Explore the Azores island by island

The Azores archipelago spans nine volcanic islands scattered across the mid-Atlantic, roughly 1,500 km west of Lisbon, and this hub explains where to look across the three groups they fall into, since almost no visit covers all nine and inter-island flights on SATA Air Açores or Atlânticoline ferries decide the itinerary far more than road distance ever could.

The eastern group holds São Miguel, the largest island and most travellers' first stop, home to Ponta Delgada, the twin crater lakes of Sete Cidades, the emerald-and-blue Lagoa do Fogo, the thermal valley of Furnas with its cozido cooked in volcanic ground and the Poça da Dona Beija hot springs, the Gorreana and Porto Formoso tea plantations — the only ones grown in Europe — the islet off Vila Franca do Campo, and the quieter Nordeste coastline; Santa Maria, the driest and sunniest island, adds proper sand beaches around the Baía de São Lourenço.

The central group covers Terceira, whose Angra do Heroísmo is a UNESCO World Heritage old town, alongside the walk-in volcanic chimney of the Algar do Carvão, the Mistérios Negros lava fields, and Biscoitos with its rope-pulled touradas à corda; Graciosa, the calmest of the nine and home to the Furna do Enxofre, where no activity is sold online and a visit has to be arranged locally; São Jorge, an island-long ridge cut by cliff-foot fajã platforms and known for its cured cheese;

Pico, dominated by the 2,351 m Montanha do Pico, mainland Portugal's highest point though the island itself sits in the Atlantic, its UNESCO-listed currais vineyard landscape, and the whaling history around Lajes do Pico; and Faial, where Horta's yacht-painted marina, the Peter Café Sport, the Caldeira crater and the Capelinhos volcano that emerged from the sea in 1957-58 sit within a short drive of each other. The western group, Flores and Corvo, is the furthest and hardest to reach, reserved for waterfalls, Fajã Grande, the Poço da Ribeira do Ferreiro and Rocha dos Bordões on Flores, and the roughly 400 residents of Corvo at Europe's westernmost point.

Each destination page below sets out what a visit to that island actually involves, since a lava-cave afternoon on Terceira and a whale-watching morning off Pico are both called "the Azores" but share almost nothing beyond the ocean between them.