The Azores, island by island.
Which crater lake is worth the early start. When the sperm whales sit off Lajes do Pico. Whether the Furnas thermal pools live up to the photographs. Every tour across the islands, reviewed.
Nine islands. Six you can book a day on.
São Miguel holds most of the archipelago’s tours and nearly all of its crater lakes. Terceira has the cave and the painted city. Pico and Faial share the whale channel between them. Flores and São Jorge are the quiet ones, and worth the extra flight.
How an Azores island hop actually goes.
Sete Cidades and Lagoa do Fogo, in one day or two.
All 163 Sete Cidades tours →
Vista do Rei looks down on the blue lake and the green one at the same time. Lagoa do Fogo sits in a deeper crater an hour east, and the road up shuts whenever the cloud drops onto the rim. These three carry the most travellers.
Down the rim on the dirt roads
Land Rovers take the gravel above Sete Cidades, drop into the old village by the water, then climb the south side of Lagoa do Fogo in the afternoon.
West São Miguel, seat and a schedule
A minibus loop that takes in both craters, the black rock at Ferraria and a tea stop, with a driver who reads the cloud and reorders the day around it.
Buggies and quads around the caldera
Gravel tracks around the Sete Cidades caldera rim, with the smaller viewpoints to yourself in the gaps between the coach stops.
The Azores tours travellers take most.
Every review →One whale boat out of Ponta Delgada carries more travellers than anything else in the archipelago. This is what follows it.
1
Whale and Dolphin Watching Trip
3-hour whale and dolphin watching from Ponta Delgada with a marine biologist, clear animal-spotting rules, and a second outing if none are seen.
From · $82
Read our review →
2
Whale Watching & Islet Boat Tour w/ Marine Biologist
from $73
3
São Miguel West: Full-Day Van Tour with Lunch
from $88
4
São Miguel West Full Day Tour with Setes Cidades Including Lunch
from $90
5
São Miguel East: Full-Day Van Tour with Lunch
from $88
6
Whale-Watching Cruise with Marine Biologist
from $76
7
São Miguel East Van Tour with Lunch: Furnas & Nordeste
from $90
8
Canyoning Experience at Ribeira Grande
from $90
Sperm whales live off the Azores all year.
Blue and fin whales pass through between March and June on the way north; sperm whales and common dolphins are here every month of the year. Boats go out from Ponta Delgada, Lajes do Pico and Horta, and a marine biologist is usually aboard.
A drowned crater, a 2,351m cone and a valley that cooks lunch.
Green hills and sea cliffs turn up all over the Atlantic. Swimming inside a volcano, climbing the highest ground in Portugal and eating stew pulled out of the earth belong to these islands.
Ilhéu de Vila Franca
Half a mile off the south coast of São Miguel a volcanic cone collapsed and the sea came in. What is left is a near-perfect ring of rock around a still green lagoon, reachable only by boat and capped at a few hundred visitors a day through summer. Kayaks and snorkel trips run all season; the little ferry out of Vila Franca do Campo takes about fifteen minutes.
- 1Islet Tour- Ilhéu de Vila Franca do Campo★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 471 reviews
- 2Vila Franca Islet: Bioligist Guided 0% Carbon e-Boat Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 420 reviews
- 3Vila Franca do Campo Islet Kayaking Experience★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 334 reviews
Mount Pico, 2,351m
The cone you see across the channel from Horta is the highest ground in Portugal, and it is a genuine climb: 1,100 metres of loose volcanic rock, five to eight hours up and back, registered at the mountain house before you start. Guides carry the tracker and read the weather, which turns at the summit without warning. Night starts are common so you top out for sunrise above the cloud.
