When I first arrived at Terceira Island after a quick inter island flight from Sao Miguel, I was honestly pretty disappointed and second guessing my decision to rush out of Sao Miguel so soon. I could see from the plane that this island was more covered in pastures than beautiful hills and stunning cliffs like the previous island (but stay tuned, it gets better!) I found it quite amusing how I commuted to my hostel from the airport-- I walked there since it was the early morning and it was only two miles! Not the worst idea because it only took 40 minutes and was free, but my body didn't love tugging a backpack and small suitcase that distance. For a budget traveler, I recommend you stay in Praia Vitoria as I did. The main town on the island, Angra do Heroismo, is infinitely better and has more happening however it's probably gonna be a pricy taxi from the airport.
For a couple nights, I felt very comfy and clean staying at Royal Beach Hostel which is probably one of the highest rated places I've ever stayed. They had included breakfast (good, but unfortunately a bag lunch because of COVID) and a kitchen in mint condition which became a great place for me to get some work done. I was able to drop my bags there early in the morning and take off for Angra do Heroismo, which is a 1 hour bus ride that leaves every hour. Praia and Angra are the only two real cities on Terceira, so this is the only bus I really took advantage of on the island.
Angra was incredible! It's the only part of Azores that is a UNESCO world heritage site, and for good reason. The streets are so colorful and quaint, and the most famous church is a pretty shade of periwinkle, my favorite color! The whole island is known as the colorful island. It made me think that more churches should be painted in such pretty pastels. This town is incredibly old considering the Azores were only (presumably) inhabited starting in the 1400s, and Angra was there from the start as a stop for the colonizer Vasco da Gama. When you're in the thick of this town, it's hard to believe you're on a tiny island because life feels so normal like the mainland. For one, I went to the nicest McDonalds of my life (lol) and got the McVeggie heck yaaaa. I also strolled over to Monte Brasil (a little volcanic isthmus at the tip of the town) but it was closed due to bird migrations. I visited the city's free botanical garden which was so incredibly peaceful, helped myself to coffee and a little nap in the park because it had been a big day catching an early flight!
I made my way back to Praia early to do some work and decided to book a tour for the next day because I realized I wouldn't be able to do any big hikes or outdoor exploration without a car. I think it was a great deal on Viator for a full full day seeing the entire island, and would highly recommend the experience.
For sunset, I ran up to Miraduoro do Facho which overlooks the eastern side of the island. It was nice but the sunsets from tropics/islands are often kind of muted in my experience, not quite anything can top an SB sunset (no bias or anything...) If you're in the Azores, you better buy your groceries early because nothing is staying open past 7pm or 8pm!
The following day I had another of the "most beautiful days of my life" on a full day tour. I thought it was a great price and for me it was just as much as renting a car, and I can't drive manual anyways! We saw the towns of Angra and Sao Sebastiao, which date back to the 1400s! We drove through old wineries, pastures, and banana farms up to Serra do Cume, a gorgeous green vista point at the ridge of a volcanic crater. It was absolutely surreal up there. We had a traditional Azorean lunch (well, mine was a vegetarian substitute) which was a big deal for me, the girl who eats pasta most of the time when she's traveling! Then we got more into the volcanic side of the things, first walking down into a massive volcanic tube (it looked and felt like walking into heaven forreal), then visiting Furnas which is an area with a bunch of volcanic gases emitting.
We got to the north side of the island at Biscoitos, which had some dreamy natural swimming pools on the ocean. You could swim around in peaceful water while beautiful huge light blue water and whitewater crashed over the black volcano rocks right next to you. I could've spent the whole day there. We then got to see the whole western side of the island and passed the highest point (Santa Barbara Volcano), saw some beautiful foliage and landscape, and even tried locally made cheese. The cheese tastes really good here, and I think it's because the cows are pretty content on their little island.
They have these incredibly colorful little chapels everywhere! So! Charming!
After a super exhausting day, I pretty much knocked out. I'm just looking back at these photos and so very beautiful. I am especially impressed because my first take on Terceira was bad, and that tour made me really appreciate the natural beauty and culture, so I highly recommend it to see it all in one day! I spent most of the next day recovering and waiting for my late afternoon flight to the last island on my trip: Pico!
