Exploring for 7 days Pico Island, Portugal - Hiking, Sightseeing and More 🏝️

Arrive at Madalena Airport and transfer to your accommodation close to the city center. The rest of the day is free with some time to relax and enjoy the surroundings of this small parish on the second biggest island of the Archipelago. There are a few natural swimming pools where you can enjoy an ocean swim.

If you like wine and wonder why Pico’s wine culture is so special that its landscape was classified UNESCO Heritage, come with us on this “all about wine” tour. After the pick up in Madalena, we will start with a walk through the vineyards of Criação Velha. There, we cannot only witness the special characteristics and beauty of Pico’s wine landscape, but also understand how much work is involved to create it. Not only the vineyards are part of the patrimony, but also the built centers of typical adegas (wine cellars). Let’s discover one of these apparently abandoned places and taste the local table wine next to the ocean. We will then visit the regional wine laboratory where it is possible to make an analysis of the wine’s physical and chemical composition, as well as a professional wine tasting with their winemaking engineer. This step of our trip is dependent on the laboratory’s availability. But don’t worry, if there is no possibility to visit it, we alternatively might pay a visit to the beautiful wine museum and its impressive garden of dragon trees. After lunch in a local restaurant, we will go to São Roque on the North Coast. On the way, we will pass the former wine production places Cachorro and Lajido, discovering other features that can be referred to as the golden wine age that lasted over 200 years, such as little ports, tidal wells, distilleries, and much more. We will end the tour in the best possible way in an adega of a local producer, tasting the finest wines from Pico: the famous « liquorous » white wine, a very strong wine, that once brought great economic success to the island. Depending on the availability of the cellars, we will go to Czar or Buraca cellars.

This trail is taking you through a wide range of landscapes, through a famous area where the liquorous Pico wine was once produced. Lajido is one of the oldest wine production places. Due to the good preservation of the place with its many little adegas (wine cellars), manor houses and evidences related to the golden wine age, we can say that it is an authentic open air museum. After the pick up in Madalena, we are ready to go on this interesting trip which will teach you so much about Pico island and its wine culture. The trail leads through the landscape of the vineyards, which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage, but also through dense vegetation, along pastures and over stone paths marked by the constant passage of ox carts. Once in Lajido, we will have the chance to taste the traditional Pico wine. The original wines from Pico are white with a high alcohol graduation (liquorous wines), made from three noble grape varieties: Verdelho, Azorean Arinto and Pico’s Terrantez; Verdelho being the most common one. Due to the volcanic ground and special arrangement of vineyards, we obtain grapes with a high content of sugar and a wine of an equilibrated acidity and high minerality. Pico has been producing wine since the 15th century, some years after the first settlers came. After this cultural hike and delicious wine tasting, we will go back to Madalena to drop you off.

On Pico’s central plateau, there are more than 200 volcanic cones and a large number of lakes and ponds that represent rare biotopes. In this rather remote area, we can find a high level of biodiversity and still appreciate the variety of the endemic flora. We will also enjoy the most beautiful views over the ocean and the surrounding islands. There, we will be able to enjoy Pico’s nature at its best and experience the volcanic origin of the island. We will first pick you up in Madalena for this incredible full-day adventure. During the tour, we will discover Pico’s “mysteries", visit beautiful little lakes and several viewpoints. We will pass by Pico da Urze, a volcano offering a wonderful panorama over Pico mountain and by the volcanic complex of the island’s eastern part. In the afternoon, after a picnic lunch the adventure continues. Provided with helmets and flashlights, we will join a guided tour through Portugal’s longest lava tube: Gruta das Torres, being 5,150m long (3,2 miles). This tube exists for about 1,500 years and was created during an eruption coming from Cabeço Bravo. The guided tour to the cave lasts about 1 hour, during which you will be able to observe different geological formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, side benches, lava balls, and so much more. Once back at the surface, we will drop you off back in Madalena after this long day full of wonders.

Fortunately, whaling was forbidden in 1986 in the Azores. However, it molded the islands’ History for more than 100 years and nowadays it represents an important part of the local patrimony. The Azorean people used to hunt whales to survive, the hunt was always « manual » and rudimentary. During this tour, you will have the opportunity to discover the deepest secrets of this practice and how it ended. Let’s go for our whale and dolphin watching experience. Our biologists will give you a briefing to explain which cetacean species can be observed, safety measures aboard, how we respect the animals and the rules of observation at sea. During the boat trip, you will have the opportunity to watch some of the 28 cetacean species that can be found in the Azores.

Walking trails are imprinted in the back of this land as veins in a body; they challenge us for hours of desirable leisure, promising the unveiling of mysteries and beauty. We invite you to peek from the top of the wild coast, surprise yourself with extensive lava fields, sink your sight in the luxurious vegetation, and rest your spirit. Come and range the grazing areas where the cattle indulge themselves under a peaceful sky, and reach the geological formations, authentic mysteries. This is a 9km hike with a medium difficulty level.

This will be the last day on the island. Take this time to shop for your souvenirs and get a last opportunity to feel the mountain view. At established time, the guide will pick you up at your accommodatio and transfer you back to the airport.