The Azores were not our original travel plan. Sadly the US Travel Ban was not lifted so we cancelled our trip to Seattle – instead we booked a 2 weeks trip to the Azores. We only stayed on the island Sao Miguel but had 2 different holiday houses – the first in Mosteiros (the very west) – the other one south in Villa Franca do Campo. There were more tourists than expected – September is still a good (warm) season to visit. Out of the 14 days we only had two bad with rain. In the mountains however it was often cloudy with fast changing conditions which was good for pictures. There are a couple of sand-beaches (more than on Madeira) most of them even with life guards. Also hiking is popular. Sao Miguel is famous for its hot springs. The most famous one is in Furnas. Here you can find the biggest thermal pool in Europe in the middle of a wonderful garden. The water is yellow-brownish due to all the iron.
In Sao Miguel you find the only black tea grown in Europe. It is very mild and good tasting. What is also very famous is the local pineapple. It takes 2 years to grow and is super super sweet.
We had a good time and looking forward to explore one of the other islands one day