Travel: Terceira Island, Azores | Portugal

A week on Terceira Island in the Azores was the perfect excuse to go back to Portugal. I traveled to mainland two years ago and have been dying to visit again.

My mom and I flew through Boston overnight and landed on the island bright and early. We stayed in the Pousada Forte de Sao Sebastiao. This hotel used to be a 16th century fortress. You had to walk over a bridge and into the old defensive walls before seeing the modern part of the hotel. The hotel had pentagon shaped pools, 28 comfortable rooms and a lovely restaurant.

You had opportunity to explore all the grounds of the hotel – from upper towers to sea facing walls. Breakfast each morning kept some traditional English and European classics and shook it up with mixed with local treats. One of the best things in the morning was chocolate and pear tart!

Every morning we had a phenomenal view of the sunrise over “Goat islands” off to the left. We had a sliding glass door that opened up right to where I got take great pictures.

Our walk to town was only about 10 minutes. While it was a hilly climb at times, it left us with great views all around. It was also cool that anywhere you were in the city with some height you could look left and see our hotel on the point.

We arrived on Thanksgiving day and after a brief nap, we walked to see Vasco da Gama. On my first trip to Portugal, I saw both where he was born & where he was laid to rest. It was nice saying hello again.

We spent the afternoon walking through town and ate a delicious sandwich for lunch at Alto Se Cafe. Then we took a turn into a gigantic garden.

Duke of Terceira Garden was really pretty. We started at the bottom and walked up these platform stairs over running water to get to the top monument. Later in the week, we met the guy who cut all these trees giving us a view of the city below.

Angra do Heroísmo itself is a very small town. The cobblestone streets are very walkable and you can get from end to end in just under 30 minutes. The colors were bright and storefronts inviting.

My favorite part of the walk though was along the water.

The next day we did a food tour around the island. The tour was more of an island tour with strategic food stops which was more than fine with us. We started the day at Monte Brasil (the opposite view we had from the garden the day before). In the panorama picture below, our hotel is the building all the way on the right jutting out into the water. You are able to hike up this area from town, but the drive was super easy and much more enjoyable. There are other hikes on the island I would recommend first.

Our first stop was to try a Don Amelia. These super dense pastries taste a little bit like a chewy gingerbread. You really need coffee to get through one. We sat across from the oldest church on the island built in the 1400s. It’s also the only church to survive with no damage from an earthquake in the 1980s.

A beautiful Holy Spirit Chapel covered in Hydrangeas is next to the old church. 68 of these colorful little chapels dot the island. They open up one week a year for festivities. Each town has at least one as well as their own unique personalities. After that stop, we went over to Miradouro Do Facho, a viewpoint overlooking Praia da Vitória (above shot). Their holy spirt chapel (below covered in primary colors) is painted with fishman’s boat paint. We had a glorious sunny day so I hopped out of the car and got some beach sand to add to my collection at home from this seaside town.

For lunch, we ate at Sabores do Chef where we enjoyed a traditional meal filled with Massa Sovada (sweet bread), Alcatra (pot roast), wine, soup, olives, cheese and other goodies. You cook alcatra slowly in a large pot. When you eat it, you spoon the juice from the meat over the sweet bread. It was really delicious.

Circling the island we made a pitstop to the natural swimming pools at Biscoitos. This town name translates to biscuits, or cookies. The walls that cover the town’s wineries are spread out in a small grid that looks much like cookies. The rock walls are wider than other walls around the island to let some of the wind and water through to the vines. The pools here are just beautiful.

After the pools, we headed to a dairy farm called Queijo Vaquinha where we got to try cheese with Bolos lêvedos bread. This bread is also a little sweet, is cooked over a griddle and is kinda like a chewy english muffin. We also sampled some local liquors with strong flavors. One called “catnip” was particularly challenging to drink. To round out the day we got ice cream at Quinta dos Açores. They had a lot of unique flavors and let you sample things before committing to them.

The next day I went with Rope Adventures Canyoning near Agualva (Frechas Park). The town’s name means “clear water” and was home to a freshwater spring. After some terrible rainfall, a flood destroyed most of the mills that lined the water we hiked through.

The canyoning itself was amazing and our guide, Manny, was both skilled and kind. He took photos of everyone at different parts of the walk, encouraged those to keep going, taught safety, and told plenty of jokes. I had a wonderful time and wish I had booked more trips with him like coasteering. If I ever go back, I plan on doing way more with his company!

When I got back to my mom in the afternoon, we went into town for an early dinner at Tasca de Tias. We split a meat and cheese plate and a HUGE Tuna steak! We had several other people along the trip recommend to us their tia fries though. That evening, the town had a parade to kick off the Christmas season. We sat and watched Santa arrive on a firetruck, kids singing in a choir and got some Ginja from little old ladies in a stall.

