Ilha de São Miguel Things to Do

At first I was very sceptical about visiting at a pineapple plantation of Ponta Delgada but it turned to be nice trip to village of Faja de Baixo.
I took a local bus to Faja de Baixo and a bus driver promised to tell me when to step out. In the plantation I got a presentation of pineapples and greenhouses were open for visitors.
I also bought some of my gifts from the pineapple shop! :)
Faja de Baixo is very close to Ponta Delgada so I walked back.

The most volcanic location in Azores is located a half hour drive from Ponta Delgada.
I took a bus and had chance to enjoy the views without driving! :)

In Furnas you have plenty to do for one day;
have a walk to a lake Furnas and its hot springs(takes about 40 minutes),
visit in Terra Nostra park and swim in its yellow spring,
relax in springs of Dona Beija close to Terra Nostra park,
see the hot spring area and eat Cozido for a lunch (it’s the must in Furnas!!).
Visit first in a local tourist info, they were very helpful!

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There are many companies offering Whale tours in Ponta Delgada.
Futurismo is the most advertised but I choose Pico de Adventure which turned to be very professional one with lower price.
They give you a presentation after what they contact their whale watching towers to get information if any whales are around.
After that you can decide if you take the tour or a later one.

Warm Bathing-pool in the middle of the nature. Water warmed by volcanic magma layer is about 35 C warm so you can have a path even it’s a little bit colder. I loved the nature around this little pool and waterfall.

We took a taxi from Ribeira Grande and made a deal of the trip and lengths of stops before hand with reasonable price. So you don't need your own car to get here!

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In Furnas there are at least 2 places where you can bath.
One of them is Poça Dona Beija and the other is Parque Terra Nostra. Both have warm, natural ferrous water - they say its good for the skin.
Poça Dona Beija has 3 small pools, one of them has really hot water, only some people manage to bath in there. The complex has toilets and showers (only cold water).
Parque Terra Nostra has a big pool, surrounded by beautiful gardens.
If I had to choose one place to go over the other, I'd choose Parque Terra Nostra.
In August 2011 the entrance fee for Poça Dona Beija was 2€ and Parque Terra Nostra 5€.

Now a precious tip: Bring a dark bikini/swimming suit/whatever, or alternatively an old one that you don't care about anymore. The ferrous water leaves orange stains on the fabric that are almost impossible to get rid of.
If you already stained your swimming suit, try squeezing a lemon over the stain, powder it with salt and leave it in direct sun exposure. Then perform regular washing. It's not 100% effective though.

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Sete cidades is a big vulcanic crater aswell as a village in the crater on Sao Miguel.
The crater has two lakes that are a little different in color.
One is very green and the other is kinda blueish and seeing the crater from above is really nice.
Down in the crater you have a nice little village with a scenic little church and a small bridge seperating the two lakes.
All in all it makes a very nice excursion when you are visitng Sao Miguel.

Sao Miguel has a long tradition for Ceramics and pottery and you can go and see this if you visit the Ceramica Vieira factory in the town Lagoa a little east of Ponta Delgada.
The factory has a small museum and you can visit the workshops free of charge and see how they model and paint the ceramics.

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Vila Franca is a small town east of Ponta Delgada that has a bit of history to it as it was the first capital of the Azores, even if it was just for a few years.
These days it´s a quiet fishing village with a nice setting by the sea and a nice rocky coastline with a couple of small nice beaches.
Vila Franca does get some tourism but not really that much and it´s a nice place to visit if you want peace and quiet aswell as some narrow little streets where you can explore rural portugese lifestyle.
Vila Franca is big enough to have proper shopping facilities and restaurants, post office hotels etc, but it´s still a small place with a very provincial feel to it.