São Miguel Island, Azores

Discover São Miguel Island, in Azores, Portugal

São Miguel Island, Azores
© Turismo Azores

São Miguel Island, nicknames “Ilha Verde” (Green Island) for its lush vegetation, is the largest and most popular island, offering the widest range of leisure, restaurants, and hotels in Azores. Besides, it is the only one that has a city of relative largess, and features most of the touristic facilities. In its 746,8 km² (65 km in length and between 8 and 16 in width) live around 130,000 inhabitants, more than half the people of the Archipelago.

Furnas, São Miguel Island
© Veraçor

Lagoa do Fogo
© Gustav

Miradouro de Santa Iria, Azores
© Gustav

Sete Cidades, São Miguel Island
© Gustav

Despite featuring several mid-size towns and many interesting monuments, the main touristic appeal still is nature. Its huge craters or “caldeiras” with charming lakes; the botanical gardens of Furnas or Ponta Delgada, the many lookouts over the coastline, the natural protected spaces and the vast network of hiking trails will fulfil any traveler’s wish.

Discovering the island takes between five and seven full days, and two of them are to be devoted to Ponta Delgada, the capital. It is advised to rent a car to access the eastern areas, with the charming lagoons of the Sete Cidades; Central, with the populations of Lagoa, Ribeira Grande, Caloura, and Vila Franca do Campo next to the climb to Lagoa do Fogo; and Western, with Lagoa das Furnas, Terra Nostra Botanical Garden, and the towns of Povoação and Nodeste.

The most important religious festivity in the Azores takes place in this island, in Ponta Delgada, where every year thousands gather. They are the Festivities of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres, held on the fifth sunday after Easter. Other important celebrations are the “romerías” (romeries). Around Easter, several groups of dozens of people walk around the island praying and singing in every church or hermit they find.

Western Area Tour:

To cover the western sector of the island you can depart from Ponta Delgada along the highway EN 1-1ª, and - after surrounding the runways from the João Paulo II Airport, leave Relva and the cape on your left. After seeing the horizon from Cominho Novo lookout it’s advised to take the right road to Pico do Carvão y Sete Fontes, that climb between hydrangeas, prairies and small forests. Halfway, you will find Carvão lookout, from which you can see the sea to the north and the south of the island.

A kilometres after, to the left appears the access to Lagos Empadadas, and one kilometer more, to the right, the access to Lagoa do Canário Lagoom. The road converges in another one surrounding Caldeira das Sete Cidades caldera, being advised to descend to the right to enjoy the panoramic views from the lookouts over Lagoa Azul and Lagoa de Santiago lagoons, the latter surrounded by laurel. Before going on to Sete Cidades, why not going down to Feteiras to enjoy the amazing lagoons from Vista do Rei?

The route goes down until crossing the bridge that separates Lagoas Verde and Azul lagoons. On the other side, in the town of Sete Cidades, you can rest and fill your batteries before leaving this volcanic valley full of hydrangeas, with the Cumeeriras Lookout, and fantastic views of the sea. From here, you can quickly descend to Varzea. It is advised to go back three kilometres towards Ponta Delgada along the EN 1 to follow the local road that leads to Ferraria and visit the lighthouse. A few kilometres on, its advised to visit Escalvado, from which you can see the islet, the town, and Ponta dos Mosteiros. From here you should go to the fishing town of Mosteiros, where you can taste the reich fish and seafood dishes, to then visit Bretanha. Shortly after, once you have seen Capelas, you could go back to Ponta Delgada along the EN 4.

Central Sector Tour:

The tour of the central area of São Miguel Island begins along the ER 1-1ª, stopping in São Roque and Lagoa, to then go on to Água da Pau, where it’s advised to go down to the amazing beach of Praia de Calura beach, crossing Ponta do Galera to see the dock and natural pools. The tour then goes back to the general trail that climbs to Ribeira Chã. The next stop is Vila Franca do Campo, a beautiful town with a historical centre, dock, sandy area, and natural pools; from the charming Capela da Senhora da Paz chapel (2 kilometres inland) you will get amazing panoramic views of the town, dock, and Ilhéu da Villa.

Three kilometres from Vila Franca, you will find a deviation to Furnas along a steep trail. After crossing the access to Lagoa do Congro (an hour-long trail), you get to EN 2-1ª, that goes down to Gorreana. After visiting its factory and tea plantations, you should go down to the town of Porto Formoso. From here, follow a winding road full of lookouts that ends in the circumvallation to Ribeira Grande. From the historic centre of Ribeira Grande, you should go back and cross the island to discover Caldeira Velha and the impressing Lagoa do Fogo, with its many lookouts. Once reached Alto Barrosa (947m.), you can go down to Lagoa and back to Ponta Delgada.

Eastern Sector Tour:

This is a winding and slow tour, which you should take calmly, since it does go through true mountain passes next to the sea, and has many interesting spots. We do advise that you begin early in the day. The best departing point is Ponta Delgada to Ribeira Grande along the highway and then continue along EN 1-1ª to Furnas. Near the golf course you can find Pico Ferro lookout, one of the most impressing in the island, and Salto do Cavalo lookout a kilometer beyond.

You should spend a whole morning in Furnas visiting interesting spots such as Terra Nostra Botanical Gardens, regarded as the best and largest in the Azores; the former spa, and the lagoon with the fumaroles. After having lunch, you should go on with the tour by visiting Povoação and Nordeste, surrounding Serra da Tronqueira and Planalto do Graminhais, crowned by Vara summit, a peak with 1101 metres, the tallest in the island. It is also advised that you visit the lookouts at Ponta da Madrugada and Ponta do Sosego, both with garden areas and picnic zones, considered among the most charming in the island. After recharging your batteries by visiting the charming town of Nordeste, it’s time to go back along the northeastern facet, its main attraction being the cape (after a kilometre-long deviation) and Achada Waterfall. From here only 36 kilometres remain until Ribeira Grande and 17 more to Ponta Delgada.

Azores:

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São Miguel Island, Azores

Discover São Miguel Island, in Azores, Portugal

São Miguel Island

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Azores:

Why "Portugal Travel"?

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