Experience the best of Faial Island

Faial is one of the nine Azorean islands, a green volcanic island of pastures and hedges of hydrangeas, which flower blue in summer. Horta, the island's port town, is a favourite stop for yachts crossing the Atlantic, and the harbour wall is covered in hundreds of paintings left by sailors for luck. The town has a pleasant waterfront, old churches and a fort.

The island's centre is the Caldeira, a crater about two kilometres wide and four hundred metres deep, with a rim path above a floor dotted with pools. In 1957–58 the Capelinhos volcano erupted off the western tip, adding new land and partly burying the lighthouse in ash, and a visitor centre now explains the event. Across the narrow channel, the cone of Pico, the highest mountain in Portugal at 2,351 metres, is reached by a short ferry, and whales and dolphins can be seen offshore.

Fresh fish, limpets cooked in garlic butter, Azorean cheeses and sweet bread, with wine from the vineyards of Pico, are the foods of the island. The climate is mild and oceanic, with frequent showers and mist, and the warmest months are July to September.