Day 2,615 of Traveling the World | San Miguel Island, Azores | March 31, 2025

Jan and Mike

What an island! Beaches. Mountains. Meadows. Lakes. Forests. Volcanoes. Rain. Sunshine. Fog. Except for the volcanoes, we experienced all of that in the eight hours that we drove around San Miguel Island. The more coastal areas were sunny and warm, while the mountains were foggy, and it was misting. With the wind blowing, it was a bit chilly (upper 60s all day), but in the sunshine, it was glorious. It was a really fun and interesting day.

We did not have a reservation for a rental car, but we managed to snag one as walk-ins. We read a man’s comment that he rented a car here “for free…it only cost 30 euros.” We have him beat – our rental was just 25 euros for a manual transmission car (45 euros for an automatic). We rented it from Autatlantis, which had an office very close to where the ship docked. The car cost was unbelievable for a day of driving. In comparison, when we visited Bermuda a few days earlier, renting a mini electric car was – are you ready? – $180 for the day! And, when the cruise ship’s excursion to two different places was $79 each, we visited five or six of the places in the Azores for 12.5 euros each. Such a bargain!

As always, we encourage travelers to take out on their own when they can. We saw so many more things, at a lower cost, than we ever could have on an excursion. And the aqueduct, which we discuss further down, wasn’t mentioned on any ship’s excursion that we read about. Based on the size of the road, we think it unlikely that many buses venture that way. Cutting across the island, we drove up some fairly steep roads, such that we kept up a good speed, so as to make sure the car could make it all the way. But we saw a lot of back roads that few visitors will ever see and, as usual, everything worked out just fine.

The scenic viewpoints on this Portuguese island were all called Miradouros, and they are well-marked and exceedingly frequent. We were able to get photos of some beautiful vistas. Driving along, we saw signs for “cow crossing,” and at one point, watched as a man took his cow on a walk on the shoulder of the highway, leading her with a rope.

We got a few photos at Furnace Lake, but didn’t see any volcanic activity or fumaroles. Visiting the gorgeous Our Lady of Peace Church, a climb to the top found the church doors locked but cows peacefully grazing behind it. As is usual, we were driving around using Waze for our GPS, and for an hour or so, it guided us on an extremely narrow road wide enough for a car and a half. Amazingly, we never encountered another car coming in the opposite direction. Had we broken down, nobody could have found us! But…as we drove along, we came upon the island’s ancient Carvao Aqueduct. It was suddenly there, taking shape out of the fog. So wonderful to stumble upon this. It is thickly covered in moss and plants, and we just did what the locals do – stopped on the road (there was no shoulder), put on our emergency lights, and walked around taking photos. For the five minutes we were stopped, no other cars came from either direction!

We loved, loved, loved our day on San Miguel Island. When we can get here again, we will rent a car and visit the places we were unable to see this time. it is only 40×9 miles, so we thought we would see all the nooks and crannies. But….no. When a location was 10 miles away, we naturally assume it will take 10-15 minutes. Not on this magical island, where 10 miles = 45 minutes of driving. Everything took much longer than we expected. But that is why we always plan to return to places and why we don’t try to see everything in a day. We shall return!

We are starting with two photos of the aqueduct, as we both agreed it was our favorite sight of the day. This is one of nine windows on the Carvao Aqueduct, which transported us back in time. It brought water from the nearby lakes into the capital city, Ponta Delgada.
As you can see, the entire length is covered in moss and ferns. That is our rental car, just parked where we stopped to get photos.
This field was across the road from the aqueduct, also looking medieval and mysterious.
This islet is called the Rosto do Cao, the tail of the dog. Some imagine that it looks like a dog resting in the water. We were just besotted by the clouds all around the island.
This photo is taken from atop the Miradour Fortificao Militar, up a staircase and adjacent to the previous photo.
…and you can see part of the old fortification. The opening at the far end is where the cannon would have been placed.
This building was also nearby, and we just liked the five chimneys – but we do not know what the building is.
Taken on the southwestern part of San Miguel, this is an exceptionally green meadow with incredible views of the Atlantic (and the clouds! Oh, the clouds!).
Nossa Senhora da Paz Chapel – Our Lady of Peace – rebuilt in 1764. The 10 staircases represent the Joyful and Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary.
View from the top of the 10 staircases.
The view behind the chapel – of course!
Driving along, we passed this cemetery with actual small houses for the beloved dead.
Flowers were in bloom everywhere. It never gets very cold here, even in winter – rarely below 50F.
Sequoias do exist outside of California!
This is Furnas (Furnace) Lake, but it was very calm. There was a Visitor’s Center, but it was raining and seemed to be a bit of a walk…and it was chilly!
Conventa da Caloura – beautiful to see, but closed to the public. They had gorgeous views of the ocean when it was inhabited, like the one below.
This is the adjacent view. You can see the Ilheu da Vila, the island in the distance.
Yet another pretty Atlantic view.
This sign was near the location of the previous photo. We liked the graphic, as we usually do.
This is Lake Santiago, which we could barely make out with all the fog.
These are the lakes of Sete Cidades – on the left is the Green Lake, while the right is the Blue Lake. You can just, just barely make out their colors if you look carefully.
This view was taken adjacent to the airport on the western side of the island.
On the left is another cruise ship in port, while to the right is the city of Ponta Delgada.
View of a bridge with arches, and a church, in Ribiera Grande on the northern side of San Miguel Island.
A pretty walkway in Ribiera Grande.
Taken from a Miradour – but we forget which one!
Passing some colorful houses, we didn’t realize the orange house had an orange car until we looked at our photos!
…and the red house also has an orange car!

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