I’m a little late getting around to this but I will try to post some details from our trip this past July. We kept our trip to Sao Miguel for this visit, but divided our time between the Sete Cidades region, Nordeste, and Ponta Delgada. Hands down - one of our favorite trips - food, scenery, everything. It’s drop dead gorgeous, a kind of Hawaii/Iceland vibe that’s really all its own and completely unique. With a nonstop flight from NY that’s under six hours, only a four hour time difference, and none of the crowds or heat of many popular summer vacation destinations, this was definitely a destination we will be revisiting, perhaps even next summer.
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Our first stop of note was before we left JFK. We flew SATA and were able to purchase access to the Air France lounge. I think this was about $40 per person and it was worth it. We ate like kings and queens and sat comfortably until it was time for our flight to leave. My daughter loves a buffet and this had just enough French influence to add a little novelty. You can see in one of the pictures she convinced me to get one of every single dessert to sample. Living her best life on vacation… The buffet was nothing mind-blowing, but certainly not a bad way to pass a few hours before our overnight flight. I would recommend this if you fly SATA out of JFK.
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Our very first stop in Sao Miguel was one of the pineapple plantations, Plantação Ananases A Arruda. It’s located just outside of the downtown and was great for a short detour on the way to our first lodging, since we couldn’t check in for a few hours. There isn’t much signage and we didn’t see any tours being offered, but we were kind of zombies anyway, so we didn’t mind. They have greenhouses you can visit with pineapples in different stages of growing. They also smoke the pineapples to get them to flower at the same times, and we got to see/smell that as well. You know you’re eating an Azorean pineapple if you can eat the core part that is too tough to eat on other types of pineapple. We indulged in a very sweet breakfast along with much-needed caffeine at the cute cafe in the drizzle.
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We stopped at either a Pingo Doce or Continente afterwards, and grabbed a ton of lunch and snack items, especially cheeses and tinned fish, some meats, along with beach chairs, towels, and an umbrella. We finally made it to Villa Varzea, which I highly recommend if you are visiting the Sete Cidades region. It has been lovingly restored and is in a sweet, quiet town not far from the natural attractions of Sete Cidades. We restored ourselves with a long nap, and then headed to Mosteiros to check out the black sand beach. I’ll let the pictures do the talking here. We hit up Sunset Steve’s for a burger for my daughter and cocktails for the grownups. Sunset Steve’s became our haunt for the next couple of nights, to the point where the owner recognized us by the last night. The food is nothing of note, but the view is gorgeous and the people are friendly. There are absolutely gorgeous sunset views from Mosteiros and environs.
View of Mosteiros from nearby miradouro
View of some of the Piscinas Natureis in Mosteiros
Best sunset cocktail view ever
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After an incredible breakfast at Villa Varzea, we set out on a half day tour (which ended up being about 5 hours) that we booked through them with one of their guides. She was absolutely lovely and drove us to Termas Ferarria and some of the most famous miradouros. She took us to Sao Nicolau in Sete Cidades for sandwiches (probably bifanas, can’t remember) and our first Kimas, which became my daughter’s drink of choice the rest of the trip.
Breakfast at Villa Varzea
Natural bridge at Termas Ferraria
Green lake
A little cloudy, so you don’t get the full blue/green lake effect, but still gorgeous
Hike - Boca do Inferno
We went to another natural pool and had dinner at Sunset Steve’s (looks like burgers and bifanas). Channeling @digga here in that the food thus far was not particularly thrilling but somehow perfect in its simplicity.
I mean how do you beat this view!
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One last bit for tonight, and then to be continued. The next day we had another delicious breakfast delivered in a picnic basket to our door. We went canoeing in Lagoa Azul and Lagoa Verde in the morning, and then had a fabulous meal at a very unassuming humble local spot called O Americo de Barbosa. The octopus we had there lives rent free in all three of our brains. It is the #1 thing my daughter mentions when people ask what she liked best about Portugal . I think it was braised but I honestly can’t recall, I just know that it was unlike any octopus I’ve ever had - not chewy - tender and so flavorful. We also loved the limpets, which are chewier than clams, and drenched in garlicky butter begging to be sopped up by crusty bread. My daughter sucked the heads of the shrimp. What a proud HO mama I was this day. We hit the beach again after lunch. Later that day, we went back up to Sete Cidades to have soft serve at Sao Nicolau, which our guide had heartily recommended. Never had pistachio soft serve before - it was perfect. Don’t know what we did for dinner - probably Sunset Steve’s - but we ended the night with a tap beer from a beverage truck at a miradouro for my husband, served in a glass. So fancy! And the sunset… breathtaking.
That octopus…
Lapas
More beautiful miradouros
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Such incredibly gorgeous photos!!!
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Thank you — can’t wait to read your posts!
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Your photos are indeed stunning! Looking forward to the rest!
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What a beautiful trip with your family! Exactly the kind of travel that tugs at my heartstrings.
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