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We tend to think of the Azores islands as this homogeneous block of land lost in the Atlantic Ocean but in fact, every island is distinct from the others and that really shows when it comes to getting to each island. There are islands that have multiple airline connections from all over the world and islands that get ONE weekly connection by SATA airlines. There are islands connected by ferry, others not. Islands that you can get to every day of the week, islands that demand you to carefully plan your trip there.
Because it is a confusing topic I decided to write this detailed guide about how to travel between the Azores islands. I hope it helps and, naturally, if you have any questions drop them in the comment box! :)
The Azores archipelago – DON’T SKIP THIS PART
The Azores archipelago consists of 9 islands grouped into three groups:
– The eastern group, made up of the island of São Miguel (the largest and most populated island in the Azores) and the island of Santa Maria, known for being a holiday destination for the people of São Miguel.
– The central group, made up of the triangle islands (São Jorge, Pico and Faial) as well as Terceira and Graciosa island. The islands in the triangle are islands very close to each other, so the short distances that separate them are generally overcome using Azores ferries and not flights.
– The western group, made up of the remote islands of FLores and Corvo. It is the most difficult group to access and where fewer people arrive.
Traditionally, we use planes to travel between different groups of islands and the Azores ferries to travel between islands belonging to the same group.
How to travel between the Azores islands: plane
Unsurprisingly, not all the Azores islands connect to one another directly (which is a pain for the locals). For instance, if you are in Pico and want to go to São Miguel you first need to fly to Terceira island.
Direct flights between Azores islands
These are the islands that are directly connected by plane:
If you are not a visual person but would like to have this information nonetheless, here is a double entry table with the direct flights between Azores islands:
| Duration of the trip | São Miguel | Terceira | São Jorge | Pico | Faial | Graciosa | Santa Maria | Flores | Corvo |
| São Miguel | NA | 40 min | – | 55 min | 55 min | – | 30 min | 1h20 | – |
| Terceira | 40 min | NA | 35 min | 35 min | 35 min | 30 min | – | 1h | – |
| São Jorge | – | 35 min | NA | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Pico | 55 min | 35 min | – | NA | – | – | – | – | – |
| Faial | 55 min | 35 min | – | – | NA | – | – | – | – |
| Graciosa | – | 30 min | – | – | – | NA | – | – | – |
| Santa Maria | 30 min | – | – | – | – | – | NA | – | – |
| Flores | 1h20 | 1h | – | – | – | – | – | NA | 20 min |
| Corvo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 20 min | NA |
In case you are unfamiliar with double entry tables, this means that, for instance, there is a direct flight connection between São Miguel and Terceira islands, and it lasts for 40 minutes. However, there is no direct connection between São Miguel and São Jorge, for example.
What if there are no direct flights between islands?
If there are no direct flights between islands you can either do a flight stopover at an intermediate island OR you can take the ferry. Here is some detailed information about how to travel between islands that don’t have a direct flight connection:
Travel between São Miguel island and…
- São Jorge: You need to fly to Terceira island and from there to São Jorge.
- Graciosa: You need to fly to Terceira island and from there to Graciosa.
- Corvo: You need to fly to Flores island and from there to Corvo.
Travel between Terceira island and…
- Santa Maria: you have to fly to São Miguel island and from there to Santa Maria.
- Corvo: you need to fly to Flores island and from there to Corvo.
Travel between Pico island and…
- São Jorge: the smartest option is to take the ferry.
- Faial: the smartest option is to take the ferry.
- Graciosa: you need to fly to Terceira island and from there to Graciosa.
- Flores: you need to fly to Terceira island and from there to Flores.
- Corvo: you need to fly to Terceira island, then to Flores and from there take a ferry to Corvo.
Travel between Faial island and…
- São Jorge: the smartest option is to take the ferry.
- Santa Maria: you need to fly to São Miguel island and from there to Santa Maria.
- Graciosa: you need to fly to Terceira island and from there to Graciosa.
