Sao Miguel, Azori - Uporabni nasveti in informacije (2025)

Sao Miguel is the largest and the main island in Azores archipelago. The capital and the largest city of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, lays here. This is the island people usually have in mind when they say „Azores“. It is very much worth visiting, so we’re answering to some frequently asked questions about Sao Miguel island. Adding some useful tips and solutions here as well.

Where is Sao Miguel island?

Sao Miguel is located in the Azores archipelago, and is part of its eastern group, together with the Santa Maria island.

In terms of dimensions, Sao Miguel is approximately 65 killometres long and 15 killometres wide, with an area of 744 km2. Its highest point is 1105 meters above sea level, in Vara Peak. The island is of entirely volcanic origin.

When to visit Sao Miguel?

We’d say that any island in the Azores is best in the summer months or late spring (May, June, July, August or September). The visibility will be best, water temperature warmest and generally more favorable conditions for the main activities. Hydrangeas also bloom this season – and Sao Miguel has a very broad spectre of hydrangea colours.

• Temperatura zraka se v povprečju giblje med 14° pozimi in 26° poleti.
• Temperatura vode se v povprečju giblje med 16° pozimi in 25° poleti.

Če še niste vedeli, lahko vreme na Azorih prinese od vsega po malem. Sonce, oblaki, veter, dež, vse, kar želite, je na Azorih na voljo. Ni zabavno, če se odpravite na potovanje in ne morete opraviti tistega, kar ste si zadali. Seveda lahko Azore obiščete tudi zunaj teh mesecev in si privoščite čudovito potovanje! Vreme pride in gre, zato bodite pripravljeni na vse vrste razmer.

How to get to Sao Miguel Island?

There are several ways to get to Sao Miguel, depending on where you come from. I leave you all that information below.

Z letalom: Sao Miguel has an airport, very close to the city of Ponta Delgada. Between islands, flights to Sao Miguel are generally made on SATA propeller planes. The airport code is PDG. Most planes fly here from mainland Portugal’s capital Lisbon, many also from Porto, but you can also find some international flights landing here.

S trajektom: The connection between islands is good depending on the groups – the eastern group (Sao Miguel and Santa maria) are quite far from the other islands. Ferries are therefore not so popular, as the drive is long. The ferry schedules can be found on the Atlanticoline – the only ferry service of the Azores. Ferries from and to Santa Maria should be running pretty consistently throughout the day. To Santa Maria it’s a 3-hour ride across the sea. From Sao Miguel to Sao Jorge it’s a 11-hour ride and only drives 3 times a week. When scheduling your trip it’s best to look out at the transfers first.

Uporabne mobilne aplikacije

I recommend some mobile applications that you can install on your phone – they will be useful for your trip to Sao Miguel:

•   SpotAzores: tukaj si lahko ogledate vse obstoječe spletne kamere na različnih točkah otokov in preverite, kakšno je vreme. Ker je vreme zelo spremenljivo in lahko na enem območju otoka dežuje, na drugem pa je sončno, je ta aplikacija najhitrejši način, da se prepričate in izognete nepotrebnim potovanjem.
•  Windy: nujna aplikacija na naših potovanjih, še bolj na Azorih in Madeiri. Omogoča prikaz napovedi dežja, oblakov, vetra itd. in vam pomaga načrtovati dneve glede na vreme. Običajne napovedi niso 100-odstotno zanesljive. Prikazuje tudi spletne kamere, ki so na voljo na določenem območju.
•  GoogleMaps: uporabljamo ga za shranjevanje/razvrščanje vseh krajev, ki jih želimo obiskati/smo jih obiskali, in kot GPS v najetih avtomobilih. Ogledate si lahko mnenja drugih ljudi o krajih, fotografije, jedilnike restavracij, telefonske številke krajev, da jih lahko kontaktirate, itd.
•  Maps.me: aplikacija, podobna Google Maps, vendar deluje brez povezave (čeprav lahko Google Maps deluje tudi brez povezave) in v številnih primerih vsebuje informacije, ki jih Google Maps nima, zlasti poti. Uporabno, kadar koli se odpravljate na pot, da se orientirate, prenesete pot iz uradne Azorske strani o pohodniških poteh (kliknete na Prenosi -> GPS), ipd. Pozor! Pri uporabi storitve maps.me morate zemljevide prenesti vnaprej, torej pred dejanskim prihodom na cilj, sicer lahko traja nekaj časa, da prenesete (in raziščete) nove zemljevide. Ti zemljevidi so shranjeni v vaši mobilni napravi.

Getting Around in Sao Miguel

Sao Miguel has a semi-good public transpostation system for travelers. Buses are, however,  irregular and don’t always stop at interesting spots – they’re mainly meant for locals.

