Azores holiday guide

Here, somewhere between Lisbon and New York, the weather is mild but decidedly unstable. Atlantic fronts barrel in, clouds tussle, shafts of sunbeams and great fat silvery pools of light chase over swelling seas to fields of infinite greens. For the Azores you pack a cagoule and sunglasses, your swimming gear and walking shoes, for you’re never more than a few minutes from a dramatic basalt seashore or an alluring grassy pathway.

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This family of nine Portuguese sea-splattered volcanic farming islands is now easier than ever to visit, with the introduction next week of the first low-cost flights – from both easyJet and Ryanair – that will enhance the year-round and inter-island offerings of state-run SATA. Both will fly into São Miguel, the chief Azorean island. There are three island groups, extending over 370 miles, so to get around you need to either hop on a turboprop or plough through the waves on ferries. Time slows down here: the locals count it in hundreds of thousands of years, in terms of the volcanoes that together have formed the Azores. Being at the junction of the Eurasian, North American and African tectonic plates, the Azores are a geological hotspot: when seen from its highest point, each island is a Clanger-land of chimneys and craters where you could believe entire civilisations of sprites and elves live among the fat, dappled cows. The islands’ beauty is rare, and timeless; the volcanoes bring to mind the Miocene epoch, but in human terms there is a sense of 1950s-era innocence. The continuing restless volcanic activity seems to fill you with radiant energy and the salty, clean winds treat you to the world’s best free facials. There’s whale watching, swimming with dolphins, and diving with manta rays to be had, plus canyoning and kayaking. You can walk inside volcanoes, and around them, and drive along empty roads fringed with millions of azaleas and hydrangeas. Each island is unique – and independent-minded. There are no resorts, but plenty of honesty bars. The locals’ first thought is to trust you, then to welcome you. I visited three of the main islands; my final Azorean thought was that I was mad to leave without seeing them all. Read more...www.theguardian.com