The following day, my mom and I tried to rent a car. When none were available, we got a taxi to drop us off at a hike called Baias da Agualva. While the internet said the hike was “facil” there were definitely some challenging spots. I was really proud of my mom for doing it.

You started the hike in fields that led down into a gorge that let out at the ocean. Then you hiked back up the cliff to some views of rocks (that you can actually drive to, we discovered!). The next part of the hike ran along some rocky walls to another open field.

You finished out the hike along farmlands with sweeping views of the coast. For most of the walk, you are right on the edge of a cliff.

To get back to where the taxi was going to meet us, we followed the road about 15 minutes passing cows and dogs. Waiting for the taxi, we sat along the stone walls that dot the entire island. They make the walls out of volcanic rock which are held together entirely by gravity. One tap and the whole walls goes down like jenga. Only a few have concrete lining the top for stability. Back in town, we split a pizza & white sangria at Osteria Azzorre.

In the evening after the hike, we ate at our hotel’s Fado dinner. They had some traditional foods and lovely music in-between courses. The next day, we phoned a friend for an island tour. Manny was generous enough with his time to lead us on a trip around the island and telling us stories of when he grew up.

We saw many more individual town’s natural pools, an abandoned hotel that Nixon visited and some forest gardens.

My favorite parts were his stories. He shared one about a friend convincing locals he had swam to the island and another about “aliens” scaling the cliffs at night. For lunch that day, he brought us to a restaurant near Praia da Vitória where I had some swordfish and a bottle of vino verde.

We were too full from lunch to eat anything for dinner so we just had a small cookie and rested for the next day. We met up with our guide, Gui (#1) to head into the center of the island. He told us the histories of the different bull fights that happen in Terceira and we saw the bulls relaxing during the off season. Then we headed to some caves.

The first place we saw was Algar do Carvão. This is one of the few places in the world you can actually walk inside a volcano. It’s also the only place in the world you can see chimneys and caverns without being burned by the lava or magma. The cave has the highest concentration of stalactites and stalagmites created by amorphous silica.

The volcanic cave has around 300 steps you can decent to the bottom to a lagoon. On the way down, you get a feel for the shape of the explosions and how the lava cooled in patterns along the walls. The lagoon gets so full sometimes that you can’t get all the way to the bottom. They sometimes hold concerts inside which echos beautifully off the walls.

Following the volcanic chimney, we went to see Furnas do Enxofre. The walking paths around the fields were nice and while they weren’t as exciting as the cave, it was good to stretch my legs after all the stairs.

The final place we set to explore was Gruta do Natal – the Christmas cave, which got it’s name for it’s opening on Christmas day. You have to wear a helmet inside and it gets a little challenging to walk around on the unstable floor. I liked all the lava cooling patterns you could see, the flows and melting. Apparently you can still get married at the alter inside!

While looking around the caves we were actually underneath the lake in the top photo below. Our guide took us back to town where we stopped in the bakery O Forno. This place was amazing. Mom and I shared some cake and pastels while waiting for some friends to join us for dinner.

We went to Taberna Roberto and while we didn’t have reservations, the owner graciously accommodated us. The meal started with an octopus salad and I had one of the best steaks I have ever eaten in my life. We finished with some homemade “port” and ice cream. It was the best meal on the island.

We went for a day of hiking with Gui (#2) the next day. The weather was finally clear so he took us to the overlook called Serra do Cume. From this vantage point you can see seven different volcano spots and the green patchwork made up from the stone walls all over the island. Gui climbed out on a ledge to snap this panorama of me!

The hike he took us on was beautiful. It ran along the South eastern coast of the island. I swear we could not have found a lot of these hikes without a guide helping.

For lunch we went back to Osteria Azzorre for some pasta. We explored more of town and bought some little souvenirs: hand embroidered tea cups (that I put on my Christmas tree!

Then we headed into the harbor and to the west of the city (parts we hadn’t explored before).

I managed to get another Pastel da nata as we walked. You can find them everywhere and for so inexpensive! I couldn’t resist. We went to the hotel we had originally booked before switching to the fort. Our friends stayed there so we explored the grounds and waited for them to hang out.

All around town you can admire the architecture and tiles. The monument below is right by the bull fighting park. The three bulls represent the three types of fighting on the island.

That night we went to dinner at Restaurante Beira Mar for seafood. I got a fried white fish and ate some more octopus. On the way out, I watched a chef pull a pie out of a wall beside the front door that looked delicious!

The next morning was our last. We took our time driving up to the airport and said goodbye to this little lilac island. I made sure to get in one more pastel and sweet bread.

Just like the mainland, the streets cobblestone was full of decoration. I took advantage and snapped some feet pictures. I hope my feet get to grace this island (as well as it’s sisters) again one day. If you have the chance to go to the Azores, you will not be disappointed.