Discover the Azores

Thematic guides for travellers who want to understand what they are looking at. The geology beneath the calderas, the species that live on the islands and nowhere else, the festivals that still shape village life.

Nature

4 guides in this theme

The endemic Azores bullfinch (priolo) perched on a moss-covered branch in the laurel forest of São Miguel, showing its distinctive grey plumage and stout pink beak, soft diffused forest light filtering through the canopy

Endemic fauna and flora of the Azores: what lives here and nowhere else

The Azores has 60+ endemic plant species, 8 endemic bird subspecies, and a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The species you can actually see, where to look, and the survival story of the Azores bullfinch.

Aerial view of the twin crater lakes of Sete Cidades on São Miguel, the green and blue lakes joined by a narrow strip of land, with steep volcanic crater walls rising on all sides and a few scattered clouds in the sky

Lakes of the Azores: the crater lakes and what made them

The Azores has 88 named lakes, almost all of them inside volcanic calderas. The story of how they formed, the most beautiful ones, and what lives in them.

A volcanic fumarole field at Furnas in São Miguel, Azores, with steam rising dramatically from boiling mud pots and cracks in the ground, surrounded by yellow sulphur deposits and dark volcanic rock

Volcanic geology of the Azores: still active, still rising

The Azores sits at a triple junction of three tectonic plates and the archipelago is geologically alive. The nine islands explained, the recent eruptions, and what active volcanism looks like at ground level.

A sperm whale fluke raised vertically out of the calm blue Atlantic ocean just before a deep dive, off the coast of São Miguel, Azores, with droplets of water cascading off the trailing edge of the tail in the afternoon sunlight

Whale species of the Azores: 24 species, what they are, and when they appear

A complete guide to the cetacean species recorded in Azorean waters. The eight common ones, the rare visitors, the seasonal blue whales, and how to identify each from a watching boat.

Festivals & folklore

1 guide in this theme

A traditional Azorean Festa do Espírito Santo procession in São Miguel, with villagers in white shirts and dark trousers carrying the silver crown on a velvet cushion, walking alongside a small brass band and a child dressed as the imperador, the village church visible in the background under summer sun

Festas do Espírito Santo: the Azorean folk religion that still runs the islands

Forty Sunday processions, free meals for thousands, a crown that travels village to village. The Festas do Espírito Santo are the most distinctive cultural event in the Azores, and tourists rarely understand what they are seeing.