The Azores Triangle
Pico - São Jorge - Faial
The Azores Triangle
Pico - São Jorge - Faial
No, not the Bermuda triangle. That’s a region in the western Atlantic bordered by Bermuda, Puerto Rico and Miami, which became infamous for the mysterious disappearances of ships, planes and people. The Azores, however, is Europe’s westernmost outpost. Slap bang in the middle of nowhere, 1,000 miles off the coast of Portugal and consisting of 9 inhabited islands.
Mass tourism so far has eluded the Azores. No wonder. Although the climate is mild and temperate year-round, rain showers, even in the height of summer can be frequent. There are no sandy beaches in the entire archipelago (apart from
Praia de São Lourenço on Santa Maria). The cuisine is basic, the towns and villages neat the pretty, but not architecturally stunning. But the islands are a hiker’s paradise: extinct volcanoes, steep cliffs, high mountain ranges, a lush flora, and a wonderfully diverse landscape ranging from volcanic deserts to rainforests and bovine-occupied pastures. Better still, outside the peak season of July and August, the place is mercifully uncrowded with only a splattering of tourists and tour groups coming for whale watching, diving or hiking.
The main bulk of tourist activity centres around the main island of São Miguel and the Azorean capital Ponta Delgada. But we decided to venture further west to tour the triangle consisting of the islands of Faial, Pico and São Jorge, which are in close proximity to one another, thus making a little island-hopping adventure a perfectly feasible undertaking.
Horta, Faial
Trip Essentials
How to get there:
Your first port of call most like will be the international airport in Ponta Delgada on the archipelago’s main island of São Miguel, with direct links from many European cities, but also from North America including New York, Boston, Chicago or Toronto. Ryanair in particular has useful links from Lisbon and Porto. Once in Ponta Delgada, you can take advantage of SATA Airlines comprehensive network that serves each and every one of the other 8 inhabited islands. Flight times range from 30 minutes to Santa Maria, 45 minutes to Pico, São Jorge and Faial, to a little over one hour to the westernmost spots of Flores and Carvo. From São Miguel you can also get to any of the three Triangle islands by ferry, though this mode of transport is mainly used for cargo. Out here, even teenagers do their weekly commute by plane when attending the upper school in Ponta Delgada.
Where to stay and how to get around.
As a stopover when travelling back and forth to the Triangle we stayed in two boutique hotels in Ponta Delgada. On the way out we spent a night in the centrally located Hotel Insular; basic but cozy and comfortable right in the Old Town.
Just before leaving the islands, we spent another night at the Casa do Vereador, (clean, spacious, good breakfast) just just outside yet within walking distance of the Old Town.
After that, we based ourselves in the sleepy village of Madalena on the west coast of Pico Island with frequent and direct ferry links to the nearby islands of Faial (30 minutes) and São Jorge (one hour). The services are provided by Atlantico Line.
Should you wish for a little urban buzz, you could also base yourself in Horta on Faial; the only sizeable town within the triangle. But you would have to spend more time on ferries with São Jorge being a 90-minute ride away since that connection goes via Pico. We rented a modern house on the southern side of Madalena called EPI Center Pico. Check out their website. The views from the balcony are rather enticing. Highly recommended.​
Most visitors to the island tend to rent a car with the islands’ biggest provider Ilha Verde. We opted once more for a scooter, mainly for cost reasons since ferry prices are much steeper for cars. We got our runner from Pico Island Adventures, and as the name indicates, represents a one-stop-shop for vehicle rentals, whale watching, scuba diving, quad biking or mountaineering. Whatever adrenaline kick you’re after, they seem to provide it. The place has an outlet right opposite the ferry terminal in Madalena, which can be easily spotted by the many scooters that are parked outside. From there, staff will point you to the main shop in the old town of Madalena. You can simply take the scooter onto the ferry at a small surcharge but be advised that not every boat is equipped to accommodate vehicles. The friendly staff at the ferry terminal however will sort that all out for you.
