- Where
- Azores, Portugal
(North Atlantic) - Coordinates
- 37.78° N
25.48° W (centre of the island) - Population
- 133,295 (2021, Wikipedia infobox)
- Capital
- Ponta Delgada
- Settled
- 1427, by settlers from mainland Portugal
- Getting there
- João Paulo II Airport (PDL),
Ponta Delgada - Best visited
- On a clear day for
the crater views - Advisory
- Portugal Level 1
exercise normal precautions
Hedges of blue flowers along every lane, cows on fields so green they looked freshly painted, and cloud resting on the hilltops like a lodger who had paid in advance. In one valley the ground steamed, bubbled and smelled of eggs, and cooks were hauling big pots up out of holes in it. Lunch arrived from one of those, and tasted faintly of the valley.
The short answer
São Miguel is the largest and most populous island of the Azores, the Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic, Wikipedia records; its infobox gives 744.55 square kilometres and 133,295 people in 2021, while the article’s opening gives 760 square kilometres and around 140,000 people. Its capital, Ponta Delgada, is the largest city of the archipelago. Settlers from mainland Portugal arrived in 1427, although the date of discovery is uncertain, somewhere between 1426 and 1437. The island is nicknamed the Green Island, Ilha Verde. Pineapples, tea and tobacco became its export crops after the Liberal Wars of the 1830s, and whale-watching boats now leave from Ponta Delgada and Vila Franca do Campo.
Why it's worth knowing
A lake told as two. At the west end of the island, the Sete Cidades massif holds a central caldera about 6 by 5 kilometres, Wikipedia records; its last eruption inside the caldera was around 500 AD. In the caldera lies the Lagoa das Sete Cidades, 4.35 square kilometres and 33 metres deep at most, the largest body of water in the region. It is one lake, but it is usually described as two, the Green Lake and the Blue Lake, joined by a narrow strait with a bridge across it; the article says each side reflects the light in a different colour. In the legend, a princess named Antília and a shepherd who played the flute were forbidden to marry, and the tears they wept together became the two lakes, one green for her eyes and one blue for his.
Lunch from the ground. Furnas, in the east of the island, lies in a volcanic caldera; its last eruption, from September to November 1630, killed 200 people, Wikipedia records, and the volcano is considered very active. The village has thirty springs of differing temperatures and chemistry, and fumaroles and mud pools steam on the northern shore of Lagoa das Furnas. Local people cook stews in the hot ground, most famously the beef stew called cozido das Furnas; Atlas Obscura reports that up to 60 restaurants and a handful of home cooks set their pots in the ground by the lake between 4 and 6 a.m. each day, each in its own regular spot (indexed).
Tea in Europe. The farmer José do Canto first imported tea to São Miguel in 1860, and in 1878 the island’s agricultural society brought two tea specialists from Macau, Lau-a-Pan and his interpreter Lau-a-Teng, to teach the trade, Wikipedia records. Ermelinda Gago da Câmara founded the Gorreana plantation in 1883; Wikipedia calls it the oldest surviving tea plantation in Europe and one of only two still operating in the Azores.
The field notes
The volcanoes are watched
The Azores’ centre for volcanic and seismic monitoring, CIVISA, publishes the alert level of each volcanic system on a scale whose lowest rung reads “Sistema vulcânico em fase de repouso – Atividade normal”, a system at rest, with normal activity. As read on 20 October 2026, its list of systems on alert named three, all at level V1: the Santa Bárbara volcano and the western fissure system on Terceira, since July 2026, and the Manadas fissure system on São Jorge, since March 2024. No system on São Miguel was on the list. CIVISA also posts notices of small earthquakes felt on the island: one of magnitude 1.8 on 14 October 2026, with its epicentre about 2 kilometres north-north-west of Ribeira Quente.
The green and blue lakes of Sete Cidades side by side, February 2023.
Photograph: Anna Jewels via Unsplash · Unsplash licence
Mounds over cozido pots in the hot ground at Furnas, May 2019.
Photograph: Jan Helebrant · CC0
Tea rows running down to the Atlantic at Gorreana, June 2018.
Photograph: Navin75 · Gorreana tea estate · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Go up to the rim above the two lakes early, and if the cloud is in, wait for it with good grace. It does leave, eventually, and it likes to be thanked.
- Eat the stew from the ground at lunch, slowly. (I set the list down by the steaming holes for a moment, and it came back warm, damp and smelling faintly of cabbage.)
