Santa Maria

Santa Maria feels distinct from the moment you arrive: the light is drier, the fields often turn golden, and the island carries the sunny calm behind its nickname, the Sun Island. As the geologically oldest island in the Azores, it has a character shaped less by dramatic volcanic spectacle and more by clay, fossils, open slopes and pale bays. It is easy to explore by car, but it rewards slower days of swimming, viewpoints and walking.

The sea is the obvious starting point. Praia Formosa is one of the Azores’ rare light-sand beaches, with clear water and a broad bay framed by steep green slopes. São Lourenço is a different kind of showpiece: an amphitheatre-shaped bay where terraced vineyards run down towards a pale beach and natural swimming area. On a good-weather day, do both rather than choosing one: Formosa for an open beach day, São Lourenço for lingering over the view.

Santa Maria’s wilder surprise lies inland and along the north coast. Barreiro da Faneca is a red-clay, semi-desert landscape, protected for its geological and ecological value, with the bays of Raposo, Tagarete and Cré nearby. The island’s long-distance trail crosses several of these places in stages, revealing marine fossils at Pedreira do Campo, basalt columns at Ribeira do Maloás and a chain of paths through pastureland, woodland and sea-facing viewpoints.

Vila do Porto deserves unhurried time, especially around its older streets, churches, traditional houses and the defensive memory of Forte de São Brás. At Anjos, the small chapel keeps the island’s best-known Columbus story, linked to his stop in Santa Maria on the return from his first voyage to America. Towards Maia, the Gonçalo Velho lighthouse adds another strong viewpoint over vineyards, the ocean and traces of coastal life.

Food here is direct, local and satisfying. Look for fresh fish when available, fish stews or soups, then try Mariense staples such as Holy Spirit soups, local turnip broth, alheira, cavacas and biscoitos de orelha. In summer, the PGI Meloa de Santa Maria captures the island in one flavour: sweet, aromatic and shaped by this warmer, drier climate.