through for us last minute. He took us to Sete Cidades located on the western side of São Miguel Island.

Sete Cidades is officially listed as one of the “7 Wonders of Portugal.” The absolute best spot to fully appreciate the breathtaking views over the mystical blue and green lakes is—by far—Vista do Rei. It is famous for its iconic twin Lake and did not let us down.

A huge abandoned hotel sits at the top of the best view there and Denis explained to us it has been bought by a developer before covid but nothing has been done with it. He’s disappointed the government haven’t bought it and turned it into an entertainment centre or view point for tourists.

After this Denis then took us around the lovely village of Sete Cidades and then into Saint Nicolau town which was in full preparation for the S. Nicolau festival. We had a snack at the only cafe in the town in Sete Cidades Rua da Igreja 20 and after a couple more stops meandered back to the hotel for more swimming in its fabulous indoor pool.

We managed to cover a lot of ground in our four days on the island but I would like to return and spend a few more perhaps in Furnes town, which we didn’t explore enough. I could see from the many places in the car that there were a lot more worthwhile natural beautiful sites to see there. Sao Miguel is only one of nine possible islands to explore in the Azores so we will certainly have to return!

Frequently Asked Questions about an Azores Family Holiday

Discover:
17 World Heritage sites in Portugal
Madeira Family Holiday
Tracing my heritage back to Madeira
Weather in Portugal – Best times to visit