DESTINATIONS SPAIN & PORTUGAL | AZORES


Where TO STAY


Octant Ponta Delgada, São Miguel


This 123-room hotel (pictured) not only has a rooftop pool, gym and spa, but also offers genuine local touches, from Azorean cheese and wine-tasting sessions to island-sourced


cuisine at A Terra restaurant. Rooms are sleek, with floor


to ceiling glazing overlooking the marina. From £99 a night. pontadelgada.octanthotels.com


CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Pico island’s Mount Pico; Terra Nostra botanical garden, São Miguel; Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira; Gorreana tea plantation in São Miguel PICTURES: Shutterstock/HeadSpinPhoto, Rui Vale Sousa, Jakub Specjalski, TTstudio


Terceira Mar Hotel, Terceira


This property on the outskirts


of Angra do Heroísmo has large grounds, a resort-style pool and sun deck. Facilities are


good, with indoor heated pool and tennis and padel courts.


The staff are excellent and the rooms spacious, but the food is unremarkable – clients will be better strolling to Angra’s


restaurants. From £51 a night. bensaudehotels.com


Azores Wine Company, Pico


The wine-making owners


have applied terroir principles to this sleek, contemporary


hotel. A cloistered courtyard shelters guests, just as the winery’s stone walls protect vines. There are six rooms –


stylishly simple and deceptively luxurious – and an exceptional restaurant. From £149 a night. antoniomacanita.com


– are a must-see, though pick a sunny day to observe the most vivid colour difference. I stopped at the Vista do Rei viewpoint for photos, rather heartbroken not to have time for the five-mile hike around the rim of the caldera. My guide, Andre Matias, took me instead for a


short but beautiful stroll from the town of Sete Cidades along the shore of the limpid Lagoa Azul bay. Crowds flock to this famous spot, but for a quieter and no less beautiful attraction, recommend the Lagoa do Fogo. Furnas Valley is the heart of São Miguel’s geothermal


activity. This dormant volcanic crater is home to steaming fumaroles and bubbling vents, plus a range of springs with mineral-rich waters. Here, the 30-acre Terra Nostra park is home to thermal pools – tell clients to bring dark swimwear as the orange, iron-rich water stains – and gorgeous botanical gardens. At Furnas Lake I watched how the signature local dish, cozido, is cooked. Huge cauldrons are lowered into ovens dug into the hot volcanic soil, and six hours later a tender meat and vegetable stew is ready to eat. The mild, subtropical climate and fertile volcanic soil mean that vegetables aren’t the only things that grow here. I visited the Gorreana tea plantation and after viewing the verdant terraces and the heritage processing machinery, tried a tasty cup. At the Boa Fruta pineapple plantation, my guide assured me I’d taste the sweetest pineapple of my life – the true ananás,


30 8 MAY 2025


33The dormant volcanic crater is home to steaming fumaroles and bubbling vents, plus springs with mineral-rich water


not the (apparently inferior) South American abacaxi. After wandering through the Victorian hothouses I enjoyed the gloriously sweet fruit, plus a pineapple- flavoured pastel de nata – Portugal’s national pastry. Then it was time for another of the Azores’ best-known draws. Many visitors come here hoping to spot whales – the island’s position in the mid-Atlantic puts it on migration routes – and on a boat trip from the marina in Ponta Delgada I hit the jackpot. Alongside giant pods of Atlantic spotted dolphins, we found a family of six sperm whales, including a tiny baby.


TERCEIRA: CRATERS AND CULTURE While São Miguel’s Ponta Delgada is now the Azorean administrative capital, in the 15th and 16th centuries the islands’ chief city was Terceira’s Angra do Heroísmo, where the sheltered harbour provided safe haven for trading ships on their way to and from the New World.


² travelweekly.co.uk


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