The Azores & Lisbon, Portugal as a solo traveler - 2024

Looking up from within the chimney volcano on Terceira island in the Azores.

This is a trip that I got to take myself and it was phenomenal. The Azores are a mix of Hawaii & Ireland as far as what they look like: like Hawaii they were formed from volcanos so they have some black sand beaches and a chimney volcano (see the photo to the left for how cool it is) you can descend into, but also like Ireland they have farms galore with cute rock fences to keep the cows contained (and to keep the winds from destroying some of the crops).

Lisbon was really fun too, although I only had a couple days to experience it. My first day there it was raining but I wanted to see the Peña Palace in Sintra, so I took an Uber over there. It was much less busy than normal due to the rain, and I couldn’t see very far through the clouds, but it made for an ethereal experience (see the photos in the forest below to understand what I mean). Inside the palace there was beautiful furniture from the original time period, and lots of signage to understand some of the history of the palace. I’m sure a guided tour would have been great, but the guides tend to congregate outside to tell the information and with the rain, it didn’t seem quite as worth it to me. I ended up being soaked from the mid-thigh down, so when I was done at the palace, I just went back to my accommodations and had a dine-in dinner.

On Terceira island in the Azores I only had a day to explore (I was there on business for a travel conference) but the day I spent there was really fun. We saw the chimney volcano first, then some great viewpoints of the island, before we stopped for a traditional meal. They had a bread soup, meats with veggies (and blood sausage - I tried this, but was not a fan), and a delicious beef stew with sweet bread. Later we explored a black sand/igneous rock beach that was quite beautiful and had natural pools where the sea water comes in with the tide then stays and gets warmed by the sun.

My last day was in Lisbon, where I explored the city mostly on foot and via public transit. You can buy a day pass or multi day and hop on and off the metro, buses, and trams. The city itself is quite walkable as well, although very hilly so at times you may prefer public transit! I tried the Santa Justa platform (an old elevator that goes up to a really great viewpoint of the city - however you can get to the viewpoint for free by walking uphill to it), explored the Castle of São Jorge (even enjoying a demonstration of munitions), found someone making bubbles in a beautiful square, I saw the very unique store called the Fantastical World of Portuguese Sardines (it looks like it should be a candy shop, not a shop selling canned seafood) and enjoyed a delicious dinner just off the Avenida da Liberdade.

I definitely recommend the Azores and Lisbon to those who enjoy nature as well as city life. Those places were great to explore as a solo traveler too!