Portugal has a rich seafaring past, superb beach resorts, wistful towns and a landscape wreathed in olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields. Littered with UNESCO World Heritage sites and graced by one of Europe’s most relaxed and attractive capitals, it also remains refreshingly affordable. Savouring life slowly is a Portuguese passion, and much of the best is humble – traditional folk festivals; simple, honest food drowning in olive oil; music that pulls at the heart strings, recalling past love and glories; and markets overflowing with fish, fruit and flowers.
The Azores islands are a Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean, located about 1 450 km (900 mi) from Lisbon. Nowadays, Azores’ main industries are tourism, cattle raising for milk and meat, and fishing. The Azores are actually the summits of some of the highest mountains on the planet, whose base is hundreds of meters below the ocean. The archipelago forms the Autonomous Region of Azores, one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal, along with the archipelago of Madeira.
