New Year in the Azores

One thousand miles into the Atlantic, the Azores were once a staging-post for Columbus and a sanctum for Spanish and Portuguese treasure ships returning from the New World. Sea-captains arrived on these verdant, volcanic islands with plants from all over the globe, many of which continue to flourish in the mild, temperate climate. The wildlife of the Azores includes not just dolphins and whales but also bullfinches, endemic races of many European birds and stranded migrants from America and Europe.

Our tour begins with a visit to the dramatic twin craters of Sete Citades, with ecologically contrasting lakes. Here we will walk along the shoreline discussing the volcanic history and its interplay with the environment. We then go on to explore Ponta Delgada, the administrative capital of the Azores located on São Miguel Island, where we will explore the town on foot, taking in its square, the church of São Sebastião and the Ponta Delgada Museum.

The Lagoa do Fogo is a crater lake in the centre of São Miguel: the caldera is notably one of the youngest volcanoes on the island, and it forms one of the largest bodies of water in the Azores. We will continue to the steaming hot springs of the Furnas Valley to taste the waters and pay a visit to its unusual nativity scene.

Carpeted with forests surrounding fertile pastures, mountains and rivers, the northeastern region of Nordeste is the geologically oldest yet least populated part of São Miguel. Here we will take in sweeping views across the landscape, before delving into the endemic forest regeneration area of the Centro Ambiental do Priolo. Our tour ends on New Year's Day with a relaxed exploration of the Terra Nostra Botanical Park in the Furnas Valley.

In Ponta Delgada we will stay at the Azoris Royal Garden Hotel, set around a beautiful Japanese garden (and with indoor and outdoor swimming pools). We continue to the Art Deco Terra Nostra Garden Hotel, situated on the edge of the beautiful Terra Nostra Botanical Park at Furnas.

Please note that while we will endeavour to deliver the below itinerary, some details may be subject to confirmation and visits may be reordered depending on local conditions. Travellers should be comfortable walking for up to three hours, sometimes over rough and uneven terrain.

This tour will be led by Morag Hunter, PhD, a geologist and teaching fellow in the department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge, and Director of Studies in Earth Sciences at Churchill College and Girton College, Cambridge. Morag previously worked as a research scientist for the British Antarctic Survey for 12 years. She co-leads tours to Iceland, and is particularly interested in tectonic and climatic environmental changes through geological time.