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Travel Tips

Essential information for visiting the Azores

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Baía da Alagoa on the north-east coast of Flores, with the village of Cedros on the cliff and Ponta Ruiva on the right
8 min read

Birdwatching on Flores: the Lagoa Branca hide, the Alagoa tern islets and October's American vagrants

Where to watch birds on Flores by season: the Lagoa Branca hide on the PR03FLO, roseate and common terns on the Alagoa islets (watched from the Caimbros viewpoint, landing banned under the 2026 park plan, boat traffic managed April to August), Cory's shearwaters at the cliffs at dusk, October's American vagrants at Fajã Grande and Ponta Delgada, the twice-weekly Corvo boat in late October 2026, and what to do with a grounded young shearwater during SOS Cagarro, 15 October to 15 November 2026.

Ponta da Fajã on Flores seen from the path above: a white church among green walled fields on a ledge under a high green cliff, a boulder shore and surf to the right, and the houses of Fajã Grande in the distance
7 min read

Ponta da Fajã on Flores: hamlet, 1987 landslide, waterfall road

Ponta da Fajã, at the end of the west-coast road on Flores, was evacuated after a 1987 rockfall; people still live there. The rules now and how to visit safely.

The white parish church of Caveira on Flores, with dark basalt trim, a bell tower with a bulb-shaped top and a star-shaped window, raised above the road behind a black-and-white stone wall and steps
8 min read

Caveira, Lomba and Fazenda: the east coast villages of Flores between Santa Cruz and Lajes

The three parishes on the road from Santa Cruz to Lajes had 76, 200 and 261 residents at the 2021 census. Caveira has the Ribeira da Cruz valley with its volcanic chimneys and the Poio Moreno spring at 24.8 °C, and a church opened in 1880 with emigrant money; Lomba has the São Caetano church, rebuilt in the 1750s and again in the 1880s; Fazenda, the last parish created on Flores in 1919, has the 1906 Senhor Santo Cristo church, a former NATO navigation station and the only restaurants on this stretch. What to see, the two Fazendas, the August festivals, and the weekday bus with its 2026 fares.

The Rocha dos Bordões on Flores: a wall of vertical grey basalt columns on a green hillside above the winding regional road near Mosteiro, with low cloud drifting over the slope
7 min read

Lajedo and Mosteiro on Flores: the Slavonia wreck, Rocha dos Bordões and two churches

The two south-west parishes of Flores had 75 and 19 residents at the 2021 census. Off Lajedo the Cunard liner Slavonia ran aground in fog on 10 June 1909 with no lives lost; Mosteiro's 1846 church was paid for with a fortune made in Macau; the road between them runs under the more than 200 basalt columns of the Rocha dos Bordões, which the 2026 nature park plan closes to the public. What to see, the PR02FLO trail, the weekday bus with its 2026 fare, and the road after rain.

Santa Cruz das Flores seen from the Monte das Cruzes viewpoint, the town's white houses beside the airport runway and the Atlantic beyond
7 min read

Where to stay on Flores, Azores: hotels, Fajã Grande, camping

All three Flores hotels are in Santa Cruz, by the runway; most rentals are in the west around Fajã Grande, 22.4 km away. Which base to pick, and the campsites.

The upright basalt columns of Rocha dos Bordões on Flores, a hillside of stone columns between Mosteiro and Lajedo
9 min read

Flores's geosites: crater lakes, Rocha dos Bordões, the valleys and the westernmost rock in Europe

The Azores Geopark numbers 14 geosites on Flores, and nearly all of them can be seen from a road, a viewpoint or a boat. What you are looking at in each, from the 108-metre-deep Caldeira Negra and the 570,000-year-old columns of Rocha dos Bordões to the volcanic chimneys of the Ribeira da Cruz, the Pico da Sé lava dome and the Ilhéu de Monchique, and where to stand to see it.

Lagoa Funda, a deep crater lake in the Flores Nature Park, Azores, with green slopes around the water
7 min read

Flores Nature Park rules 2026: trails, camping and drones

Since August 2026 the Flores Nature Park plan bans leaving the trail on the plateau and landing on Maria Vaz. What it says on camping, drones and fishing.

Aldeia da Cuada on Flores: dark stone houses with red-brown tiled roofs among green fields and stone walls, below a steep green cliff with waterfalls and low cloud
6 min read

Aldeia da Cuada, Flores: history, visiting and staying there

Aldeia da Cuada on Flores is a 17th-century hamlet rebuilt as one rural hotel. Its history, how to visit or eat there, the PR02FLO trail and the weekday bus.

The two crater lakes on the central plateau of Flores, Lagoa Negra on the left and Lagoa Comprida on the right, in their two neighbouring craters
6 min read

Flores weather day to day: where to check the forecast, how the warnings work, and how to plan each day

How to plan Flores around the weather: the IPMA five-day forecast for Santa Cruz das Flores, what yellow, orange and red warnings mean for the western group, which coast to pick by the wind, fog on the lakes, and where to check trail closures, the Corvo boat and flights (2026).

Lagoa Negra and Lagoa Comprida on the central plateau of Flores at dusk, two crater lakes divided by a green ridge, with the high ground of the plateau and an antenna mast on the skyline behind
5 min read

Morro Alto: the highest point of Flores, the road up and the juniper plateau

Morro Alto is the top of Flores at 914 metres, with an antenna mast that has stood there since 1986 and the island's weather radar, in service since 2025. Around it lies the 1,573-hectare Morro Alto and Pico da Sé reserve, the largest Azores juniper forest in the archipelago and a Ramsar wetland. The 6 km forest road up from the ER 2-2ª, where the PR03FLO trail meets it, how to read the fog, and when the trip is worth it.

A SATA Dash 8 Q400 turboprop taking off from the runway at Flores airport, with the houses of Santa Cruz das Flores and the sea behind
6 min read

What a Flores trip costs in 2026: the Corvo boat, bus fares, fuel, boat trips and canyoning

What Flores costs in 2026: Atlânticoline's fare to Corvo (EUR 16.30 one way), the UTC bus fares from February 2026, why the EUR 61 Azores Fare is for residents only, the October 2026 fuel cap, published prices for boat trips and canyoning, and which costs you have to ask for.

The Albarnaz lighthouse on Flores, a pale stone tower with a red lantern above a long low keeper's building, the dark Atlantic behind and a paved lane between stone walls leading up to it, with a cow grazing in the field
6 min read

The north of Flores: Baía da Alagoa, Ponta Delgada and the Albarnaz lighthouse

One road runs 20 km up the north-east coast of Flores and stops at Ponta Delgada, a village of 280 people that first saw a car in 1966. The stops: the Caimbros viewpoint over the cobble bay of Alagoa, the harbour with Corvo in view, and the Albarnaz lighthouse, lit in 1925, whose light shines from 104 metres above the sea over the Ilhéu de Maria Vaz nature reserve. Trail closures in October 2026, the weekday bus and its 2026 fares, and a half-day plan.

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