Top Azores Attractions & Museums

The coast along São Miguel is home to notable birdlife, from petrels and terns to buzzards and gannets—a bird-watcher's dream, if you can get close enough. With this small-group tour, cruise out of the marina in Vila Franca do Campo with naturalists and biologists on a marine birding expedition gathering field data for research—approach bird colonies slowly and view them from a distance and through provided binoculars.

Skip the busier stretches of the São Miguel coastline, and head out by boat to discover the marine life and exclusive swimming spots of the island’s south coast. With an in-the-know local guide, you’ll improve your chances of finding the region’s famous whales and dolphins. Swimming and a traditional Azores lunch follow the boat ride at the islet of Vila Franca do Campo.

This tour, of approximately 3-4 hours, will take you to taste the best cheese from the Azores – the Cheijo de São Jorge – and also see, how it is manufactured, from the cows' pasture, in the medium and high altitude pasture, to its confection, in the cheese factories – Queijarias. You will have the opportunity to see the cows, in their habitat, almost natural, the green pasture, in altitude, of the island of São Jorge, responsible for the excellent quality of the cheese and of unique taste. This quality, recognized, about 500 years ago, by Gaspar Frutuoso: « The best cheese of the Azores ». A visit to the Union of Milk Cooperatives of São Jorge – Uniqueijo, where the traditional and highly appreciated São Jorge cheese is produced, stored, packaged and sold, using the most modern technologies and manufacturing methods. You will have the opportunity to taste this product, unique, in its various stages of maturation, which gives them different textures and flavors – with 3, 6 and 24 months.