Walking in the Azores

Thoroughly enjoyable holiday in the beautiful Azores. We visited 4 contrasting islands, but all were lush and green despite their volcanic nature. I thought that there might be more downtime than I like from the itinerary on the website, but in fact, there were activities every day, as our very organised and hardworking guide Tania, led optional walks for us in free time, and also ensured that everyone had the chance to go whale watching and climb Pico Mountain, if they wished. I would definitely like to return to the Azores and visit some of the other islands.

We were delighted by our tour through four islands of the Azores. Our tour leader was exceptional and the islands are beautiful. While hiking trails are often seldom used roads, the scenery is extraordinary.

Tania was our leader. She went the extra mile to make us welcome and was very helpful in every way. Her knowledge and care of safety was second to none. She was one to the best guides we have had. She made sure that we had all our needs met and was reliable , professional, efficient and followed up on all the planning. I would give her a 10/10 rating. The hotels were excellent, especially the one on St Jorge and Talisman. We could have done with a kettle in all the hotels. The places we visited were very interesting and Tania include more in our day. The walks were medium to hard. The terrain made for some treacherous walking. One of the party broke his wrist slipping. It was often too humid as well. The scenery was outstanding though. I would recommend you review the walks.

Hotel rooms were too small for 2 people and all their gear. Breakfasts were great, especially the coffee. Air con at Hotel in Sao Jorge did not work. The Tour Guide was great. She often surprised us with add ons to the existing itinerary that did not cost us extra. Her energy and patience was appreciated as well as her concern for our safety.

A great way to explore four of these lovely unspoilt islands. Walking with some sightseeing and free time for whale watching, swimming. The leader, Tania, is excellent, passionate about the islands and works tirelessly to give her guests the best possible experience. Walking is described as gentle, they are not long but be prepared for some sections of rough, stony paths and some steepish ascent, descent. The hotels were all good and we enjoyed the abundance of fresh fish and local wines. Overall a great experience.

I had a wonderful experience doing Walking in the Azores may 16 to the 30. Even though the weather wasn't always cooperative which is beyond our control ,our group leader Tania A was amazing rearranging the schedules so we were still able to do most of our hikes but on different days . She always had other great ideas for us to see to learn about the wonderful Azores. Tania made a point of getting to know each one of our group and was so helpful if we had any questions or to find the information we needed on restaurants , and different activities when we had free time. The restaurants she suggested were awesome and we had a great time as a group or it was optional if you chose not to attend..She always kept safety a prioity with our hikes. The scenery of the Azores and all the things and experiences I had , I will never forget. Thanks again to Tania. I would like to suggest she should receive leader of the year for her expertise. Thank you also to Explore!

For what is described as a walking holiday the itinary was very geared to 50 *% walking and 50% sight seeing. The weather also restricted the variety of walking due to a lot of low cloud causing the leader to reschedule higher level walks to a more mundane low level stroll.

If you don’t get clear skies you will not see the views which are a major part of this trip. I recommend June as May weather was very disappointing. Many walks had, understandably, to be adjusted. Good good and drink throughout the islands.

Excellent trip, highly recommended. Enjoyable hikes, some great wild swimming and seeing whales and dolphins was amazing. We had a super group and fantastic guide Tania, who went above and beyond every single day to ensure that we had the best possible experience. Even more impressive when she was faced with some poor weather conditions, a cancelled flight and some health issues within the group. I hope to visit The Azores again one day. It's a wonderful place.

Explore is getting worse and worse regarding customer service. If it wasn't for trips offered and mostly excellent tour leaders, would never recommend to friends. One option to better relationship would be to refund single supplement to anyone who is obviously not going to be paired off on a tour where all couples or different sex. Explore should be more considerate considering the profit margin on solo travel.

UK office needs to support local guide better by making sure messages are passed on before the trip. Despite my phone call at least two weeks before and reassurance that an email had been sent during my call, the message did not get through about the type of room we would like. This is not good enough. We think there is an intermediary between you and Tania which may be where communications broke down. Tania our guide was excellent, so enthusiastic and nothing was too much trouble. Although hampered by the weather she worked so hard to adapt the schedule and make sure we all had a good time - what a star!

The Azores are very much unspoilt. Each island has unique geology which we saw close up. The volcanoes range from 800,000 years to 70 years old. Tania the guide is well versed in the human story of the islands from their discovery through to modern times. The coastal swimming pools are a delight at the end of the some the walks. Take your swimmers! Dolphins are plentiful in September, the main whale watching season is earlier in the year (April/May?).

Many wonderful experiences on our holiday in the Azores - thoroughly recommended. Special mention must be made of our superb tour leader Tania. She was faultless - knowledgeable, conscientious, helpful and caring in every way . She worked tirelessly to ensure everything ran smoothly and we all counted ourselves very lucky to be with her. We were genuinely sorry to say goodbye, as we enjoyed her company so much . She worked so hard to ensure we had the maximum enjoyment from our holiday. Thank you, Tania.

3 out of the four hotels were fine but our hotel inPonta Delgada was poor. Otherwise I would give a four rating

A beautiful place with interesting history, landscape and geology and great climate. The tour was well designed to give experience of 4 islands. Hotels were extremely well located and pretty good quality. The tour leader went beyond what is required by accompanying us on the optional walks. Opportunities for swimming in natural swimming pools in the sea were fantastic and I would have liked more to be included. I would recommend this trip though some may want longer walks

Overpriced. Bad choice of hotels and group meals. Sightseeing, not walking trip.