- 1Pico Mountain Climb: Your Path to Portugal’s Highest Point★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 204 reviews
- 2Pico Mountain: Climb the Highest Point of Portugal 2351m★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 187 reviews
- 3Mount Pico Guided Climb – Summit Portugal’s Highest Peak★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 172 reviews
The Furnas pools
Furnas sits inside a live caldera and the ground leaks hot water everywhere: the ochre iron pool in the Terra Nostra garden, the small rock baths at Poça da Dona Beija, the vents down by the lake where cozido is buried at dawn and dug back out at noon. The evening sittings are the quiet ones.
- 1Night-Time Experience with Thermal baths and Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 534 reviews
- 2Furnas Night-Time Experience with Thermal baths and Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 380 reviews
- 3Biologist-guided Volcano e-Tour +Hot Springs★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 97 reviews
Furnas cooks its lunch in the ground.
The whole valley steams. Cozido pots go into holes beside the lake in the morning and come out at midday; over the ridge on the north coast the Gorreana fields are still the only tea picked in Europe; the thermal pools stay open long after dark.
São Miguel drains through its ravines, and you can climb down them.
All canyoning trips →
Canyoning Experience in Ribeira dos Caldeirões Sao Miguel -Azores
Read our review →Terceira keeps a lava chimney under a cow field.
Algar do Carvão is a volcanic vent you walk down inside, with a rainwater lake at the bottom of it. Above ground: the painted streets of Angra do Heroísmo, the Biscoitos vines grown in walled pens of black basalt, and cattle on every slope.
- 1Algar do Carvão Lava Caves Tourfrom $53
- 2Terceira Island Full-Day Tourfrom $102
- 3Terceira Island Highlights Tour – Azoresfrom $108
What a day in the Azores costs.
The whole catalogue in three price bands. A morning on the water in the Azores starts below the price of dinner.
Islet boats, town walks, thermal-pool afternoons and the short off-road runs.
The full-day island loops, whale boats with a biologist aboard, canyoning with the gear included.
Private drivers, the guided Pico summit, and two-day combinations across the islands.
Four Azores bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of the archipelago can be arranged the night before from your guesthouse. These four cannot. They run on weather windows, licensed numbers and a ferry timetable.
- 01Swim with Wild Dolphins in the Open OceanLicensed boats only, small numbers in the water at a time, and everything stops when the swell gets up.
- 02Mount Pico Guided Climb – Summit Portugal’s Highest PeakYou register at the mountain house and the number on the trail each day is capped. Summit weather closes the climb with no notice.
- 03Discover Flores – Full-Day Tour | Island of Your DreamsFlores is an extra flight from almost every itinerary and the island runs a handful of guided days. Fix the date before the ticket.
- 04Furnas Night-Time Experience with Thermal baths and DinnerThe evening thermal sittings at Furnas take a set number of tables and fill from the far end of the week.
When cloud fills the Azores crater rims, drop to sea level.
The lakes vanish into fog for entire mornings and come back by three. The answers sit lower down and mostly warm: the thermal pools at Furnas, the tea factory on the north coast, a cellar of volcanic wine, or a driver who simply reorders the day around the weather.
By island
São Miguel529 tours
Terceira153 tours
Pico42 tours
Faial34 tours
Flores6 tours
São Jorge5 tours- Every island, every tour →
The newest Azores reviews.
All recent →
Ponta Delgada to Ponta Delgada Airport (PDL) – Private Transfer
Read our review →
Janela do Inferno, Caldeira Velha Guided Hiking Tour
Read our review →
One way Ponta Delgada Juan Paolo II Airport to and from Ilha do Sao Miguel
Read our review →
Private Transfer from Angra do Heroísmo to Terceira Lajes (TER) Airport
Read our review →
Guided activity in the Heart of Azores with whales and dolphins
Read our review →
Angra do Heroísmo Food and Culture: Half-Day City Tour
Read our review →
Terceira Half Day Tour: Volcanoes & Coastlines with Pickup
Read our review →
Privat van tour Sete Cidades, Lagoa do Fogo – volcanic lakes
Read our review →
Professional Photo Session with TourGuide in Azores
Read our review →