12 Best things to do on São Miguel Island
15/06/2023
Itinerary for Two Weeks in the Azores Islands
20/06/2023
Cost of a two-week trip to the Azores
So you're thinking about visiting the Azores Islands?
For many of us, the cost of the trip is an important factor to consider.
I hope to answer some of your questions about costs, in this post.
Before I start, it is worth remembering that many of the major costs such as flights, accommodation and rental cars can change drastically depending on how much you plan in advance and what time of year you go to the Azores.
For example, I arrived in the Azores at the end of May 2023.
Some other plans I had in Portugal got cancelled and my partner and I were searching for something else to do for those two weeks together. We found the Azores Islands!
This trip was a spontaneous decision and I mention this because our spontaneity affected the prices we paid and the type of trip we chose to do there.
In our case, we also decided to travel to only two islands - São Miguel and Terceira, and this also had an impact on the cost of the trip.
I still believe that even though we flew at short notice, traveled during the off season and traveled in a low budget style, I will still be able to provide you with some indication of the costs of a two-week trip to the Azores.
And of course, it gives me the opportunity to calculate how much I really spent on this trip :)
This post will be divided according to expenses on flights, accommodation, car, food and various attractions we did.
Hope it helps you :)
Cost of flights to the Azores
In my case I had a round trip flight to Portugal booked even before I decided to fly to the Azores.
As I mentioned I had plans in Portugal that were canceled after I had already booked a flight to Lisbon.
A flight to Lisbon, round trip without luggage (I only traveled with a personal item) cost me $150.
To optimize our time on the islands, we decided to fly into Sao Miguel, then to Terceira, and then straight back from Terceira to Lisbon (rather than stopping through Sao Miguel on the way back)
The flight from Lisbon to Sao Miguel Island cost about $144 for me and my partner (about $72 per person).
I didn't include luggage, but because Malcolm had a larger backpack than mine, so on one of the flights we included luggage, and we just shared the expense for this flight equally.
The flight between Sao Miguel and Terceira cost about $86 and included full luggage (there was no other option to choose).
Lastly, the flight from Terceira back to Lisbon cost about $61 per person. The flights included carry on luggage (not checked).
Luckily for us they were generous and let us check in Malcolm's backpack thus saving us the hassle of getting rid of the things we gathered while on the islands.
We booked all our flights through the Skyscanner website. To go to the website for checking flights and bookings, click here >>
We split most of the costs equally
Car rental costs in the Azores Islands
One of the things that dictated our trip itinerary and its planning (and it is very good to plan the trip in advance), was the matter of renting a car.
We chose islands where the car rental is not terribly expensive, and we also tried to arrange our itinerary to be as cost efficient as possible, given the varying prices of cars on specific islands and on specific days.
It is recommended to try a few options before booking, as you may see a big difference in prices.
It is also worth mentioning that the season in which you go to the Azores can drastically change the price of car rentals.
There is a limited number of cars available so in the high season (June-August), the prices can be double or triple the costs that we saw in may.
The cost of renting a car in Sao Miguel
Since our flight from Lisbon to Sao Miguel didn't land until eight in the evening, we decided not to take a car that evening, and only rent it starting the next day.
It also allowed us to pick up the car right next to the hotel where we were staying, so everything was really convenient and fast, and also saved us the cost of renting an extra day when we didn't plan to use the car anyway.
We returned the car the morning of our flight to Terceira, and they drove us from the drop off location to the airport.
In both cases we picked up the vehicle and returned it to the city center.
The rental company through which we booked the car offers free shuttles to the airport, so even though we returned the car at the center, they drove us to the airport free of charge.
The cost of renting a car in Sao Miguel was about $206 for 6 days of rental ($103 per person).
Our cute vehicle in Sao Miguel
The cost of renting a car on Terceira Island
On Terceira, on the other hand, we took the car immediately upon landing and returned it early in the morning for our flight back to Lisbon.
A strange thing happened there.
When we tried to plan our trip to the Azores, we of course checked all kinds of different options of days for booking the car.
For some reason it gave us a better price for booking the car for six days than for four days, and it basically sealed the choice to travel the island for six days.
The cost for all this time was about $160 (about $80 per person).
All car reservation we booked through Rental Cars, after comparing with Economy Bookings.
We got a cheaper offer with the first one, but I recommend you check both sites and decide.
Both offer very attractive prices and work with good rental companies in the Azores.
Our really cute vehicle in Terceira
Cost of accommodation in the Azores Islands
Regarding the accommodation, there will probably be the biggest gap between the costs of my trip and what you expect, mainly due to the nature of the trip we did compared to normal people :)
Cost of accommodation in Lisbon + Sao Miguel
Before the Azores I stayed in Lisbon for about 3 nights.
The first two nights I stayed with a local friend, and on the third night when my partner arrived, we took a room in a vacation apartment outside the city center.
Since we booked relatively last minute, we didn't have many options to choose from.
The cost of accommodation in Lisbon amounted to about $46 ($23 per person).
Arriving in Ponta Delgada on Sao Miguel Island, we took a hotel room in town for our first night. This is also an booking we made relatively last minute and I'm not sure it reflects a different reality.
For this night we paid about $64 ($32 per person).
We spent the rest of our nights on the island in a tent, which by the way, didn't save us too much because on the last night we were attacked by some local youths in one of the places where we stopped to sleep at night and they broke our car window.
