Tours and Excursions in Azores

The Azores sit 1,500 km west of Lisbon — nine volcanic islands in the middle of the Atlantic, closer to Iceland than to anything on mainland Europe. São Miguel is the starting point, direct flights from Lisbon in two and a half hours.

The best tours in the Azores cover what you can’t easily reach alone. Sete Cidades has twin crater lakes — one green, one blue — visible from a ridge at 850 meters, but the trail down needs a guide who reads the weather. Furnas is where cozido stew cooks underground in volcanic steam for six hours. Whale watching runs year-round from Ponta Delgada: 28 cetacean species in deep water offshore, sperm whales resident, blue whales in spring. An Azores island tour connects the dots across a landscape that changes every 20 minutes of driving.

49 tours in the Azores from €48. Local guides, marine biologists on boats, free cancellation on most.