- Flores: you need to fly to Terceira island and from there to Flores.
- Corvo: you need to fly to Terceira island, then to Flores and from there take a ferry to Corvo.
Travel between São Jorge island and…
- Santa Maria: you need to fly to Terceira island, from there to São Miguel island and from there to Santa Maria.
- Graciosa: you need to fly to Terceira island and from there to Graciosa.
- Flores: you need to fly to Terceira island and from there to Flores.
- Corvo: you need to fly to Terceira island, then to Flores and from there take a ferry to Corvo.
To sum it up: wherever you are in the Azores archipelago, you have to fly to the main island of the group you are at (ocidental, central or oriental group) and from there take another plane or catch the ferry to go to whatever island you want to go.
What airline companies operate between different Azores islands?
You can fly to the Azores using a multitude of different airlines, but to travel between Azores islands by plane you will have to use SATA Azores airlines. Some people like to complain about the prices but honestly I never paid too much – perhaps because I like to book my tickets with a lot of time in advance. Moreover, with SATA Azores airlines you can take a 23kg luggage at no extra cost, which is far better than other airlines like Ryanair. So all and all, I am very pleased with SATA Azores airlines.
How to travel between the Azores islands: ferry
I already wrote a very detailed guide about how to travel between the Azores islands using ferries so I am not going to go into that level of detail on this particular article. The most important things to know about ferry connections are:
- Most of the ferry connections in the Azores exist to connect the triangle islands: São Jorge, Pico and Faial. These ferry connections are the blue, green and orange lines. These trips are relatively short (none lasts more than 2h) and very convenient, as you can also transport vehicles.
- The triangle islands belong to the central group of Azores, which consists of five islands: São Jorge, Pico, Faial, but also Terceira and Graciosa. There is, therefore, two extra lines that serve those five islands, which is the purple and the white lines.
- There are also ferry connections between the occidental islands: Flores and Corvo, even though those connections only take place once a day in each direction (pink line).
- There are currently no connections between the islands of the oriental group (São Miguel and Santa Maria islands).
- There are currently no ferry connections between the different groups of islands (Ocidental, oriental and central groups) and hence no ferry connection that connects ALL the Azores islands.
- The schedule of the ferries of the Azores islands is variable according to the time of the year so you basically need to keep an eye on the website of Atlântico Line, the only company operating ferries in the Azores.
How to buy tickets to the ferries in the Azores
There are basically three ways to acquire your tickets to the ferries:
- You can buy your ticket at the boarding pier. If you choose this alternative, I recommend that you buy your ticket(s) in advance, and preferably that you also buy the return ticket (if you are going to return to the same island from which you depart) or else that Buy connecting tickets to the following islands now.
- You can also buy your ticket on the Atlântico Line website. In the top right corner there is the word “Booking” written in green. Click there and then just select whether you want a one-way or round trip, departure island and arrival island and travel date. Then, if necessary, you can add a vehicle or extra luggage.
Finally, provide your email address (they ask for more information, but email is really enough) and choose the payment method.
You can choose to pay with a credit or debit card or via ATM or MB Way. These two options only make sense for those who have a Portuguese bank account. As far as I know, it is not yet possible to pay with PayPal.
- You can also buy your ticket on the Atlântico Line app but, to be completely honest, it is rubbish and I never managed to make it work on my iPhone. Perhaps it works better on an Android phone, but I never tried it.
Plane vs Ferry: what is the best option to travel between the Azores islands?
What I usually do is:
- I fly between islands of different groups (for example, I’d fly from São Miguel island, in the Oriental group, to Terceira island, in the Central group).
- I use the ferry for small journeys within the same group (for instance, I use the ferry to travel between Pico and Faial or between Faial and São Jorge in the central group, or between Flores and Corvo in the Ocidental group).
Please note that sometimes it is not possible to use this rule – for instance, currently the only way to go from São Miguel to Santa Maria, both in the Oriental group, is to travel by plane.
However and in general, my rule does apply in most circumstances :)