Places to eat:
Ponta Delgada:
Bom Pesqueiro
Galerias das Portas do Mar, 9500-122 Ponta Delgada, Portugal
+351968808557
The highlight of our stay in Ponta Delgada. Right next to a Burger King and opposite the massive public pool facilities in the middle of the concrete 1960s marina development. They certainly delivered on the name of their establishment; fish cooked to perfection.
​Madalena, Pico:
O Ancoradouro
Areia Larga, Madalena, Portugal
+351292623490
A lovely fish restaurant about a 20 minute walk south of the village centre
Velas, São Jorge
Restaurante Açor
Largo da Matriz - Velas Ilha de São Jorge, 9800-551 Velas, Portugal
+351295432463
We ate at this restaurant perfectly placed on the village square right across the church. Seafood risotto and a flan called Molotov (I just had to try that one) did the trick.
View from Madalena on Pico towards Faial
The Azores hit the international news headlines back in 1957 following a volcanic eruption on the western fringe of Faial, which lasted for an incredible 13 months and obscured the island, but also nearby Pico and São Jorge under a cloud of ash and debris, which made agricultural production an impossibility. Livelihoods were all but destroyed and the local population faced the prospect of starvation. John F. Kennedy, back then the senator of Massachusetts sponsored the so-called Azores Immigration Act, which at first allowed 1,500 people to be rescued and brought to the United States. Eventually, a total of 4,000 people left the isles, and today, an astonishing 12 times as many people of Azorean descent live outside the archipelago, as compared to the population that stayed behind.
Ponta Delgada.
The first stop:
Ponta Delgada, São Miguel.
At the wonderfully compact toy airport, we waited patiently for a local bus to arrive, only to be informed by a car rental guy, that this local service had been discontinued. So we jumped into a taxi for the 5-minute ride into town, along the only short stretch of motorway that the islands had to offer (and boy did that taxi driver appreciated the smooth tarmac). The Azores’ capital might seem a little shabby and rough on the edges. This is not the most affluent place. Public gardens remain untendered, street sweeping cannot be described as a favourite pastime, the odd beggar or druggie asks for your spare cash, and ugly concrete tower blocks, offices and shopping arcades are often all too visible. Yet, you will also come across a beautiful old town, with many houses built out of volcanic stone, and narrow alleys leading down to shady, tree-lined squares next to the waterfront. At night, the place is undoubtedly atmospheric.
Ponta Delgada
But no beach. But hence also little tourism, apart from a noticeable number of American tour groups, for whom the Azores are within easy reach. We spend an enjoyable afternoon at the São Bra Military Fort and its collection of war and weapon paraphernalia, although I would have appreciated more information on the country’s colonial wars, its slave trade, or indeed its role during World War II, when dictator António de Oliveira Salazar settled on a position of ‘co-operative neutrality’ with the Allies in order to avoid a potential US invasion.
We were baffled by the hilariously irrelevant tourist attraction that is the Pineapple Plantation, located in a suburb of Ponta Delgada. While walking through a number of plastic covered greenhouses, visitors can take a look at the fruit in various stages of growth. Then it’s off to the shop- cum- café to sample every imaginable pineapple product from vodka to beer, ice cream, sorbet or liqueur. Or you can just consume the fruit au naturel. Well, at least the entrance was free.
Igreja Matriz de São Sebastião, Ponta Delgada
Pico Island
The island is dominated by the massive mountain of the same name (and Portugal’s highest at 2,351 m) in a shape that one would recognise from a child’s drawing. Another taxi drove us the 30 minutes or so from the airport to Madalena on the island’s western edge with fabulous views across the straight to Faial. The village is a pleasant jumble of old houses, some of them in lava stone, located around a picturesque square with a ubiquitous church which every settlement in the archipelago seems to have an identikit version of. A mid-sized harbour and ferry terminal, some shops and restaurants, and plenty of holiday homes. Nothing special but a wonderfully tranquil atmosphere.
