Santa Maria
Azores, Portugal
Grande Rota de Santa Maria
Circular Trail
78 km, 4 days
The Azores - often bizarrely referred to as the Hawaii of Europe – is an archipelago of 9 populated islands located about 1000 miles west of Portugal and 2000 miles east of New England; bang in the middle of the North Atlantic with Madeira and the Canaries lying further south. Santa Maria is the southernmost of the islands, around 60 miles (or a short 30 minute flight) from the archipelago’s capital Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel.
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Travelling around the island at times feels like visiting a north European garden centre, with agapanthus and blue-coloured hydrangeas growing wild on the roadside. But on occasion, Santa Maria also looks a little like Ireland with plenty of farmland, cows and sheep. Turn a corner and you might find yourself in the middle of a big cornfield, but a couple of minutes later you will encounter a bamboo grove, a banana plantation or a eucalyptus forest. Very lush and fertile, but also wonderfully varied. We fell in love with the place at once.
Praia Formosa (Stage 1)
Trip Essentials
How to get there:
Your main, in fact only international access point to the Azores is its capital Ponta Delgada on the archipelago’s biggest island Sao Miguel. There are several direct links to European capitals, as well as North American cities, including New York, Boston of Chicago. Out of season, flight connections become a little more sparse, yet Ryanair has established links from Lisbon and Porto all year round. ​
Where to stay:
Not surprisingly for such a compact island, accommodation options tend to be on the limited side. Air BnB has a number of listings in particular in and around Vila do Porto. As to hotels, we first stayed in the Hotel Colombo, perched up on a hill overlooking the airport and a 30-minute walk outside of Vila do Porto. It caters for over 200 guests and is surprisingly stylish with a minimalist décor. Slightly more expensive but very comfortable with a fabulous breakfast. We also tried the budget option at the Hotel Santa Maria, which has the enviable quality of being within a five minute walk from the airport. It also has a big outdoor swimming pool, yet the interior is a little passed its sell by date, while the staff do not always appear to be sufficiently motivated to do their jobs. Yet the rooms were spacious, clean and comfortable, the rates were very attractive and despite a poor breakfast and horrendous coffee, it did the trick for us.
Where to eat.
Just as with accommodation, there are not that many options on the island, but we still managed to come across some gems.​
Rua Dr Luis Bettencourt
Vila do Porto
+351 296 882 513
As the name suggests, this establishment is right in the centre of Vila do Porto. It is where the local town folk meet, and the restaurant offers simple, traditional dishes, but also pizza and burgers in a lively atmosphere.
Rua Dr Luis Bettencourt, Vila do Porto, + 351 296 882 213
This is when it gets a little odd. The outfit is run by a Bavarian emigrant, who brews his own, rather tasty beers, but who is also proud of his beer marmalade (a rather acquired taste). The restaurant serves classic Bavarian dishes, but also some traditional local stuff, as well as crepes, burgers and fresh fish. It all makes for a rather charming set-up.
Zone Industrial Santa Maria, Vila do Porto, +351 296 882 037
I hope this place survives. Run by a local guy from Vila do Porto, the restaurant is located in an unassuming industrial estate, surrounded by car work shops and carpet discount outfits, at the back of Vila do Porto’s sports centre. The food was fabulous and who could argue with the tasty soup of the day offered for 1.80€ (!).
How to get around.
No point on the island is further than a 20 minute car/taxi ride away. There is also a public bus service, which connects the main settlements with Vila do Porto, but is mainly geared for school children and the odd and rare commuter. We decided to rent scooters at Paraiso Radical, located in the centre of Vila do Porto and owned by Marco Carvalho and his wife Verónica.
Rua do Cotovelo
Mercado Municipal, Loja 9
+351 962 588 940
Praia de Sao Lorenco (Stage 2)
In years gone by, a ferry ran the route from Sao Miguel to Santa Maria. That trip took 4 hours, but the link was never re-instated once the Covid pandemic had subsided. Thus, travellers have little choice but to get on a 30-minute commuter plane from the international airport in Ponta Delgado. SATA airline charges locals a flat rate of 60€, which is also what we paid during our visit during the off season. During the summer months, however, prices for foreigners can easily be twice than that. During winter, SATA operates around 9 flights per week. In high season (which really only encompasses the months of July and August) that frequency increases to six per day.
