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The Azores do not exactly belong to the typical travel destinations in Europe like a beach holiday in Italy or a city trip to Paris . So you probably still have a few question marks in your head.

We want to change that and clarify the most important questions about the Azores and give you some practical Azores travel tips. Here we go!

What, where and how many? The most important Azores information in quick succession

Are the Azores literally new territory for you? Then let’s first clarify a few basics about the islands. If you are already familiar with the Azores Islands, you can scroll straight to the next section Getting there .

How many Azores islands are there?

According to APARENTINGBLOG, there are nine different Azores islands in total and they are divided into three groups: the northwestern group with Corvo and Flores, the central group with Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Graciosa and Terciera and the southeastern with Santa Maria and São Miguel.

The main island of the Azores is Sao Miguel. In addition, Pico is a bit better known and bigger. You will find most of the top sights in the Azores on these two islands, which of course does not mean that the others are not at least as beautiful.

Where are the Azores?

The Azores are almost halfway between America and Europe . To be more precise, about 1,370 kilometers from the Algarve on Portugal’s coast. So they are surrounded far and wide only by the rough sea.

What language do they speak in the Azores?

The Azores Islands are administratively part of Portugal , so Portuguese is of course also spoken on the islands. If you don’t speak Portuguese, you can get by with English in most (especially larger) places.

In the small fishing villages it sometimes gets more difficult. But with the warmth of the locals, any reluctance to communicate with gestures with hands and feet quickly disappears.

All Azores Islands on one map

So that you can now visualize the Azores, we have created a map with all nine Azores islands for you.

Azores arrival

So, let’s start with the practical things and let’s start with the question of how to get there.

How do you get to the Azores?

Because the islands are small, remote, and still relatively unknown, getting there may take a little longer depending on when and to which island you are flying.

There are daily flights to the larger islands of Sao Miguel, Pico, Terceira and Faial, e.g. B. from the Portuguese airline TAP . To get to the smaller islands, you have to resort to light aircraft operated by the airline SATA that operate between the islands.

Usually you have to change trains at least once in Lisbon or Porto . Only in the summer months there are occasional direct flights from Frankfurt to Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel.

How long do you fly to the Azores?

The pure flight time from Frankfurt to Ponta Delgada is about 4.5 hours. However, if you have one or more stopovers or if you are traveling to a smaller island, you can travel much longer.

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Getting around the Azores

Once you have arrived, the question naturally arises as to how you can get from A to B on site. Last but not least, you might want to travel between the islands. Here are our tips for getting around the Azores.

By public transport or by bike

On the larger islands like Sao Miguel, Pico and Terceira there is quite a decent network of public transport. Paying is very easy, namely directly to the driver, and public transport is also cheap.

Here you can find an overview of the bus schedules on all nine islands.

On the small islands, such as Corvo (where, to be honest, there are no buses at all), you can also cover many routes by bike. You can also enjoy the wonderful landscape. But admittedly, this really only works for short distances.

With the rental car

We would definitely advise you to rent a car for your Azores vacation. This gives you the most flexibility and in addition, many starting points for hikes are simply too far away from any civilization.

You can rent a car on any of the islands. However, you cannot take the same rental car from one island to another.

Rental car prices vary greatly depending on the season. That is why some Azores travelers have very positive experiences, while others report very high rental car prices. In general, the earlier you book, the better. And even better, of course, if you’re not traveling in the summer high season.

How do you get from island to island?

To travel between the islands you have two options: fly or take the ferry.

Of course, taking a ferry across the open ocean is a wonderful experience. However, the journey also takes much longer. In the winter months, ferries only operate between the larger islands such as Sao Miguel, Pico and Faial. You can find an overview of all ferry connections here.

You can get from island to island much faster with the small planes of the airline SATA, to each island and usually several times a day. The prices for a flight from Ponta Delgada (Sao Miguel) to Horta (Faial), for example, start at around 80 euros one-way.

Mosteiros beach is one of the Azores highlights.