Madalena, Pico Island
The north-western corner of the island is very arid and lava-strewn with the odd vineyard where sharp, black rocks were turned into low-lying walls to protect the vines from the elements. The craggy coastline only adds to the sense of desolation, and the landscape reminded me just a little of Lanzarote. Heading out from Madalena, you soon come across the hamlet of Lajido with an impressive collection of lava stone houses: all black, dark and spooky, especially since we did not encounter a single soul. Not even right on the shore, made accessible for swimming by concreted paths.
Lajido, Pico Island
But the landscape opened up further east around São Roque de Pico. Some greenery at last with trees and shrubs of hydrangeas and agapanthuses. A sweet little village with a ferry link over to São Jorge as well as the fantastic Whaling Museum. Back in 1942, local entrepreneurs formed a company to process everything there is to extract from these colossal mammals: from vitamins and oils to animal feed and flowers. The business took advantage of the whaling tradition of the local population. From the end of the 17th century onwards, whalers from New Bedford and Nantucket in Massachusetts often stopped along these shores to replenish supplies, but also to hire the odd locals to come along for the next hunt, who after a stint on these American vessels brought a new skill set with them back home. But on the Azores, a hard-core version of whaling emerged. Pods of whales often rested in the calmer waters of the archipelago. The islanders had a permanently manned lookout post and once a whale was spotted the poor bloke who had been hoisted up there at the beginning of a 12 hour shift, crews of 7 whalers per boat dropped whatever they were doing, ran to the harbour, jumped into their longboats and rowed like mad to rush after these giants. One harpoon alone did not kill the beast, but eventually with more harpoons spiking its body, the animal came under such stress, that its heart eventually gave in. Gruesome. Then the crew heaved the beast back to São Roque’s factory for the slaughter process to commence. In preparation of the country’s membership of the EU, the practise was forbidden by the Portuguese government in 1984. In return, the islanders were promised financial support which however failed to materialise. So, three old-time whalers staged a protest by hunting down a whale once more. That was in 1987. Since then, a 150 year old tradition lay on its side and seized to exist.
The Whaling Museum at São Roque
Onto the island’s high grounds where we drove through mist and fog along atrocious roads that the scooter was barely able to navigate on. Here, at 1,000 m above sea level the scenery was all pasture lands and cows. 2 hours ago I felt a was in the Canaries, now it was the Scottish Highlands weather included. Across the spine of the island, down toward the south coast and on to Lajes, another beautiful settlement, and once more also a former whaling station with an excellent museum showing a fabulous 40-minute US made documentary.
São Roque
Back in Madalena, we also visited the local Wine Museum on the outskirts of the village; a compact, well-curated place set up by the community in 1982 to illustrate a trade that has risen steadily in importance over the years. Wine had been cultivated on Pico ever since the 16th century; but only in very small quantities until the 1700s when landowning families on Faial were looking for ways to make this lava-stone agricultural backwater commercially viable. The land was cleared of rocks which were stacked in neat walls along the perimeters of small fields. This must have been a task of Sisyphean dimension, since all the stone walls of Pico put together would circumvent the globe twice.
Fertile soil was then shipped over from Faial, and very soon the Horta nobility realised that they had hit the jackpot. The stone walls perfectly retained warmth and acted as superb greenhouses, as long as you kept the vine rooted to the ground and did not cultivate it along hedgerows, which is the traditional method applied in continental Europe. The harvested wine was filled into barrels which were rolled down the hill to be rowed back to Horta; the only place with a harbour suitable for sea-faring vessels, and then shipped first across the archipelago, then Portugal and later Austria, Spain, France, Britain and Germany. Over time, the burgeoning trade attracted a professional class that offered a skill and income boost to a local economy that had previously relied solely on fishing and whaling.
The Wine Museum near Madalena
The excursion was a fitting end to our road trip across Pico. Stunning views, a massive mountain, varied landscapes and a fascinating history. This island is amazing.
Whilst on Pico, you might wonder whether to climb Portugal's highest mountain, the unimaginatively named Mount Pico. We did that just that: a fabulous, but also challenging hike, which I have written about in a separate post. But you need to get organised by booking your slot at the National Park authorities. And a basic fitness level might just come in handy. This is a tough climb.