Ponta do Norte (Stage 2)
But the magical scenery does not seem enough to keep younger generations on the island. Upon entering upper school at age 12, Santa Maria’s kids need to leave for Sao Miguel and after graduation, many often seek their fortunes in more populated parts of the archipelago, or indeed on the European mainland or the United States. Yet, 5,000 year round residents committed themselves to eke out a living.
Tourism therefore seems like an obvious potential source of income. But the island is far from being geared for larger number of visitors. For a start, the weather can be rather temperamental. Yes, the climate is benign, with temperatures even in January rarely falling below 10 degrees, while the summers are relatively cool with a maximum reading of 25 degrees. But the island is also subject to regular precipitation. Travellers most certainly will not encounter a wash out lasting several days, but a gentle sprinkling could happen at any time; enough to deter the sun lounger tourist brigade. Only at the height of summer does the plain on the western side of the island (where the airport and the capital Vila do Porto is located) dry out. The rest of the island stays lush, verdant and green all throughout the year.
Vila do Porto
The coastline of Santa Maria tends to be of the rocky variety. There are some pretty coves and even a sandy beach (the only one on the Azores located in São Lourenço on the east coast), but not enough to lure international hotel chains to the island. But Santa Maria is a paradise for nature enthusiasts, hikers, and even diving aficionados. The challenge for the authorities is to find the sweet spot between attracting higher numbers of tourists that could provide an increased and steady stream of income, but with rising visitor numbers kept at acceptable levels so as not to jeopardise the natural beauty that was the starting point in the first place. It’s the classic tourism conundrum. Yet on the evidence of our visit, Santa Maria is still many years away from facing this dilemma. During our four days of walking, we encountered the grand total of ten hikers. This surely will not last. Outdoor magazines and online publications in the UK, Germany or France have published articles on the SM-1, and the island might just be on the verge of a tender tourist boom.
Eucalyptus forest near Pico Alto (Stage 3)
But running a business on these shores - whether tourism or otherwise - is complicated by rather underwhelming transport links. Of course, there are the regular flight links to Ponta Delgada, but bigger items need to be transported by cargo ship. And there is only one (!) stuffed to the rim with the island’s supplies that arrives every two weeks. It has everything on it. From the spare parts for your ancient car to the espresso machine for your beloved’s birthday. No Amazon Prime next day delivery here.
Santa Maria is divided into five parishes with the charming custom that window frames and sills in each parish should be colour co-ordinated. As such, houses in the parish of Santa Barbara (which we hiked through on day 3 of our itinerary) sport blue markings, while those in the parish of Sao Pedro (which was on day 4) are yellow.
The only place on the island that can just about be referred to as a town is the capital Vila do Porto, essentially one busy, partially cobbled street, sloping down a hill towards a harbour with traditional houses on either side, interspersed by petrol stations, supermarkets, shops, cafes and restaurants. Quaint, though certainly not a destination by itself. It’s where you come to stock up on groceries and fuel and maybe go out for the evening. Prettier and arguably more atmospheric are some of the small villages nestled in the verdant valleys further up north. When hiking the trail, you will come across Santa Barbara or Santo Espirito, which both are picturesque, laid-back, and attractive enough to stop for a coffee and watch the world go by (at a very leisurely pace). The town of Anjos on the north coast (on day 4 of our hike) also deserves a special mention, not only for its natural swimming pool, but also as the host of the annual blues festival, held in July; by far the biggest cultural event of the year.
Santo Espirito (Stage 2)
The only place on the island that can just about be referred to as a town is the capital Vila do Porto, essentially one busy, partially cobbled street, sloping down a hill towards a harbour with traditional houses on either side, interspersed by petrol stations, supermarkets, shops, cafes and restaurants. Quaint, though certainly not a destination by itself. It’s where you come to stock up on groceries and fuel and maybe go out for the evening. Prettier and arguably more atmospheric are some of the small villages nestled in the verdant valleys further up north. When hiking the trail, you will come across Santa Barbara or Santo Espirito, which both are picturesque, laid-back, and attractive enough to stop for a coffee and watch the world go by (at a very leisurely pace). The town of Anjos on the north coast (on day 4 of our hike) also deserves a special mention, not only for its natural swimming pool, but also as the host of the annual blues festival, held in July; by far the biggest cultural event of the year.
