Hey guys!
In this post, I would like to share my travel to the Azores, Portugal. The best way to approach Azores is that you stay in Lisbon for one night and explore the city. The next day take the flight to the islands. Depending on which one you are going to you might decide to have one stop on your journey. I visited Flores and Ponta Delgada where I had good time.
The thing is that these islands are remote and definitely worth visiting for people that love unspoiled nature, hiking, whale watching, etc. The best season for whale watching is the whole year but if you would like to see specific species than the best months are April, May or June when the most species can be seen.
First two pictures have been taken from the plane while landing. The first picture shows the volcano peak from the Pico island, the only visible thing above the clouds! The second one shows the cl iffy shores of Flores island.
Santa Cruz das Flores, the biggest "city" on the island of Flores. First picture shows the proximity of the airport to the village, old monument as well as the old whale meat processing and production factory.
If you decide for going to Flores island for example, be prepared that there are no shopping malls and big cafés but village small restaurants and miles of nature and ocean. When you land there, you have two options where to stay, INATEL hotel or O Palheiro village houses. The later one is very nice, consisting of small village houses that are available for renting and are equipped with all the necessities. INATEL hotel is the only „proper” hotel on the island and is positioned right next to the airport. Do not worry about the airport noise, because there are 2 or 3 flights per day to the island and therefore the airstrip is in the middle of the village.
The island itself can be explored in a day or two but to get to know it you should stay at least 5 days. The best way to do it is by renting a car which can be found for low prices. If you do not want to rent a car you have the option of the public buses but they depart rarely and will probably not suit your itinerary.
These two pictures show on of the accommodation options I mentioned earlier. The name of this one is O Palheiro village, where you can rent a whole house and live like locals used to live.
After checking out Flores I flew to Ponta Delgada which is also a hub for SATA Air Acores and therefore offers
best connections towards Portugal mainland an Europe as well as USA (Boston). The island is half way from Europe and USA, meaning it takes you 4 hours to the islands from both sides (a bit less from Europe though).
Ponta Delgada itself is more like a city with nature all around. There are nice decorated big churches all around the city and are definitely worth visiting even if you are not religious. Except from checking the city, you can take a walk on the beach and have some coffee on the pier in the middle of the beach.
At the end I would like to show you how the pineapple grows. Pineapple production is very famous on these islands and the fruit is considered as a dessert in Portugal.
Hope you guys like it and if you do please upvote, resteem and follow me at https://steemit.com/@izgb