Horta Faial Island Azores Portugal
46
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Azamara Club Cruises (7 Cruises)
Crystal Cruises (15 Cruises)
Explora Journeys (1 Cruises)
Lindblad Expeditions (6 Cruises)
National Geographic Orion
6 Cruises
Norwegian Cruise Line (2 Cruises)
Oceania Cruises (4 Cruises)
Ponant (1 Cruises)
SeaDream Yacht Club (2 Cruises)
Frequently Asked Questions
At the cruise terminal, which opens straight onto the marina in the heart of town. You step ashore and the open-air museum of sailors' murals begins a few paces away.
Because crews crossing the Atlantic leave a mural to mark their passage: boat names, flags, crossing dates. Tradition says skipping it brings bad luck. Thousands of paintings now cover the quays, walls and breakwaters.
Yes, easily. The waterfront takes only minutes to walk: brilliant white churches, low houses framed in basalt, chandlers and cafés. Only the Capelinhos volcano and the caldera require a vehicle.
The most famous café in the North Atlantic, behind a blue facade facing the marina. It has welcomed sailors for more than 80 years: crew mail, the ritual gin and tonic, burgees stacked from floor to ceiling. Upstairs, its scrimshaw museum displays sperm whale teeth and jaws engraved by whalers.
Yes, the excursion fits comfortably into half a day. At the western tip of Faial, the 1957-1958 undersea eruption raised a landscape of ash from the ocean that enlarged the island, buried hamlets and drove thousands of residents to emigrate, many of them to North America.
Pick one direction. Either the town and marina on foot, with Peter Café Sport and a climb up Monte da Guia; or an excursion to Capelinhos and the caldera. Trying to string it all together in one call gives you a day of driving rather than a day on the island.
Yes, in clear weather. Across the channel, barely eight kilometres away, the cone of Pico, the highest point in Portugal, often rises above the clouds. The Monte da Guia viewpoint, reached on foot from Porto Pim beach, offers the finest view of it.
The euro. Cards work in restaurants, cafés and shops downtown. A little cash stays useful for small purchases and independent guides.
Portuguese, but Horta is a crossroads of ocean sailing: English is spoken fluently along the waterfront, and you'll hear accents from everywhere. French turns up occasionally.
May through September. The hydrangeas lining the roads earn Faial its nickname of the blue island at the height of summer, and the sea is at its kindest. The caldera stays capped with cloud in most seasons.
