The Azores are spectacular and KimKim made it easy to explore!
the Azores
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Apr 2 - Apr 12, 2026
Joao did a great job responding to our feedback and creating a trip that met all of our hopes and expectations. The four guides that we worked with provided high quality tours and their depth of knowledge was remarkable. Pedro with Our Island assessed what our interests were and then provided us a tour of Faial focusing on the plants, helping us understand how the ecosystem was built with endemic plants, plants brought in by the ocean and then those brought by people. His passion for his island and culture stood out. John from Sao Jorge Island Tours was our guide on Sao Jorge and again, his knowledge and passion for his island made us fall in love with all we saw. Matthew with Tripix guided us around Pico Island and his understanding of the history and development of the wine culture helped us appreciate this rugged island. Our final tour was Andres with Green Generation on Terceira and his desire to get people out into the countryside and hiking shone through and he provided us an excellent experience. All of these tours were impressive with the guides being experienced professionals with so much knowledge.
Joao provided us with road books to guide our explorations on Sao Miguel and these were excellent with clear descriptions of areas to explore and good directions to get us there. The rental company that they linked us with provided good service and a solid car for our explorations. The studios and hotels that Joao reserved for us were comfortable and convenient.
The Azores were spectacular - the dramatic landscapes, wonderful food, and kind people made this an exceptional vacation.
Hotel Reviews
Wonderful location - this was a studio and the kitchen was fully outfitted. The bed was comfortable and the parking made it easy to have a car in Riberia Grande. They provided a wash basin and clothesline!
Comfortable and an excellent location but the theme of the room was off-putting and the kitchen was not as well equipped as I would have liked. Loved that they provided a laundry facility with laundry soap.
Beautiful, comfortable, a delicious breakfast, and overall excellent.
This hotel was well located, provided a delicious breakfast with brewed tea, the staff were lovely, and the rooms were comfortable though a bit noisy. And the rooms had bathtubs!!
Activity Reviews
It was a cold, windy day and we were picked up from the airport to begin the tour. Matthew was excellent and did what he could to accommodate us given the weather. He provided a good overview of the history and ecology of the island.
Pedro was a remarkable guide who catered our day together based on our interests. Our understanding of the ecosystem of Faial and especially of the plants that found their way to being established in the Azores was increased. His passion for his island and it's history stood out in many positive ways.
John was a pleasure to spend the day with. We saw many beautiful views, learned about the volcanic formation of the island, how the culture particular to Sao Jorge developed, and the unique coffee culture of the island.
We had been with Matthew two days previously so it was great that the company sent us the same guide so we did not repeat any of the previous sites/information. The wine tasting was excellent and was a great finish to learning about grape culture on Pico.
Andre picked a fabulous hike for us that we were all able to complete despite one of us having a knee injury. He was solicitous and helpful throughout. We appreciated his knowledge and we ended up having him provide us with a full day experience as there was still so much to see!
Thanks Catherine. I’m glad everyone liked the trip. I’ll forward your review to the guides in the Azores.