The cost of fixing the window probably would have cost us the same amount if we had stayed in hotels throughout our trip there.
What's more, on the first night we paid for accommodation at a cute camping site that had not yet opened for travelers.
Since it was before the start of the season for the owner of the place he made us a discounted price, and we paid about 10 euros per night for both of us. (about 5 euros per person).
3 Euros to enter - Fumarolas Lagoa das Furnas
Cost of accommodation in Terceira
After a sleepless night due to this incident and spending the morning at the police station in Ponta Delgada, we took our flight to Terceira Island.
To treat ourselves, we booked a room for our first two nights on the island in an amazing and cute house that sits right on the beach.
We also really wanted to celebrate Malcolm's birthday with some pampering on the island, so it was definitely worth it.
For the amazing place we found we paid about $41 per night. A total of $82 for two nights, which leaves us at about $41 per person.
The following nights we spent again in the tent, but the weather was a bit rough and rainy and I was already losing patience and we decided to take two more nights in a hotel in Terceira's capital city, Angra do Heroísmo.
At a somewhat dingy hotel in the center of the city, we paid $32 per night and stayed there for two nights, so in the end it came out to about $32 per person.
All reservations for accommodation in the Azores were made through the Aguda website
Our beautiful house in Terceira
Food costs in the Azores Islands
I will start by stating that most of the food we ate in the Azores we simply cooked ourselves.
Therefore most of the expenses were definitely on shopping at the supermarket more than anything else.
Despite this, it turned out that we indulged in restaurants here and there and we ate quite a bit of Pastel de Nata :)
We shared the costs of shopping at the supermarket equally even though Malcolm eats more than me, eats my food too, and ruins my diet along the way.
But I love him and that's life :)
The cost of groceries from the supermarket for our two weeks came to about $188 (about $94 per person).
We did almost all of our shopping at Super Continente , which has a large store in Terceira and a really good vegan selection..!
In Sao Miguel we did the shopping at a supermarket called SolMar. It has a huge store in Ponta Delgada and that's where we stocked up on all our food for the trip to the island.
In addition, we ate out a bit, but I didn't particularly keep track of my expenses there, so I give a rough estimate and probably quite close to the truth of about $60.
You can't refuse Pastel de Nata
Traveling to the Azores Islands soon? Don't forget to get travel insurance
Costs of attractions in the Azores Islands
To be honest, most of the trip in terms of attractions was quite cheap.
We didn't do any special attractions like whale watching, diving, etc.
Most of the things we did amounted to hiking trails, hot springs and caves.
Attractions we paid to do:
- Lagoa dos Furnas - €3 per person.
- Termas das Caldeiras hot springs
At a cost of about €3 per person.
- Entrance to the hot springs in Furnes and the botanical garden (Parque Terra Nostra) at a cost of about €10 per person.
- Entrance to the Caldeira Velha hot springs at a cost of about €10 per person.
- We bought a ticket which gave us access to both Gruta do Natal and Algar do Carvão for €15.
There are tons of amazing things to do in the Azores, and I wrote a really detailed post about it The things you absolutely must not miss if you come to Sao Miguel >>
Hot springs worth every Euro - Caldeira Velha
Additional costs such as fuel, SIM card and various unforseen costs
Fuel costs in the Azores islands
The cost of fuel for our trip to São Miguel Island was about $48 for the two of us ($24 per person).
The cost of fuel for our trip to Terceira Island was around $40 (about $20 per person).
SIM card costs in the Azores islands
Only my partner did a SIM card, so I won't count it in the total price of my costs (he stayed in Portugal for a while).
He got the SIM card through Vodafone even when he arrived in Lisbon, at an unaffordable cost of about €25 for 10 gigabytes.
There are totally cheaper options worth checking out..!
Costs in various other projects that emerged along the way
So of course the biggest disappointment was the €200 we paid for the broken window.
In addition, we did a little shopping in the decathlon for a tent that cost about €30 , a knife that cost about 9 euros and a few other small personal things.
You should also prepare for unexpected expenses
Summary of travel costs in the Azores Islands
Dum Dum Dum, the moment we've all been waiting for..!
I will only consider my side here because Malcolm arrived there from a different destination than me, and also spent much more money than I did on coffee and pastries.
What I paid in dollars I will state in dollars and what I paid in euros I will state in euros. You will have to calculate the conversion to your own currency if you want :)
And now for the results:
The total cost of flights came out to about $369.
Renting the cars came out to about $183.
Accommodation was about $128 + €5.
Shopping at the supermarket and restaurants came out to about $154.
In total, the costs of attractions cost me about €41.
In total, additional costs came to about $44 for fuel, €110 for unforeseen costs, and $60 for travel insurance.
And to sum up, total costs for a two-week trip to the Azores came out to me about $938 + €156.
worth it :)
Last words
So yes, these are my expenses for the trip I took to the Azores.
As I mentioned this can give you a general indication of the costs on the island, but of course the final costs depend on the nature of your trip, the standard of accommodation, what time of year you fly and so on.
If you have already visited the islands and would like to share your costs on the trip and thus help other travelers, please write to me in the comments.
If my content helps you during your travels, I would love for you to help me continue to grow and create more content. The most wonderful way, apart from continuing to visit my blog and use my links, is to follow me on Instagram..!
You can find a link to my Instagram page here >>
Thank you very much for the support and I wish you an amazing trip to the Azores :)
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All photos were taken by me, and may not be used without permission.
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Enjoy your trip :)
