Which Azores Island to Visit? Compare All 9 and Find Your Match

The largest and liveliest island packs the archipelago’s greatest hits into one place: the twin lakes of Sete Cidades, wild Lagoa do Fogo, the hot springs and fumaroles of Furnas, Europe’s only tea plantations and Ponta Delgada, the biggest town. It has the most flights, hotels and restaurants, and the widest choice of tours.

• Best for: first-timers, hot springs, crater lakes, food, whale watching, families.
• Skip if: you want empty roads in August; the famous viewpoints get busy.
• Stay: 4–7 nights. Getting there: direct flights from Lisbon, Porto, several European cities and the US/Canada east coast.

The cultural island. Angra do Heroísmo is a UNESCO World Heritage city with the finest streets and churches in the Azores, and inland you can walk down into Algar do Carvão, a lava tube inside an extinct volcano. From spring to autumn, villages hold Holy Spirit festivals and bullfights on a rope almost every weekend, and the food is some of the best in the islands.

• Best for: history and towns, festivals, food, lava caves, a second island after São Miguel.
• Skip if: you only care about beaches or hot springs.
• Stay: 3–4 nights. Getting there: Lajes airport has flights from Lisbon and some international routes; about 40 minutes from São Miguel.

Dominated by Mount Pico, at 2,351 m the highest point in Portugal and a classic sunrise climb. Below it, black lava-stone walls enclose UNESCO-listed vineyards, and the old whaling towns are now the best base in the Azores for seeing sperm whales and dolphins.

• Best for: climbing a volcano, wine, whale watching, lava-rock swimming pools.
• Skip if: you want lively towns and lots of restaurants.
• Stay: 3–4 nights (one day for the mountain). Getting there: Pico airport, or a 30-minute ferry from Horta on Faial.

Named for the hydrangea hedges that turn the roads blue in summer. Horta’s marina is a stop for sailors crossing the Atlantic, who paint the harbour walls for luck. At the western tip, the Capelinhos volcano erupted in 1957–58 and left a lunar landscape you can walk across.

• Best for: sailing culture, the Capelinhos volcano, whale watching, combining with Pico.
• Skip if: you are short on time and not visiting Pico too.
• Stay: 2–3 nights. Getting there: Horta airport (flights from Lisbon and São Miguel), or the ferry from Pico.

A long blade of cliffs rising straight from the sea. At their feet lie the fajãs, flat strips of land formed by landslides and lava, some reachable only on foot. Walk down to Fajã da Caldeira de Santo Cristo for its lagoon and clams, and taste the island’s famous São Jorge cheese.

• Best for: serious hiking, cliff scenery, cheese, slow travel.
• Skip if: you have limited mobility; the best places need steep walks.
• Stay: 2–3 nights. Getting there: small airport near Velas, or ferries from Pico and Faial.

Often called the most beautiful island of all. Waterfalls pour off every cliff, crater lakes sit in the highlands and the basalt columns of Rocha dos Bordões look like organ pipes. It sits on the North American plate and is the westernmost point of Europe.

• Best for: waterfalls, wild hiking, photography, remoteness.
• Skip if: your trip is short; weather can delay flights, so leave a spare day.
• Stay: 3–4 nights. Getting there: inter-island flights only, usually via São Miguel or Terceira.

The oldest, driest and sunniest island, and the only one with real sandy beaches. Terraced vineyards tumble into São Lourenço Bay, and the red clay desert of Barreiro da Faneca looks nothing like the rest of the Azores.

• Best for: beaches, sunshine, diving, a quiet add-on to São Miguel.
• Skip if: you want big volcanic scenery and crater lakes.
• Stay: 2–3 nights. Getting there: a 30-minute flight from São Miguel; some summer flights from Lisbon.

A quiet UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of windmills, low hills and vineyards. Its highlight is Furna do Enxofre: a spiral staircase leads down inside the caldera to a cave with a sulphur lake. Finish the day in the thermal baths at Carapacho.

• Best for: slow days, a thermal spa, an unusual volcano, escaping the crowds.
• Skip if: it is your first and only island.
• Stay: 1–2 nights. Getting there: inter-island flights, mostly via Terceira.

The smallest island: one village, one road and a few hundred residents. The road climbs to the Caldeirão, a huge crater with lakes and islets inside it. Most visitors come on a day trip by boat from Flores; birdwatchers come in autumn for rare American migrants.

• Best for: a day trip from Flores, birdwatching, total remoteness.
• Skip if: you are not already going to Flores.
• Stay: a day trip, or 1 night. Getting there: boat or small plane from Flores.