The nine islands of the Azores are all volcanic in their origin. The archipelago is divided up into three geographical groups; The Eastern, Central and Western Group.

All the islands share an extraordinary natural legacy and they also have their own unique landscape, traditions, cuisines and architecture.

The Azores are considered to be a sanctuary of biodiversity and geodiversity and are one of the best destinations for Nature Tourism. There are many protected areas that are home to unique flora and fauna, beautiful forest reserves and sites of special geological interest.

Fun facts about The Azores

Although they located about 850 miles west of continental Portugal, the Azores are an autonomous region of Portugal, the same status as the Portuguese island of Madeira
Of the nine islands, Corvo is the smallest covering seven square miles, while São Miguel, is the largest, at 293 square miles
Mount Pico, on the island of Pico, at 7,713 feet above sea level, is the highest point in the Azores and all of Portugal
São Miguel is home to the only tea plantation in Europe
It’s possible to spot whales, dolphins, turtles and flying fish from the coastline in Azores!
Pineapple greenhouses are unique to the Azorese with more than 6000 on the island of São Miguel
Cozido is a dish unique to the Azores. This meat and vegetable stew is cooked in a pot under the ground by the geothermal heat at Lagao das Furnas

Throughout your Explore The Azores trip, you will be fully catered for with breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between.

Azorean cuisine is a rich, hearty and peasant-based style of cooking. Here's a typical daily menu.

Breakfast:

Lunch:

Dinner:

Here are a few of the most popular dishes:

Cozida - A unique stew from the island of Såo Miguel. This is a sort of one-pot meal that is actually cooked by digging a hole in the ground near the famous caldeiras (hot geysers) of Furnas.

Alcatra - A popular Azorean dish that hails from the island of Terçeira. This pot roast-style dish can be made from pork, beef, or another meat and is slow-baked with tomatoes, onions, garlic and cloves.

Ananas - Pineapples are grown throughout the islands - they feature on most desert menus!

Massa Sovada - Portuguese sweet bread, massa sovada, originated in the Azores and is a common part of Christmas and Easter.

Dairy - The Azores are famous for their rich dairy products. Cows tend to be used for milk rather than as meat (pork is the main meat used in cooking). At breakfast, you are likely to be served a small glass jar filled with local yogurt, bread and rich butter, and coffee with lots of steamed whole milk.

Check out the Visit Azores website for more information.

The culture, dialect, cuisine and traditions vary considerably from island to island
The strongest influence came from the original Portuguese settlers who began to populate the islands from 1439
Migrants mainly came from the Portuguese areas of the Algarve, Alentejo and Minho - in an effort to escape the dangers of the Portuguese inquisition on the mainland
The vast majority of the population are catholic so festivals centre around significant dates in the religious calendar and celebrations of patron saints
In the 1500's and 1600's, the Azores were a hot spot for whale hunting, now it's famed for being one of the best places in the world for whale watching
Carnaval is also celebrated in the Azores. Parades and pageants take place throughout the islands with lively music, colourful costumes, masks and floats aplenty

Language

The official language in Azores is Portuguese. On most of the nine islands, the variety of Portuguese spoken is similar to an archaic form of European Portuguese due to when it was discovered.

Here are a few useful words and phrases to get you started.

English	Portuguese	Pronunciation
Hello	Olá	oh-la
Good morning	Bom dia	bom-dee-ah
Please	Por favor	por fav-or
Yes	Sim	sim
No	Não	naoum
Thank you	Obrigado (m.) / obrigada (f.)	ob-ree-gah-doh/dah
You're welcome	De nada	de na-dah
Excuse me	Com licença	kom lee-sen-sah
How are you?	Como está?	ko-mo es-tah?
Do you speak English?	Fala inglês?	fa-la in-gles

Useful Resources

If you're keen to learn more about Malaysia before you go, there's plenty of information to be found online, in travel magazines and in guide books. Here are a few recommendations;

Find out the challenge ratings for your Explore trip

The Azores