the village of Anjos (Stage 4)
On the first morning, we walked the 30 minutes from the Hotel Colombo down into the village to pick up our scooters from Marco. There are five points on a four-leg trail. On day 1, you hike from point A to B. On day 2 from B to C and so on. Our plan for the day was to ride the two scooters (which we imaginatively named ‘Red' and ‘Black’) to point B, where we would leave one scooter. Then it’s on to the other scooter to ride to point A, where we would commence the hike. Once at point B, we would take the first scooter back to point A where we would pick up the other one. Sounds complicated but given that the distances on the island are so small, we thought it would be perfectly feasible. Carlos though was a little apprehensive. He had never ridden a scooter before, but his son back home had assured him that it ought to be a piece of cake. Unfortunately, he proved to be wrong. We barely made it to point B, and upon descending ‘Red', Carlos vented his anger about this stupid trip and that he was ready to take the next plane home. Turned out that my trusted friend remembered that he was the only teenage boy in Marbella who just could not see any point in operating a 50cc death trap.
near Norte (Stage 2)
We agreed on leaving ‘Red by the roadside, and to ride back to Vila do Porto on scooter ‘Black’ in order to sort out the matter once the first dust of anger had settled. Then fate intervened. ‘Black’ refused to start, so we had little choice but to jump on ‘Red and to make our way back to Marco to inform him of our malaise. He was mortified and promised instant rectification. We however decided that with most of the morning already gone, we really ought to start today’s leg. So we rode down towards the harbour, parked ‘Red’ and started our hike, all the while trying to figure out how to proceed once we had reached today’s endpoint. A plan emerged that we could just ask Marco to ferry us around. He must have telepathically shared our train of thought (or maybe Verónica read him the riot act), since he rang us halfway on the hike, offered to refund the rental fee of the second scooter and to pick us up at the finish of every day’s hike and to drive us back to wherever we had left scooter ‘Red’. Of course, we declined his very generous offer of a re-imbursement but enthusiastically agreed to the free taxi service. And Carlos was thrilled. Not only was he pleased by the prospect of being driven around on four wheels. The setup also allowed him to listen to Marco’s treasure trove of stories. Marco Carvalho; tour guide, taxi operator, storyteller, all-round decent and generous human spirit. Your one-stop shop for any challenges that the island might throw at you.
Marco and Verónica: Fixers extraordinaires
The Trail:
The Grande Rota came to prominence thanks to the efforts of a French Portuguese couple who renovated a number of shepherd huts, that were strategically dotted around the island. You can find out more on their website. It enabled visitors to do the circular trail in five convenient legs, with scrumptious meals delivered to your door at every rest stop. Sounds wonderful; a view confirmed by a hiking couple whom we met along the trail. There’s one downside though. Once you complete your hike mid-afternoon, you’re stuck in your hut, which quite often is located pretty much in the middle of nowhere. So we decided to do the circular trail in four legs and to return each afternoon to our hotel basecamp. We also skipped the rather unappealing northwestern section, which basically represents a schlepp around the perimeters of the airport. In the end, our four legs came in at around five hours and 15 km per day.
... somewhere along Stage 1
Stage 1. Vila do Porto – Panasco
4 hours, 15 km. total elevation 650 m, highest point 269 m
Stage 2. Santa Espirito – Norte
5 hours, 15.5 km, total elevation 600 m, highest point 325 m
Stage 3. Santa Barbara – Chà de São Tomé
4 hours, 14 km, total elevation 640 m , highest point 592 m
Stage 4. Chà de São Tomé – Ponta do Lobaio
3½ hours, 13 km, total elevation 181 m, highest point 245 m
on top of Pico Alto (Stage 3)
The trail itself is extremely well marked with coherent signposting, as well as numbered trail markers, which allows you to identify your precise location in case of an emergency. The trail mostly follows the coastline, although some sections on stage 2 and 3 will take you further inland. There are some notable highlights, for instance the sweet villages of Santo Espirito (on day 2) and Santo Espirito (on day 3). São Lourenço (day 2) is a small hamlet on the east coast and has by far the best beach on the island. The whole trail is dotted with impressive viewpoints, though for me the most memorable one was at Norte (the endpoint of stage 2) in the north-eastern corner of Santa Maria. Stage 3 will take you to the island’s highest point at Pico Alto (537 m) with stupendous views in all directions, while stage 4 comes across the Barreiro da Faneco, an eerie volcanic desert slap bang in the middle of a lush forest.
Barreiro da Faneco (Stage 4)