Hiking in the Azores: What São Miguel Is Really Like on Foot

Nine volcanic islands rise from the middle of the Atlantic, roughly 900 miles from mainland Portugal. Welcome to the Azores—an archipelago where brilliant blue hydrangeas line country roads, crater lakes fill the remnants of ancient volcanoes, and natural thermal pools bubble beneath impossibly green hillsides.

For VBT | Country Walkers Trip Designer Tricia Dowhan, that scenery is exactly what makes the new Azores Walking Tour on São Miguel Island unlike other European walking vacations. “The scenery is stunning,” says Tricia. “It’s not what you would expect. It’s very lush, it’s very green, and it’s very dramatic.”

And while São Miguel may feel worlds away despite being less than a six hour flight from New York, this six-day itinerary makes exploring the island surprisingly easy. Daily walks average three to six miles at an Easy–Moderate activity level, with routes connecting volcanic landscapes, tiny coastal villages, local food, and some of the island’s most remarkable natural wonders.

From Volcanic Craters to the Atlantic

When Tricia first visited the Azores, even she wasn’t prepared for the landscapes she encountered.

“The scenery surprised me the most,” she remembers. “I wasn’t expecting these dormant volcanoes.” What also struck her was how quickly the scenery could change: “Going from this lush volcanic crater ridge down to the sea in less than an hour.”

That contrast defines walking on São Miguel. One day might find you following a bluff high above the Atlantic; another brings you through dense greenery surrounding an ancient volcanic caldera. Hydrangeas grow so abundantly that Tricia remembers being “in awe over the miles of hedges of blue hydrangea lining the roads.”

Perhaps nowhere is the island’s volcanic beauty more striking than Sete Cidades, home to neighboring blue and green crater lakes and one of Portugal’s Seven Natural Wonders.

“I can’t pick one,” Tricia says when asked to name her favorite experience on the tour, before conceding that Sete Cidades might just take the prize. “It’s unlike any scenery I’ve ever experienced. It’s very unique.”

Even getting there makes an impression. Tricia describes ascending through the clouds with dormant green volcanoes appearing all around before finally looking down into the twin lakes below.

The island’s famously green landscapes do come with one caveat: rain is part of life here. But showers often move through as quickly as they arrive—and, as Tricia points out, they’re also responsible for the extraordinary greenery and an abundance of rainbows.

Experience São Miguel Through the People Who Call It Home

The scenery may be the first thing you notice about São Miguel, but this itinerary was designed to reveal much more.

“What sets our itinerary apart is our access to people and places that most people wouldn’t find on their own,” Tricia explains.

That begins on the very first day, when your coastal walk introduces you to the Azores’ complicated relationship with the sea. Starting from a traditional whale lookout, you'll learn about the islands’ historic whaling industry and the conservation efforts that today help protect marine wildlife. Along the way, you'll pass remnants of an old processing plant before continuing through a small village characterized by distinctive black volcanic stone and whitewashed architecture.

Later, you'll visit local chef Maria at her property in a nearby village for an introduction to Azorean cooking. Guests can participate in preparing traditional dishes—or simply watch and enjoy the experience, a glass of local wine in hand. Tricia has even arranged for a local musician to perform between courses.

Another walk leads toward Gorreana Tea Factory, where tea has been cultivated on São Miguel since the 19th century. VBT guests will learn about the production process, sample different teas, and enjoy lunch surrounded by green tea fields overlooking the Atlantic. The VBT itinerary identifies it as Europe’s oldest tea plantation.

And in Furnas, you'll meet a local cheesemaker who has taken over her family business and developed her own distinctive cheese using the mineral-rich waters of the region.

For Tricia, these encounters are essential to understanding São Miguel. The island may be rooted in tradition, but she also sees a new generation bringing fresh energy to its food and local businesses.

“There’s a lot going on, a lot of energy, a lot of younger people who are innovative intheir approach to their local business,by preserving and building on local traditions” she says.

Walk All Day, Soak All Night

São Miguel’s volcanic origins don't just create spectacular hiking terrain—they also offer a particularly appealing way to recover from it.

The final portion of the tour brings you to Furnas, the geothermal heart of the island, where steaming fumaroles, mineral-rich waters, and thermal pools are part of the landscape. Here you'll stay at the historic Terra Nostra Garden Hotel, adjacent to the renowned Terra Nostra Park. VBT guests receive exclusive 24/7 access to the park’s thermal pools. 

That means once the gardens close to the public, the experience changes completely.

“You can literally go out there at two in the morning as a hotel guest,” Tricia says. “You shuffle out in your robe and slippers and pop in to stargaze and soak up the rejuvenating minerals.”

The gardens themselves are another attraction, filled with plant species from around the world. And because you'll spend multiple nights at each of just two hotels during the land tour, there's less time spent packing and unpacking—and more time to settle into the island.

It's exactly the kind of experience Tricia had in mind when she redesigned the São Miguel itinerary: walking that's approachable for a wide range of travelers, paired with experiences that lend insight into traditions, through our local connections.

“I’ve designed the itinerary so that it’s accessible to people of most fitness levels,” she says. Trails can include dirt, rocks and roots, and potentially slippery terrain after rain, but overall Tricia describes the walking as Easy–Moderate.

And who will love it most?

“Someone who’s really into nature,” says Tricia, along with travelers interested in birding, distinctive cuisine and wine, history, and experiencing somewhere that still feels authentic and different from Europe’s more familiar destinations.

On São Miguel, that sense of discovery is around nearly every bend—from a crater rim surrounded by clouds to an Atlantic village, a family cheesemaking tradition, or a thermal pool waiting at the end of the day.

Sometimes, Europe's most memorable landscapes are the ones you never expected to discover.