Azores

São Miguel, known as the green island, is the biggest of the nine and the one that better combines everything that makes the Azores so unique. It displays a seemingly impossible combination for such a small stretch of land, with its brilliant sunshine, generous nature, active volcanoes in which the fire of their craters is now replaced by lakes of crystal-clear water, bubbling mud lakes capable of giving new life to your body, miles and miles of hiking tracks going from a stunning view to the other and the bluest ocean with whales you can lay your eyes at and dolphins you can swim along with. The perfect preview of the incredible diversity you can find in this world made up of 9 islands that remains as pure, innocent and perfect as ever.

These are the Azores, nine islands, nine micro-worlds in the westmost point of Europe. The same Europe you thought could no longer surprise you.

• Furnas, natural parks, hot springs, mesmerizing waterfalls, reinvigorating muddy pools, lunar-like fields where local delicacies are cooked and the idyllic lagoon on the top of the volcano that gives life to it all. The Azores in a nutshell;

• Lagoa das 7 Cidades, from the tears of the blue-eyed princess and green-eyes shepherd who lived a forbidden love, two stunning lakes were born, surrounded by steep cliffs and virgin nature that complete this unforgettable scenario;

• Hike and trek the miles and miles of trails along the unique nature of the Islands, climbing volcanoes, crossing incredible lagoons, mesmerizing waterfalls and breath-taking views over the Atlantic. Jump from a dense and green forest to a truly lunar-like landscape and find out why the Azores is every hiker’s dream come true;

• Ponta Delgada, the capital, a “graceful black-and-white affair”, and the remote local reminder there’s something outsiders call the real world;

• Hop between the 5 islands of Azores’ central group and visit the UNESCO World Heritage city of Hangra do Heroísmo in Terceira, the gracious Graciosa and its windmills, face the impressive cliffs of São Jorge, try the world famous a gin and tonic at the Mecca for cross-Atlantic sailors, the Peter’s Café in Faial and conquer the top of 2000m high Pico’s volcano, the giant mountain that rises from the Atlantic;

• Give a whole new meaning to the expression “off the beaten track” and explore Europe’s westmost corner, visiting the volcanic waterfalls and lagoons of Flores and the tiny Corvo, Europe’s most isolated inhabited island and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve;

• Discover why the Azores is one of the largest whales sanctuaries in the World in a adventure in deep Atlantic waters;

• Try the varied local cuisine of simple, but intense flavours, displaying fish, seafood, local grown beef and local cheese as main attractions;

• Have a volcano as your Chef and try the typical Cozido das Furnas, a stew of all sort of meats and vegetable your mind can recall puzzled inside a big iron pot in carefully studied layers, slowly cooked 1m bellow the ground by the volcanic heat;

• Adventure in the sea of unique experiences which make your Azores experience truly unforgettable: swim with dolphins in the ocean, scuba dive (even if for the first time) in the mighty Atlantic, fish in the deep, deep sea, do canyoning, have a paragliding baptism flight or a relaxing afternoon of Golf in a course set in the midst of a powerful volcanic landscape with a luxuriant tropical vegetation.