I found heaven in the ‘Hawaii of Europe’ — but the clock is ticking
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Miles of vertical green fields. Rocky pillars bursting from cerulean ocean. Waterfalls that seem to pour from the sky. Imagine Disneyland created a world where Avatar meets the prehistoric earth from The Land Before Time, then flashes you through it like a rollercoaster. Now imagine that at ten times the size. That is the landscape that awaits in the Azores, a volcanic archipelago between Portugal and the United States.
Nicknamed the ‘Hawaii of Europe’, this cluster of nine islands is an eco-adventurer’s paradise, with less of the crowds who flock to Madeira (also touted as a Hawaii alternative) or Italy’s Dolomites. As holiday hotspots push back against tourists, the craggy rocks and thermal springs of the ‘Islands of Colours’ remain thankfully unspoilt.
But it won’t stay this way for long. Metro featured The Azores in our 2025 travel calendar, and it was recently named Europe’s number one destination for American travellers, with a 203% increase in flights from North America in July last year alone. I can confirm there are many reasons to join them — just make sure you go before everyone else does.
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Sitting 850 miles west of mainland Portugal, the Azores consists of three clusters of nine volcanic islands: São Miguel and Santa Maria to the east; Graciosa, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial in the centre; and Flores and Corvo to the west. There are highlights, but each island, with its own unique identity and astonishing natural beauty, deserves a few days of exploring themselves.
