Best Azores Holiday Rentals In 2022
Portugal’s best-kept secret is the Azores. They are a group of nine subtropical islands in the Atlantic Ocean. They have some of the country’s most beautiful forests, beaches, and volcanic craters. The largest and most inhabited island in the Azores, So Miguel, is also the crowning jewel of the islands.
Most people go to the Azores, a distant nine-island archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic, for its nature. There are hot springs hidden in forests, lakes formed in the calderas of dormant volcanoes, beaches that are great for swimming and surfing, dramatic waterfalls that drop down green cliffs, and underground lava tubes that are ready to be explored.
But the islands’ unique and often very nice places to stay are another reason to book a trip to Portugal’s most eastern point. Due to its isolation and the Azorean government’s efforts to stop over-tourism, which included limiting the number of beds on the islands in 2015, there aren’t any big, boring international chain hotels here. Best Azores Holiday Rentals In 2022
Instead, you can expect to find relatively small hotels and resorts that take design cues from their surroundings, like using local building materials or floor-to-ceiling windows to show off the scenery and offer guests a warm and comfortable stay.
As you might expect from a place EarthCheck named the world’s first sustainable tourist destination in 2019, most hotels are also committed to environmental and social sustainability. For example, many use solar panels or have menus with food from the area.
Its capital, Ponta Delgada, is only a two-hour flight from Lisbon and has a lot of Gothic architecture. Nearby are two lakes called Sete Cidades, made by two crater lakes. Here are five of the most beautiful villas you can rent on So Miguel. These are great places to stay while you explore the island and the other islands nearby. Best Azores Holiday Rentals In 2022
How long do you require to stay in Sao Miguel?
It takes about four to five days to see the main sights in Sao Miguel. Stay for at least a week because that will give you time to see the main sights, take a nice tour, soak in the solar thermal waters, visit natural pools, take a few hikes, and get off the beaten path.
Sao Miguel in the Azores is also a great place to go on vacation with your family, especially during the summer. If you like nature and outdoor pursuits, you can easily stay here for a week or two and find a lot to see and do. You can’t go wrong with a longer holiday on the island when you add in the nice resorts, the many places to swim, and the good, cheap food.
1) The Pink House, Ponta Delgada
2 bedrooms; from €210 per night
The people who live on So Miguel call it “the green island,” and its landscape is known for being varied and colorful. Mezzo Atelier took a run-down barn and turned it into a brightly colored vacation home in Ponta Delgada. The design of the two-bedroom villa in the Azores includes carefully fixed stone walls. The interior is simple and has furniture made by the practice.
2) Capelas Retreat, Ponta Delgada
3 bedrooms; from €140 per night on BoutiqueHomes
Architect Pedro Mauricio Borges designed this elegant villa on So Miguel. It is just outside Ponta Delgada and based on the traditional pitched-roof buildings all over the island. The timber-trussed ceiling of Capelas Retreat has skylights, and the open-plan apartments have polished concrete floors and floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto a courtyard and landscaped gardens.
3) Villa Refugio Astrolabio, Sete Cidades
1 bedroom; from €135 per night
This brutalist vacation home between the craters of Sete Cidades and Lagoa do Fogo is mostly concrete (pictured top). The low-lying cubes of Villa Refugio are a sharp contrast to the 3,000 sqm landscaped garden. Huge glass windows frame the views.
4) Pico do Refugio, Rabo de Peixe
2 bedrooms; from €122 per night
Luis Bernardo Brito e Abreu has updated this old plantation home in Rabo de Peixe. On the island of So Miguel, a 17th-century farmhouse is in the middle of a nature reserve and sits on top of a hill with a view of the Atlantic Ocean. It has been turned into eight apartments with the old building’s high ceilings and rustic roof beams.
These are paired with white walls and concrete floors that look very clean. You can also meet visiting artists on the island, as Pico do Refugio has a residency for artists during certain times of the year. The walls of the apartments are covered with art from people who have lived there before. One more thing to do is scuba diving.
5) 7 Cidades Lake Lodge, Sete Cidades
1 bedroom; from €100 per night
This cabin is simple, but it has everything you need. It is built in a volcanic crater on the edge of the Sete Cidades lake, which is famous for its blue water. The inside of 7 Cidades Lake Lodge is modern, with white walls, wooden floors, and a huge wood-burning stove. But really, it’s about getting back to basics, and this villa on So Miguel is a great place to stay while you walk or ride a bike around the island’s west side.