Where to Eat and Drink in São Miguel, Azores

I can’t say enough positive things about the Azores. Really. Having visited São Miguel, one of the nine islands in the Azores, I can attest that this autonomous region of Portugal is as fascinating as you’ve heard. It’s a full on, head-over-heels kind of love I’ve got going on for this place, and it doesn’t show any signs of stopping.

Planning a week in São Miguel? As you’re plotting how to get to Sete Cidades or Furnas and booking tours galore, don’t forget to mark off time for São Miguel’s restaurants and bars. Need a little help? Let us help you figure out where to eat and drink in São Miguel, Azores!

There are certain travel destinations where I can recall exactly when and where I was when I decided I wanted to visit. The Azores is one such place: sitting on my parents’ couch in January 2009, my eyes were glued to the television screen as Anthony Bourdain navigated his way through this enigmatic archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic.

For years, visiting the Azores remained a distant dream of mine due to expensive flights with multiple stops. When I caught wind that Delta Airlines was launching a new route from New York City to the Azores in 2018, however, I was ecstatic. The inaugural nonstop flight between New York-JFK and Ponta Delgada — the largest city in the Azores — went out in May 2018, and we were on board to the islands a mere two months later.

From stunning scenery and soaking in hot springs to sampling the famous cozido das Furnas stew, here’s our epic Azores itinerary for how to spend a week in São Miguel, Azores.

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and Julianne visiting a brewery in whatever country she’s in. Since touring both the Heineken Experience and the Guinness Storehouse last year, I’ve become, shall I say, *really* into beer tours. So it should come as no surprise that Visit Carlsberg was one of the first stops we made on our trip to Copenhagen in February 2018.

Without further ado, here’s the 411 on how you can take part in this fantastic Danish ex-beer-erience.

A certain blonde gentleman with a penchant for European travel — perhaps you’ve heard of him? — often shares this advice in his guidebooks: “Your trip to [insert European country] is like a complex play — it’s easier to follow and really appreciate on a second viewing.”

(Spoiler alert: it’s Rick Steves, of course.)

Keeping this sentiment in mind, I had several questions about what my second trip to Amsterdam would be like. Would visiting at the height of the summer make us want to scram from Amsterdam? Would I manage to avoid head-on collisions with one of their 881,000+ bicycles? And, most importantly, would I be able to stuff myself with as much stroopwafel and beer as I had last time?!? Inquiring minds needed to know.

Denmark is a pretty magical place: it’s not only known as the inspiration for the happiest place on Earth (Walt Disney can thank Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens for that), it actually is the happiest place on Earth. That’s no joke — the Scandinavian country ranked first in the world in the United Nations’ World Happiness Report in 2013, 2014, and 2016.

So it should come as no surprise that with such happy people (which we all know equals people who are highly satisfied with their beers and their bars, right?), Denmark’s capital city has an abundance of fantastic drinking options to try.

With Hamlet’s eternal question in mind, then – “To drink or not to drink,” of course — here are the best places to drink in Copenhagen right now.

Why You Need To Visit Keukenhof, Holland’s Tulip Paradise

Spring is finally in the air, which means that — if you live in a normal part of the world where you aren’t hit by four snowstorms in the span of three weeks and moping about in your dusty apartment — the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing, and tulips are blooming all over the land. And there’s no better place to be right now to get into the spring of things than Keukenhof, one of the world’s largest flower gardens.

If you’re feeling like frolicking around in some flowers this year, you’re not alone: over one million visitors flow through Keukenhof’s gates annually. But what makes Keukenhof so awesome? How do you get there? And what does Keukenhof actually mean? Here’s why you need to visit Keukenhof, Holland’s tulip paradise.

When I was a wee lass all of 21 years old, I sniffed my first bit of scotch and promptly handed the glass back to my friend. What was this foul stench that reminded me of a dirty, dank bog?

Let’s be honest: at 21, I was more into pinot noir than hard liquor. I was kind of an eejit back then, erroneously assuming that all scotch was disgusting because it was too smoky and peaty for my taste.

What I didn’t realize then — and many of my current friends still don’t — is that the Laphroaig scotch I tasted wasn’t nearly representative of what’s out there in Scotland’s whisky world. NOT ALL SCOTCH IS AS SMOKY AND PEATY AS LAPHROAIG, my friends. I repeat, not all scotch equals Laphroaig. (Nothing against it; I actually like it now that my palette is more developed.)

Flash forward ten years later: the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh, Scotland completely upended my expectations of what scotch is and can be. If you want to truly understand Scotland, there’s no better place than the Scotch Whisky Experience. Here’s why.

As someone with a long line of Irish ancestors on the family tree (as in, I’m Irish all year round and not just on St. Patrick’s Day), you might say I’ve got Guinness running through my veins.

In my thirty-odd years on this planet, I’ve found there’s nothing quite as good the perfect pour of a pint of the Black Stuff. That’s why, on our recent family heritage trip in May 2017, we knew we’d need to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Grail of Beer Lovers — er, I mean the Guinness Storehouse — in Dublin, Ireland.

After spending six hours (!) at the joint, we’re here to share what to do — and not do — on your visit to the Guinness Storehouse.

I’m going to let you in on a secret: I usually don’t stay in hostels. Maybe it’s because, at 31 years old, I don’t want my beauty sleep interrupted by some young whippersnappers bursting into my room at 3 AM singing “We Are The Champions.” (File under experiences from my 20s I’d rather forget.) St. Christopher’s Inn in Bruges, however, changed my mind 100% about what an excellent hostel experience can be.

From their friendly service to hosting one of the best beer tastings in Bruges, here’s why I would stay at St. Christopher’s Inn again and again.

Oh, Amsterdam. You’re like that friend in college that was always asking me to hang out, but I was always busy for one reason or another. I had a feeling we’d get along; it was just that glitzier cities like Rome and Hong Kong were calling my name more loudly. When I finally came to visit you, however, I couldn’t believe we hadn’t been together sooner.

I fell in love with you, Amsterdam. Hard. Yes, you helped me to understand my Dutch heritage a bit better, but you also surprised me in the most unexpected ways. Your picture-perfect canals. Your relaxed, blue jeans attitude. Even your damn maddening bike lanes won me over in the end.

Though I was uncertain at first, after three days together, I can officially say I’m enamored. This is the true saga of how I fell in love with the capital of the Netherlands in 72 hours, and how you will, too.

Category: Europe

Where to Eat and Drink in São Miguel, Azores

Azores Itinerary: How To Spend A Week in São Miguel, Azores

Visit Carlsberg: A Tour of Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen

Second Time Around: What To Do on Your Second Trip to Amsterdam

Where To Drink in Copenhagen Right Now

Read More

Why You Need To Visit Keukenhof, Holland’s Tulip Paradise

A Sip of Scotland: Touring the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh

Oh My Guinness!: Touring the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin

“Inn Bruges”: Or, How St. Christopher’s Inn Taught Me to Stop Worrying and Love Hostels

How To Fall in Love with Amsterdam in 72 Hours