Search hotels in Madalena

I had not been back to Pico Island since 1998 during the year of the earthquake in the Azores. Since that time the Azores has certainly become quite different but in a positive way. This is a small quaint village that offers you all of the modern comforts to explore the beauty that is The Azores. Despite the modern amenities it still keeps it's old world charm. Lest we forget, the wine and the food. Magnificent!

Good place to stay when traveling to Pico Island - relatively close to the airport, has all the necessary facilities (taxi, banks, supermarkets, restaurants), and there are also year-round ferries to go to neighboring islands from there.

Central to everything that is required. We rented a car and drove by the whole island. (110 km.). We stopped in a few villages for a coffee, or beer, or just to drive through. Madalena is definitely our favorite.

Madalena is a nice small town suitable to serve as a "base" for exploring Pico and Faial islands. The ferry port is in the city so it is easy to commute and includes several rental cars companies as well as tour guides for climbing mount Pico. The nearby natural pools has served us to refresh after a day long trail. We recommend checking out the local wine museum where you can find the oldest dragon tree as well as trekking in the wine trail that starts just near Madalena. In the town we enjoyed eating at the Mercado Bio restaurant that serves a nice variety of dishes suitable for all taste and preferences.

Small town with a few restaurants and church. There are some nice fish restaurants. Wine museum is worth a visit. There are a few whale watching, snorkelling, and diving companies, also companies that can arrange land tours and trekking. It is close to the Pico mountain. The problem I had was, it was off season and the tour companies did not seem very interested to arrange activities for tourists. You really have to make an effort yourself to find and arrange any activity. My initial intention was to do some scuba diving with sharks or snorkelling with dolphins. But due to weather conditions (however I have to say that on at least 3 days I was there the weather was very calm, but perhaps there was a bit of surge) and lack of engagement of tour operators it was not possible. I only was able to go on a single whale watching trip (where we did see a couple of whales). The best part of my holiday was when I rented a car and drove around the island myself. The island (Pico) is very lush and green, very scenic.

This must have been quite the hotel in its day but is quite dated now. Some of the staff were helpful while some were not helpful at all. We were here in the off season so maybe that had to do with it.