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One of the first things you need to take care of once you’ve booked your flights to the Azores islands is definitely to rent a car. Thing is: you can’t really do anything in the Azores without a car! Unfortunately, on all the islands there is little public transportation and those that exist are rare and irregular. So it is essential to rent a car in the Azores islands.
However, when I started my long term affair with the Azores I was far from imagining that driving on the islands would be a totally different experience than driving in mainland Portugal, or anywhere else in Europe where I have driven before.
So I decided to write this guide about driving in the Azores islands. I hope you enjoy it, and if you have any questions let me know in the comments section!
Why you need to rent a car in the Azores islands
1. Uber doesn’t exist in the Azores
For me this was one of the most shocking news when I got to the Azores: there is no Uber in any of the islands (not even in São Miguel nor Terceira, the islands that get hundreds of thousands of visitors per year). This means that, as soon as you arrive at any airport, you will either have to a) take a taxi to get to your accommodation – wherever that might be located – or b) already have rented a car in the Azores islands (which is always my preferred choice).
2. Taxis are terribly expensive in the Azores
Yet another surprise when I first arrived in the Azores islands: there are plenty of taxis (especially on the larger islands), but because they don’t have the competition of operators like Uber and Bolt, they charge obscene prices. They are much – much! – higher than the prices charged in mainland Portugal.
The usual routes within each island – for example, the route from the airport to the main city – are regulated and the price is usually indicated on panels distributed in the airports themselves, which is very useful.
However, when you need a taxi to go from point A to point B, the prices are not always fixed, and there was at least one occasion when, even though I am Portuguese, I was clearly charged an abusive amount of money for a short trip on São Miguel island, which was very frustrating.
3. Public transports don’t really work in the Azores
Public transports in the Azores islands are simply an embarrassment to my country. In the large cities (mainly Ponta Delgada in São Miguel island and Angra do Heroísmo, in Terceira island) they work okay-ish, but once you need to circulate between different cities / villages or just to the islands’ main attractions, it is a complete mess.
Public transports in the Azores islands are practically non existent, they circulate on a sparse schedule and they are often late. This is why everyone that lives in the Azores has a car.
This three reasons are basically why you need to rent a car in the Azores islands.
Once you do it, you will be able to make use of all my tips and tricks for a smooth Driving in the Azores islands, so keep on reading!
Driving in the Azores islands: 7 life saving tips
Rental cars in the Azores islands are sold out MONTHS in advance
This is one of the things that was most surprising when I started driving in the Azores islands: is that it is actually hard to rent a car, in the sense that they simply vanish from the market with months in advance! It is easy to understand why:
- The number of visitors to the Azores islands has skyrocketed since low-cost airline companies like Ryanair opened flights there. This means that the number of people looking for cars is sharply increasing every year.
- On the other hand, the supply of cars has not been able to keep up with the increase in demand. Being the islands, there is simply a much smaller supply (and an added difficulty to increase it) than in mainland Portugal.
This is the reason why rental cars sell out suuuuper fast in the Azores islands and, according to my friends in the islands, there were lots of tourists that were simply unable to get a car once they got to the Azores islands and were dependent on expensive taxis for the duration of their trip.
Rent a car in the Azores islands as soon as you book your plane tickets – this is actually more urgent than booking your accommodation, trust me!
Practically all rental cars in the Azores islands are manual
Most rental cars on the Azores islands are automatic transmission cars, so basically you need to be comfortable driving a stick.
This is not a problem for my European readers (I believe I am not lying when I say that we generally drive manual cars in Europe), but I know this can be a hassle for my North American readers, who are more used to driving manual cars.
This is not a problem on the flatter islands (such as Terceira island), but it can be challenging if you are in the São Jorge island, for example, where access to the fajãs is on extremely steep roads.
Practice driving a stick at home or bring a friend with you that knows how to do it!
Cows and more cows on the roads of the Azores islands
One of the most fun things about driving in the Azores, especially when it comes to the secondary roads, is that you will often have to share the road with… cows. True story! The Azores are famous for producing beef and dairy products, so there are lots of cows on the islands, especially on São Miguel, Terceira and São Jorge (where they say there are 2 cows for every inhabitant).
This is super chill for me – I think it’s quite picturesque and part of the experience of traveling in the Azores :)
Just slow down and relax – there is no point in trying to rush the cows – and, once you drive in the middle of them, take the opportunity to take some photos :)
The state of the roads varies greatly from island to island…
People think of the Azores as being a uniform bunch of islands, but this is simply not true. The islands are very different from each other – even those that are relatively close to each other – and this is reflected in the disparity of roads.
Generally speaking, the main roads on all the islands – which are generally the roads that go around the entire perimeter of the island, as well as the roads that cross each island in half – are in very good condition. They are wide, and the tarmac is in good condition.
The secondary roads vary a lot from island to island and even within each island. Some of them are in good condition, others are hugely bumpy.
There are no miracle solutions! I love love driving on the Azores islands, particularly on the secondary roads, because they offer incredible views and have far fewer cars. However, if for you it is stressful to drive on bumpy roads, stick to the main roads – they are in pretty good shape!
Fog, Fog and more Fog. And then some rain!
One of the things that makes driving in the Azores a challenging experience in the winter months is that the weather is extremely unpredictable. It’s sunny as soon as it rains or, even worse, a thick fog falls and you can’t see your hand in front of your face.
One thing I have learned over time is that in general, the weather is much worse on the north face of ALL the islands as well as in the center of the islands.
Another thing that I learn is to lean as much as possible on weather apps like WindGuru, which was life saving (ok, maybe I am exaggerating – but it was DAY saving :P)
If you have trouble driving in heavy fog or rain, avoid traveling to the Azores in the winter OR, better yet, avoid the roads that cross the island in half, because the weather there is usually worse. Worst case scenario, if you find yourself in a fog / rain scenario while driving in the Azores islands just keep calm and carry on!
Where are the gas stations in the Azores islands?
Another thing to keep in mind is that, since these are sparsely populated islands, there aren’t exactly gas stations around every corner. Especially in the smaller islands – not only in terms of physical size, like Faial, but mainly in terms of population size.
For example, São Jorge island, which is one of the longest islands in the entire archipelago, is one of those with the fewest service stations, because it has a small number of inhabitants.
On small islands (such as Faial) or on islands with a larger population (such as São Miguel), the number and location of petrol stations are not a problem. On the other islands, try to stay in the larger towns (where there are always service stations), or make sure that you have a full tank of fuel before starting a tour of the island.
There is A LOT of illegal car rental in the Azores islands
One thing that really surprised me is that, unlike in Porto and other civilised places, there is A LOT of illegal car rental in the Azores islands. This means that if you can’t rent a car the normal ways, you can certainly do it if you find the right people, usually through the owners of your accommodation in the island.
Honestly I don’t really recommend you to resort to illegal car rental in the Azores islands because if shit happens, you (and the owner of the car) are screwed. You don’t really know this person, you don’t know what type of insurance the car has, and if something happens, it is your word against the word of a local person.
Therefore, besides being illegal it is frankly dangerous, not only for the reasons I mentioned but also because the police is cracking down on this illegal activity. So be careful!
I am not your mother so I can’t tell you what to do. But given the dangers and the consequences if you get caught, I would definitely stick to renting a car in the Azores islands the “normal” way.