- Watch the pots come up out of the steaming ground by the lake, from wherever the cooks would like you to stand. It is their kitchen, and the ground is busy.
- Drink a cup of the island’s tea where it grows, and thank the people picking it as you pass. It is their working day.
- Leave the car once a day and walk a lane between the blue hedges for no reason at all.
A pot of cozido das Furnas. Beside the lake at Furnas, where fumaroles steam out of the shore, restaurants and home cooks set their pots of stew into the hot ground before dawn, each in its own spot, and lift them out cooked hours later, by Atlas Obscura’s account (indexed). Wikipedia records the custom of cooking stews in the ground there, most famously this beef stew.
Tally, in the marginI had thought the pot was the clever part, and admired its lid for some time. Then I saw the long row of other lids along the shore, each in its own patch of steaming ground, and lowered my voice, as one does in somebody else’s kitchen.
Getting there
How to get there. By air to João Paulo II Airport (PDL), about 2 kilometres west of the centre of Ponta Delgada, which handled nearly 3.3 million passengers in 2024, Wikipedia records. It is served from Lisbon, Porto and Faro, from other cities in Europe, and from North America: Azores Airlines lists Boston, Montréal, New York–JFK and Toronto, and United (Newark), Air Canada and WestJet (Toronto) fly seasonally. A car is the simplest way round the island; Furnas and Sete Cidades are at opposite ends.
When to go. The crater lakes can be seen from the rim only on a clear day; cloud often fills the calderas. CIVISA publishes the Azores’ volcanic alert levels and felt-earthquake notices on its own site.
What to arrange ahead. Ponta Delgada and the island’s other five municipalities charge a tourist tax: as of 20 October 2026, it is €2 a night for up to three nights, with under-13s and Azores residents exempt, The Portugal News reported when it began in 2025 (indexed; the councils’ own pages were not read). Some sites charge entry, among them the Terra Nostra garden’s pool at Furnas and the Caldeira Velha hot springs (tour operators’ listings, indexed; prices not confirmed). For cozido, book lunch at a Furnas restaurant ahead, since the pots go into the ground at dawn.
Safety. The State Department’s advisory for Portugal is Level 1, “Exercise Normal Precautions”, dated 23 December 2025. Canada says to take normal security precautions and gives no separate advice for the Azores. CIVISA listed no volcanic system on São Miguel on alert when read on 20 October 2026 (above).
Mark this place
Common questions
What is São Miguel known for?
São Miguel, the largest island of the Azores in Portugal, is known as the Green Island: for the twin-coloured crater lake of Sete Cidades, the hot springs and fumaroles of Furnas, where cozido stew is cooked in the ground, and the Gorreana tea estate, founded in 1883.
Why are the lakes at Sete Cidades two colours?
The Lagoa das Sete Cidades on São Miguel, in the Azores, is one lake joined by a narrow strait and usually described as two, the Green Lake and the Blue Lake; Wikipedia says each side reflects the light differently. In legend, the lakes are the tears of a princess and a shepherd.
What is cozido das Furnas?
Cozido das Furnas is a beef and vegetable stew cooked in pots set into the hot volcanic ground beside the lake at Furnas, on São Miguel in the Azores. Atlas Obscura reports that restaurants set their pots in the ground between 4 and 6 a.m. (indexed).
Is the Gorreana tea plantation the oldest in Europe?
Wikipedia calls the Gorreana plantation on São Miguel, in the Azores, founded by Ermelinda Gago da Câmara in 1883, the oldest surviving tea plantation in Europe and one of only two still operating in the Azores.
How do you get to São Miguel from the United States?
João Paulo II Airport in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, has flights from North America: Wikipedia lists Azores Airlines from Boston, New York–JFK, Montréal and Toronto, and seasonal United flights from Newark.
Is the Furnas volcano active?
Wikipedia calls the Furnas volcano on São Miguel, in the Azores, very active; its last eruption, in 1630, killed 200 people. On 20 October 2026, CIVISA, the Azores monitoring centre, listed no São Miguel volcanic system among those on alert; the three on its list were on Terceira and São Jorge.
When was São Miguel settled?
Settlers from mainland Portugal reached São Miguel, in the Azores, in 1427, Wikipedia records, although the island’s discovery date is uncertain, somewhere between 1426 and 1437.
Is there a tourist tax on São Miguel?
The six municipalities of São Miguel, in the Azores, including Ponta Delgada, began charging a tourist tax in 2025 of €2 a night for up to three nights, with under-13s and residents exempt, The Portugal News reported (indexed).