Vendar obstaja rešitev! Lahko najamete avto, skuter ali taksi/vodiča/turo za en dan.

Najboljši način za premikanje po Azorih je najem avtomobila. Postopek je enostaven - če imate veljavno vozniško dovoljenje, preprosto stopite v eno od trgovin in za dan (ali dva ali več) najamete avtomobil. Parkirišča po vsem otoku so brezplačna, parkirišča pa prostorna in dobro označena. Tudi vožnja po otoku je zelo preprosta, saj na samem otoku ni veliko prometa, ceste pa so lepo urejene.

I can recommend renting from RentalCars.com. They have multiple options and are easy to rent at. On their webpage you can search to rent via Ilha Verde, the islands’ main car rental company.

NOTE! During the summer months (June, July, August) car prices skyrocket with limited availability. There are also scooter rentals, but oftentimes the higher mountains of Sao Miguel (Vista do Rei, Lagoa do Fogo, Furnas) are covered in fog and have limited visibility.

If you’re staying on the island for several days then the car rental is your best choice. That way you can see the island at your pace and pick and choose which places you would like to visit during your time on Sao Miguel.

Najem skuterja

I have a good experience with stopping by at „Nunho Carvalho“ and renting a scooter on arrival. Expect to pay between 30€ and 40€/day. Another option in Ponta Delgada is „Azores Easy Rent“.

Taksi storitve

There are also numerous verified taxi drivers found throughout the island. Some of the hiking trails of Sao Miguel are linear (point to point, A –> B), so a taxi driver should be arranged for pick up and drop off. Taxi rentals will cost you anywhere from 80€ to 150€ per day. Note that a taxi can accomodate up to 4 people, larger vans up to 8 people, so sharing the expense makes it very affordable. Sometimes you’ll stand at the taxi point with other people you won’t know and you can share a ride with them.

Sao Miguel Tours for Those Not Renting a Car

There is very limited public transportation on the island of Sao Miguel. It is nearly impossible to rely on buses that run infrequently and stop at limited locations.

If you’re short on time it’s best to book a full-day tour of Sao Miguel. Here are some highly recommended tours:

• Full Day Outdoor Furnas Valley with Traditional Lunch
• Sao Miguel 2-Day Tour Pack: East & West including lunches
• Full Day Tour Sete Cidades & Lagoa do Fogo with Lunch
• Other Tours & Experiences

SIM kartice na Azorih

Preden preberete ta del, se vprašajte, ali na Azorih dejansko potrebujete kartico SIM. No, če vas ne moti, da nimate interneta ves čas, boste verjetno našli brezplačen WiFi v restavracijah, nakupovalnih središčih, hotelih itd. Če nameravate uporabljati le maps.me aplikacijo, ki jo je mogoče uporabljati brez interneta, bi to moralo zadostovati.

Če pa boste podatke potrebovali za premikanje, klicanje taksija, prevajanje besed v portugalščino ali preprosto iskanje dodatnih informacij, si boste za potovanje po Azorih morda želeli kupiti kartico SIM.

Za potovanje po Azorih priporočam uporabo kartice SIM podjetij Meo, Vodafone, NOS ali Airalo (k Airalu se bomo vrnili pozneje, zato nadaljujte z branjem in izvedite več!)

Če nameravate med potovanjem po Evropi obiskati tudi druge države, boste morda želeli izbrati možnost, ki ponuja kritje v drugih evropskih državah.

Kako kupiti kartico SIM na Azorih

Azorsko predplačniško kartico SIM lahko kupite osebno na nekaterih mednarodnih letališčih, v prodajalnah mobilnih operaterjev, trgovinah s priročnimi izdelki ali vnaprej prek spleta.

Ponudniki na letališčih imajo običajno višje stroške in slabše podatkovne ponudbe, zato to ni najboljša možnost. Pozor! Not every airport will have SIM card shops (especially smaller airports), so keep it in mind! Ponta Delgada, however, does have that option.

I’d still recommend buying a SIM card directly from the mobile provider store. You might need your passport to buy one.

To pomeni tudi, da ne boste imeli podatkov takoj ob prihodu. Če želite biti ves čas povezani, lahko uporabite eSIM.

Oglejmo si nekaj podatkovnih paketov, ki jih ponujajo družbe Meo, Vodafone in NOS.

