São
Miguel Island
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Area 759,41 km², length 65 km, width 14 km São Miguel was inhabited
between 1426 and 1439.
Ponta Delgada, the capital, is a charming city and the tourist heart of Sao Miguel. Museums, monuments and historic streets. The most well-equipped shops are to be found here and also nightlife to some extent for those who enjoy such entertainment after dark. Other cities:
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| Our first stop at Azores after arriving from Lisbon
was a two-day stay in Ponta Delgada for familiarisation purposes.
Though there are many good hotels in the centre of the city we rather stayed
a little outside in a village and had reserved rooms at Hotel
Barracuda in the village of São Roque only 10min and 1000 PTE
by taxi from the centre of Ponta Delgada. A nice and friendly moderate
cost apartment hotel with the best breakfast buffet we had in islands.
Shopping in Ponta Delgada offers a variety of small shops and of course the big supermercado Centro Comercial. Here you can send email and surf Internet at Livraria Artes e Letras bookstore at the 2nd floor. The city of Lagoa can be recommended for, not the nightlife - it does not exist - but for a good dinner at one of its many good restaurant. 
we visited different parts of the island -
From Ponta Delgada west you arrive to São Roque village with a nice church and fine view of the Atlantic Ocean. Next town is Lagoa where the most typical pottery can be bought. Further west is the village of Agua de Pau see pic #3 and #4. I seem to have my own bar here! pic #5. Below the village is Caloura Resort and a bit further the picturesque fishing port pic #24. Vila Franca do Campo,the old capital of the island has a lot to offer. Ilhéu da Vila Franca, an unique islet with a natural seawater pool, can be reached by boats from the fishing port during summertime. This time we missed this due off-season. Must come again and stay here for some time! High up at the hillside above the city is Senhora da Paz Chapel, pic #6,from where you have a wonderful sight of Vila Franca and surroundings. some pics# 19,20. from Vila Franca. North and NorthWest:
Central parts:
The road from Ribeira Brava is very curved and runs like a serpentine from creek to creek. Beutiful sights at the roadsides see pics # 11,12 and 18. Arriving in Nordeste a white town with picturesque houses see pic # 21. A fishing port, Ponta do Arnelis very intetesting with a lighthouse and a dead steep narrow road down to the sea, pic # 25. Along the coast road south there are many fine views from several miradoures pic # 9 and many nice quiet beaches. We particularly liked a beach Praia do Lombo Gordo well hidden behind a steep road see pic # 10. Good lunch at seaside restaurant in Povoação. Two weeks was too short to
visit all the interesting places, but now we have an idea of how much Azores
has to offer!
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