Visiting

Fenais da Luz, north coast, São Miguel

Photo: Augusto Faustino

Birding Tours

Naturetrek and Wildwings organise tours to the Azores.

Guides

We are not aware of any bird guides on the Azores but the SPEA (Portuguese society for the study of birds) have a local office on Nordeste, São Miguel. They are there for reseach purposes but may be able to help with directions. Their contact details are as follows:

SPEA - Projecto LIFE Priolo; Apartado 14; 9630 NORDESTE.
Telefone / Fax: (00351) 296 488455
Cell Phone: (00351) 912737243
Mail: joaquim.teodosio@spea.pt

Trip reports

A trip report can be purchased from the ABC Online Shop

This report by Willem Steenge and Theo Bakker is 29 pages in length and covers travel, transport, weather, ferry timetables, itinerary and site guides and many maps. It covers the period Sept / Oct 1997.

Field Guide

GARCÍA-del-REY, E. (2011): Field Guide to the Birds of Macaronesia. Azores, Madeira, Canary Islands, Cape Verde. Lynx Edicions. Bellaterra, Barcelona. 341 pp.

Logistics

All islands have airports but most international connections arrive at São Miguel, Terceira and Santa Maria. The Azores are approximately 2 hours flying time from Lisbon, Portugal and there are flights throughout the year. There are also direct flights from the UK between April and October and flights to the US, Canada and

Madeira.

Inter-island flights can be purchased at the same time as an international flight and this may prove to be a cheaper option as discounts are available for international travellers.

The roads are good and sometimes very good but winding. The visa requirements are the same as for Portugal and no major vaccinations are required as for Portugal although you should check with your local doctor before travel. The local currency is the Euro.

Safety

See the following 2 websites or your own embassy website for safety and travel information: http://travel.state.gov and http://www.fco.gov.uk.

Last page update 19th December 2011