Biscoitos, Portugal Travel Journals & Blogs

Ladyandtramp Four Azores Islands
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- Mar 22, 2024, 6:42pm
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 597 m
- Portugal Azores Agualva Pico Alto 38.750568, -27.2335338°45’2” N 27°14’1” W
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Day 14
Rocha do Chambre Trail
March 22 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Today is Friday. The plan was to visit a volcanic chimney in the centre of the island in the afternoon. It was open to the public at 2:30 pm. In the morning we would look for an interesting place to do a little hike. The landscape of this island is very pretty and ever-changing - farmers’ fields with cows, lava fields, volcanoes, ocean grottoes, quaint little villages, forests with Japanese pines and big cliffs. We knew that we wouldn’t have difficulty finding somewhere to walk. And we found a trail - Roche Do Chambre.

We didn’t want to go too far, perhaps 4 or 5 km, as Chris had sprained his ankle 3 days ago
and we wanted to take it easy. We have walked over 500 km on this trip.

The trail started out easy and it was beautiful. The volcanic rocks were covered with small flowers, mosses and plants that looked like bonsai gardens. Tiny Microsystems growing in the rock. Magical.

As we walked further, we walked past tall Japanese cedar forests. As usual the landscape kept changing. The photos will explain the plants along the trail better. About three km into the walk, we entered a rough part of the trail with a lava stone path. We had to be super careful, especially Chris.

Finally we exited onto a grassy path and guess what? I went down! I twisted my ankle too! Darn. We checked the quickest way back to the car and it looked like we had 4 km to go but mostly on roads so it wasn’t too bad.

Once we got into the car though, my ankle started to puff up. I guess that we should start acting our ages and start taking it easy, a bit.

What a pair of gimps we are today; and now gimps … with limps…

We didn’t go to the volcanic chimney with its 300 stairs. Back to our accommodation... get those ankles up.Read more
Traveler Très belle marche!
3/23/24ReplyTranslate
500 k no joke! Heal. Snow at home. [Donna]
3/23/24Reply
Ladyandtramp There was a 3.9 earthquake when I fell. The host checked the time. So that’s what I’m saying caused me to twist my ankle!
3/23/24Reply
Ladyandtramp Our host suggested that my fall caused the earthquake!
3/26/24Reply
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Inselhopping auf den Azoren
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- May 20, 2023, 1:01pm
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 589 m
- Portugal Azores Terra Chã Patameiros Furnas do Enxofre 38.729537, -27.23205838°43’46” N 27°13’55” W
Day 7
Furnas do Enxofre
May 20, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Falls man vergessen haben sollte, dass man sich hier die ganze Zeit am Rande oder in einem Vulkankrater bewegt - der Furnas do Enxofre erinnert einen daran, dass es ein ganzes Stück unterhalb einem immer noch kräftig brodelt…

Auf einem Rundweg von ca. einem Kilometer sieht man an diversen Stellen Rauch aufsteigen, natürlich mit entsprechendem Aroma. Die rote Erde und auch die Flora nimmt dann gerne eine andere Farbe an.

Ein toller Spot, wo man einfach ohne Eintritt durchgehen kann!Read more
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Inselhopping auf den Azoren
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- May 19, 2023, 2:42pm
- ☁️ 19 °C
- Altitude: 9 m
- Portugal Azores Biscoitos Biscoito Bravo Adega Simas 38.802412, -27.25756338°48’9” N 27°15’27” W
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Day 6
Meerwasserpools in Biscoitos
May 19, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
Im Norden der Insel liegt der Ort Biscoitos. Hier kann man mitten zwischen Lava-Brocken (ok, es sind große Brocken) im Ozean schwimmen. Es gibt mehrere natürliche Pools und sogar einen Sprungturm mit ca. drei Metern Höhe. Es waren auch einige mutige Baden, uns war es zu kalt…Read more
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Traveler Sehr schönes Foto!
5/19/23ReplyTranslate
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Traveler Snowbirds Tackle Europe
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- Feb 10, 2018, 2:00pm
- ☀️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 62 m
- Portugal Azores Biscoitos 38.790097, -27.25084938°47’24” N 27°15’3” W
Day 42
Island Tour - Day 1.2
February 10, 2018 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Marco showed us a rustic bull ring that is used in the summer months. No fancy capes or professional matadors here, just crazy people antagonizing the bulls and then trying to avoid getting butted by them. It is hilarious to watch the videos, especially with the running of the bulls down the main streets, but I can’t help but think it’s very abusive of the bulls. Marco tried to agitate the bulls in the field but they didn’t respond thankfully because he said they can tear right through the volcanic stone fence that pens them in!

We stopped at Furnas do Enxofre to see the steaming sulfur-smelling fumaroles, proof that this is a volcanic island. There was very little steam though. After this we went to the Gruta do Algar do Carvao, a natural cavity in the earth that is more vertical than the usual cave. We went down steps to 100 metres (300 feet) below the surface. The stalagmites weren’t very impressive because it is a relatively young cave. All I could think of was that I preferred we not have an earthquake while we were down there!

