Azores
You can be here in December for about €837, 4 days, direct.
Why now
Good time in December: 18°C days, 14 rainy days.
Late spring through early autumn is the practical window: the hydrangeas flower from June, the whale season peaks in early summer and inter-island flights and ferries are more reliable. Outside those months boats are cancelled often and many rural guesthouses close.
Best months here: September, October, November. December is not one of them — the label above measures the month against a fixed bar, not against the rest of the year here. Daytime highs, sea temperature and rainy days from three years of Open-Meteo reanalysis; a rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain, which is the WMO threshold and not the same as "it drizzled".
The place
The Azores are nine volcanic islands in the mid-Atlantic, green, damp and dairy-farmed, with crater lakes, hot springs and a weather system that changes four times before lunch. São Miguel is where most flights land and has the cities and the hydrangea-lined roads; the smaller islands are slower and better for walking. They suit people who pack a rain jacket, hire a car and do not need a beach.
What you can do
- 01Drive to the Sete Cidades crater rim on São Miguel and walk from Vista do Rei to the twin lakes.
- 02Bathe in the iron-brown thermal pool at Terra Nostra garden in Furnas, then eat cozido dug out of the ground.
- 03Take a whale-watching boat from Ponta Delgada or Horta; sperm whales are resident, blue whales pass in spring.
- 04Climb Pico, Portugal's highest mountain, with a guide, starting before dawn, seven hours round trip.
- 05Swim in the natural rock pools at Biscoitos on Terceira, then drink in Angra do Heroísmo's harbour bars.
Where to stay · neighbourhoods
For a first trip, split time between Ponta Delgada and Furnas on São Miguel; for a second, fly to Faial or Terceira and add Pico. Avoid trying more than three islands in a week.
Unusual things
- ◦The tea plantation at Gorreana on São Miguel, the only one in Europe, with free tastings and a walk through the bushes.
- ◦The Gruta das Torres on Pico, a five-kilometre lava tube visited by lamp on a guided walk.
- ◦Corvo, the smallest island, one village and a single crater, reached by a small plane or a rough boat from Flores.
Day trips
Flight options
Routes come from OpenFlights (historical) and a 2026 route reference compiled from public timetables. Durations are the published schedule where we have it, otherwise a block-time model fitted on measured nonstop flights. Verify schedules with the airline before booking.
Entry requirements · IT passport
Source: passport-index-data, March 2026 (coarse indicator), covering 258 of our 268 destinations for each of 199 passports. Always confirm with the destination's official site.
Airports
Distances are centre to airport derived · nonstop counts are our route reference for 2026, not every flight that exists.
Local transport
- Airport to city
- Taxi, 10 min, €10; car essential
- Car needed?
- Recommended for most of what is worth seeing
- Getting around
- A hire car on each island is close to essential; buses exist on São Miguel but run to school timetables. SATA flies between islands and ferries connect the central group; the airport at Ponta Delgada is 10 minutes from town.
- Clock
- 1 hour behind London (Atlantic/Azores) derived
- Daylight
- 9.6 hours of daylight in December · sunrise 07:50, sunset 17:25 derived
- Currency
- EUR
Good to know
Inter-island flights and ferries are cancelled in bad weather at any time of year; leave a buffer day before an international connection.
Alternatives at a similar price
Whole trip per person for 4 days from London in December, then the flight time; estimates, like the total above.
Abu Dhabi
Riyadh
Muscat
Addis Ababa
Delhi, Agra
Dakar_(14004668141).jpg){kind=link}