Pico Island Azores Portugal
7
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Lindblad Expeditions (6 Cruises)
National Geographic Orion
6 Cruises
Ponant (1 Cruises)
Frequently Asked Questions
At Madalena, the main town, facing the channel that separates Pico from Faial. The landing is in the heart of the village, and the ferries coming and going to Horta keep the waterfront lively.
Yes. The streets take about an hour to walk: a church that looks oversized for such a small town, quiet squares, facades where black basalt frames white lime. The cafés serve strong espresso to passengers and fishermen alike.
A UNESCO World Heritage landscape: thousands of tiny enclosures, the currais, grid the lava fields for kilometres. They are basalt walls stacked by hand without mortar, sheltering each vine from wind and salt spray since the 15th century.
In the Criação Velha area, just outside Madalena, dotted with red-capped windmills. The Wine Museum, in a former Carmelite convent at the edge of town, rounds out the visit among stills and centuries-old dragon trees.
Yes, several excursions offer whale watching from Madalena or Lajes. Sperm whales cruise offshore year-round, joined seasonally by other species. The outing depends on the ocean and is never guaranteed: that's the deal.
Sperm whale hunting, carried out here in open boats until the 1980s. Housed in former boat sheds, the museum tells it plainly: harpoons, slender launches, photographs of weathered men. The same waters now host whale watching.
Rarely in full. At 2,351 metres, Pico mountain, the highest point in Portugal, almost always wears its scarf of cloud, and islanders read the coming weather from the shape of that turban. A gap can open at any moment: keep an eye on it.
By organized excursion or taxi. Public transport is close to nonexistent, and the distances to Lajes or the mistérios road are too great to walk. Without a booking you'll stay in Madalena, which still makes a fine half day.
The euro and Portuguese. Cards work in restaurants and at quintas that host groups; keep cash for cafés and small producers. English is understood by guides, less so in the hamlets.
Yes, in the natural lava pools along the coast a short distance from the Madalena pier. You swim in clear water between black rocks. These are not sand beaches: access is by ladders and basalt slabs.