Meo SIM kartice

Meo (https://www.meo.pt/en/mobile/pay-as-you-go) is a Portuguese phone network, offers a tourist plan that covers the Azores and Madeira:

• 5 GB podatkov, klici in sporočila na Portugalsko, veljavni 7 dni = od 3 €

Vodafone Portugalska SIM kartice

Vodafone Portugalska (https://www.vodafone.pt/internet-movel.html) covers the Azores and Madeira and has 2 different prepaid plans available. It also has the best coverage:

• Neomejeni podatki, veljavni 15 dni = 20€
• Neomejeni podatki, veljavni 30 dni = 35€

NOS SIM kartice

NOS (https://www.nos.pt/movel/tarifarios-movel/tarifarios-movel-pre-pagos) offers lots of Portuguese plans that also cover the Azores and Madeira:

• Neomejeni podatki, veljavni 8 dni = 15€
• Neomejeni podatki, veljavni 1 mesec = 35€ 

Relativno nov koncept - eSIM: virtualna kartica SIM v telefonu

Če vaš mobilni telefon podpira kartice eSIM, je to zagotovo ena najboljših možnosti za pridobivanje podatkov na Azorih. Če ste novi in želite izvedeti več, si o tem preberite na eSIM Roamers.

eSIM sem začela uporabljati takoj, ko jo je moj mobilni telefon podpiral. Za nakup eSIM običajno uporabljam Airalo, zanesljiv in razširjen ponudnik eSIM.

Airalo na Azorih ima na voljo veliko različnih možnosti, nekatere med njimi so navedene spodaj:

• Pico: 1 GB, velja 7 dni za 5 USD
• Pico: 2 GB, velja 15 dni za 9 USD
• Pico: 3 GB, velja 30 dni za 11.5 USD
• Pico: 5 GB, velja 30 dni za 17 USD
• Pico: 10 GB, velja 30 dni za 29 USD
• Pico: 20 GB, velja 30 dni za 48 USD

Preprosto prenesite njihovo aplikacijo in sledite navodilom za namestitev eSIM v mobilno napravo.

Where to eat on Sao Miguel?

Ponta Delgada and the rest of Sao Miguel have many options to grab a snack. As for what to eat on Azores, seafood and fish are naturally good options. Be sure to try cracas in lapas, ali hobotnico. Na otoku lahko najdete tudi dobro meso krav, ki se pasejo na otoku. Vedno je pametno vnaprej rezervirati hrano.

• Stage restaurant (Ponta Delgada)
• A Tasca (Ponta Delgada)
• O Giro (Ponta Delgada) 
• Bar do Pi (super affordable, Ponta Delgada)
• Sau Nicolau (Sete Cidades)
• Green Love (Sete Cidades)
• Sunset Poco da Pedra (Mosteiros)
• Caffe Os Moinhos (Praia Moinhos, Porto Formoso)
• Faialense (Faial da Terra)
• Terra Nostra Garden Hotel (for cozido or other food, delicious, Furnas)

Druge uporabne informacije

• rezervacija letal: Potovanje na Azore ni bilo nikoli poceni, a kljub temu je najboljši nasvet za varčevanje prilagodljivost. Bolj kot ste prilagodljivi, cenejši je lahko vaš let. Uporabljam Skyscanner za nakup letalskih kart in Google Flights za najboljše primerjave datumov.
• rezervacija nastanitve: Sao Miguel is definitely worth staying a few nights. There are plenty of accommodation and restaurant options in the main town of Ponta Delgada, but you’ll find accomodations elsewhere around the island as well (cheaper for sure). Depending on what you’re looking for there are various websites that provide accomodation of all types. The comfort of home can be found on Vrbo, razkošje hotela na Booking.com, najboljša cenovno ugodna možnost za samostojne potnike je Hostelworld. Če ste res omejeni s proračunom, a imate prosti čas, si oglejte Worldpackers - v zameno za delo nudijo BREZPLAČNO nastanitev.

Nekaj odličnih nastanitev:

1. Azores Youth Hostels
2. Casa Conforto
3. Sao Vicente Lodge – Atlantic Retreat
4. Per Teive Bay Apartments Hotel (great price, luxurious stay!)
5. Casa da Matriz (super affordable)

• ali potrebujete vizum?: preverite vse najnovejše informacije na iVisa - spletno mesto je zelo preprosto za uporabo (in tudi za vlogo za vizum, če ga morate imeti!). Velja za vse države po svetu, zato si jo zapišite za naslednje potovanje!
• spakirajte najnujnejše: powerbank, nepremočljiva jakna, adapter, potni list, nahrbtnik... Oglejte si popoln seznam stvari za Azore.

Če povzamemo vse...

Verjamem, da je to to! Če mislite, da je še kakšna druga tema, ki je nisem zajel, mi to sporočite v komentarjih.
Če potrebujete pomoč pri načrtovanju potovanja (informacije, rezervacije in rezervacija, leti, drugi nasveti), se obrnite na nas in si zagotovite osebno prilagojen potovalni nasvet.