Anyone been to the azores?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

I’m thinking of taking a vacation to the Azores in late June or early July. There are direct flights from Boston and it seems to be a fairly “unspoiled” island, with lots of great hiking and nature spots. Has anyone ever been? What did you think? I’ve read a few articles (from reputable sources) that the residents aren’t super friendly to tourists - any truth to that? My wife and I don’t speak any Portuguese (or Spanish for that matter). The best we have is a smattering of rudimentary French. Is that problematic?

Any advice or experiences welcome!

#2

Anthony Bourdain did an episode of one of his various TV shows there. Look it up. Interesting place.

#3

Ah, good call. I shall do so!

#4

No, but one of my great-grandfathers is from there. I hope it’s a lot nicer now then when his family left a hundred years ago…

#5

I’ve been there but not for 20 years. There are 7 islands, iirc. Arrived on San Miguel the week after an earthquake and people were living in the square in tents.

Not sure if I can help much it was seriously quiet then, no real tourism (no hotels), much focused on the marina at Ponta Delgada.

Do remember it’s pretty much off Africa and seriously hot.

I’d look at how to get from island to island.

But I also went to Goa around the same time and that’s unrecognisable now.

#6

My wife and I went there for our honeymoon. We stayed here: http://santarosa.com.pt/
We stayed on the island of São Miguel near the city of Ponta Delgada and the airport.

My wedding anniversary August 19th so we had to have been there late August or early September. I don’t remember it being “seriously hot.”

My personal experience with how locals treat tourists is much like when I was in Paris (another place that is supposedly inhospitable to tourists). If you’re making an attempt to communicate and not look like a jerk American, people WANT to be friendly.

10/10 would go back again. :slight_smile:

#7

Fabukous, thanks for the information. My look at the climate says that it’s pretty mild - highs in the 70s during the summer. Maybe **up_the_junction **just went during a particularly hot summer.

My experience in Paris was largely similar to yours, so that’s encouraging.

#8

Sorry to say I don’t know what time of year it was, I think end August … sounds more temperate than my mind recollects … No air con then, presumably different now.

#9

I’ve been there four or five times, none longer than an hour or so. :wink:

(The Azores were a common stopover point for USAF transatlantic flights. Back when I was in the Navy, I took a number of “space-available” flights to and from Europe, and often stopped in the Azores.)