São Jorge
My enthusiasm nearly (but not fully) extended to the next island on our itinerary. The first thing you notice when approaching São Jorge on the ferry is how incredibly steep the place is. Sheer vertical cliffs on all sides with precarious, hair-pin roads of often questionable quality leading to a high-lying plateau. The main settlement Velas is a quiet, yet pretty affair with some cobble stone streets and cute houses grouped – as always in these parts – around a square with a picturesque church. The second notable thing about the island that you ought to come to terms with is the word ‘Faja’. It roughly translates as belt or strip. Over the millennia, the sea nibbled away at the cliffs forming little plateaus just above sea level. Check out Faja do Ouvidor on the north coast where you can swim in rock pools. Or visit one of Europe’s few coffee plantations on the south coast, just east of Velas at Faja dos Vines.
Velas, São Jorge
We headed straight to Faja dos Cubres on the north side and rode down an impressively steep though mercifully paved road and parked the scooter where the tarmac met the sea. From there it was on foot down a dirt track frequented by quad bikes (try taking the path between 12.00 and 15.00 when the quads are banned) to Faja do Caldeira Santo Christo with a proper end of world feel; no surprise given that the only access to the outside world is by boat or on that dirt track. Yet, there’s a restaurant, but the hamlet’s main purpose seems to be its existence as a ‘get-away-from-it-all’ type retreat.
Faja dos Cubres
We ate our packed lunch sitting on the rocky beach staring into the surf whilst gradually losing all concept of time. We also ventured further upland (again, just as on Pico, pasture with cows), bracing some strong winds and drifting rain clouds and hiked another dirt track to reach the island’s highest peak called Pico de Esperanza at 1,050 m. I can’t tell you whether we had made it to the top. The drifting fog and and low clouds were just too dense.
Faja do Caldeira Santo Christo
Faial
We took an early morning ferry for the 30-minute hop from Madalena to Horta packed with day trippers, but also a sizeable number of commuters since Faial’s capital is the only proper town in the triangle, and after Ponta Delgada the second biggest settlement in the Azores. Rolling green hills, pasture lands and forests (once more with eucalyptus groves) greeted us, as did the ubiquitous agapanthus and hydrangea by the roadside. The scooter just about managed a steep climb up to 1,000 m to Caldeira, a cauldron of a volcano whose top had been blown off by an eruption about 1,000 years ago, which reduced the height of the mountain by a good 300 m. At this altitude the views were stupendous; over to São Jorge, but also across the strait where the mighty Pico Mountain rose majestically above a thin veil of clouds. The cauldron was just as spectacular. Circumventing its rim took about 2 hours, along a narrow path with steep drops of up to 400 m to the lush and verdant cauldron floor.
Caldeira, Faial
Another 30 minutes on the scooter and we reached the westernmost point of the isle at the moonscape that is the Capelinhos volcano where that infamous eruption of 1957-58 took place. Gradually and slowly, nature is reclaiming the territory with weeds spreading their seeds across a landscape stricken by volcanic ash. The contrast to the green ambience of the cauldron could not have been starker. Eery, ghostly and sculptured, but also undeniably beautiful.
Capelinhos, Faial
We rode the scooter back along Faial’s south coast to its surprisingly buzzing capital Horta. Together with Ponta Delgada it forms the administrative centre of the archipelago, with a court, plenty of civic buildings, schools, a hospital and even a university outlet researching marine biology. Plenty of jobs to keep a population of 15,000 settled on a year-round basis. The atmosphere was lively with plenty of cafes, restaurants, and shops. But Horta also has a highly interesting history. The place was of vital strategic importance in connecting mainland Portugal with its colonial possessions in Latin America and in Africa. But Faial was also essential as a stopover for cross-Atlantic sea planes (the first successful attempt was made in 1919), as well as one of the connection joints of the global cable network. You can delve into the island’s history at the fabulously low-key Horta Museum in the centre of town. It was the quirky, but also crowning glory of what has been a very memorable trip.
Horta, Faial