Since the weather was still cooperating Marco decided to head to the coastline. We stopped at a small vineyard in Biscoitos and had a tour and free tasting of a dessert wine. It was a nice break.Read more
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Traveler Azoren
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- Aug 3, 2022, 11:18am
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 574 m
- Portugal Azores Terra Chã Patameiros Furnas do Enxofre 38.73, -27.23333338°43’48” N 27°13’60” W
Day 13
Furnas do Enxofre
August 3, 2022 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Wenn Bilder Gerüche übermitteln könnten. 130° Schwefeldampf.
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Tania Grawunder Madeira & Azoren
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- Sep 16, 2021
- ⛅ 21 °C
- Altitude: 548 m
- Portugal Azores Terra Chã Patameiros Lagoa do Negro 38.73722, -27.2682838°44’14” N 27°16’6” W
Day 19
Grutas do Natal
September 16, 2021 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
Wir haben ein letzer stop Auf terceira bevor es nachhause geht 😪✈ . Haben wieder mittagessen in Der Stadt Angra do Heroísmo gegessen , danach haben wir die grutas besucht
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Traveler Azores & Portugal
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- Nov 20, 2021
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 548 m
- Portugal Azores Terra Chã Patameiros Lagoa do Negro 38.73742, -27.2684538°44’15” N 27°16’6” W
Day 8
Volcanic caves
November 20, 2021 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
For our last full day in the island, we (finally!) went to visit the caves that we hadn't been able to see on Thursday. They're open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, starting at 2.30PM, so it's easy to miss them if you don't pay attention to the schedules.

But before that, we did a hike starting from the first cave, the Gruta do Natal (Christmas Cave). We had read the reviews for the hike (Gruta de Natal & Mistérios Negros) and it sounded quite challenging, with a lot of mud and some climbing, but it wasn't that difficult at all and it was in fact really fun and beautiful. It crossed a lovely magical forest and continued over some volcanic rocks. Short before the end we stopped to have some bread and cheese that we had got before starting, although there aren't really any places to sit down and have a snack.

After the hike we visited the Gruta do Natal. It's a small cave and it's good that they gave us helmets, because both Dean and I hit our heads on the rock several times. Then we drove to the second one, Algar do Carvão, a much larger (and more crowded) cave.

I was quite tired after the day and was feeling like having something sweet, so we headed back to Angra and stopped at O Forno Pastelaria for a coffee and a pastry. Dean wanted to go for a walk but I went back to the hotel to lay down for a bit.

For dinner we went to O Pirata, a bar with some artisanal beers that Dean wanted to check out. It wasn't as exciting g as we had hoped and we were out of some of the beers that he wanted to try, but the burgers we had for dinner were good. On the way back it was extremely windy and some signs looked like they could fly away at any moment.Read more
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Traveler Azores & Portugal
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- Nov 18, 2021
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Altitude: 70 m
- Portugal Azores Biscoitos Biscoito Bravo Museu do Vinho 38.79216, -27.2587938°47’32” N 27°15’32” W
Day 6
Biscoitos
November 18, 2021 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
For our second day in Terceira we decided to visit the western part of the island. We were planning to start with the caves, but then we realized they are closed on Thursdays. Oh well. We thought we'd be able to do it some other day. After all, the island is tiny.

We took a nice walk to the car rental place. The streets in Angra do Heroísmo are so cute! Founded in the XV century, this is the Azores’ oldest city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. An interesting fact is that around 70% of Angra’s houses were destroyed in an earthquake in 1980. Terceira was rebuilt following the original heritage, and that's what got it the UNESCO title. The buildings are colorful and charming.

After getting our rental car (which took a while, for a number of reasons) we headed to Furnas do Enxofre. After having visited Furnas, in the São Miguel Island, this sulfur field felt less spectacular, but still amazing with its steamy fumaroles.

From there we drove to the Quatro Ribeiras Beach. The Azores have these wonderful natural pools where the ocean water meets the volcanic rocks, with some artificial accces and stairs. I loved it. We were here off season so the place was quite empty and the facilities that would be usually open during the season were now closed, but my understanding is that it can get quite crowded during the summer. I'd love to come here when is warm though.

We went to a restaurant called Caneta to have lunch. I wanted to try the traditional dish, alcatra, a slow-cooked beef pot on a rich thick sauce. It was very good!

We kept driving around Biscoitos and stopped at the Biscoitos natural pools, similar to the Quatro Ribeiras place, and then at the Pico Matias Simaõ. This is a viewpoint in top of a volcanic elevation, accessed by a long set of stairs. On the top you can see a cross that looks like a church from the bottom but it's actually a monumental structure with three walls. The views from here are nice.

We were close to sunset so we kept driving all the way to the West, to the Ponta do Queimado viewpoint, to see the Graciosa island from there. We were quite impressed by the several fishermen who were there catching tons of fish.

From there we just drove back to the hotel to rest a bit and go for dinner at Birou Bar. It was good, but I wasn't very hungry after the alcatra we had had for lunch.Read more
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