January 5, 2004 -- The Azores, an autonomous Portuguese archipelago 800 miles west of European shores, are favored by well-heeled European travelers, but are practically undiscovered by Americans. That could easily change with affordable airfares and packages being offered by the Azores Express for the remainder of the winter. The best package includes six-nights' lodging, roundtrip airfare out of Boston (the flight is only four hours) and morning meals from just $579.
The closest point in Europe to the USA, the Azores have a year-round mild temperature ranging from 57° to 82° Fahrenheit (thanks to the warming effects of the Gulf Stream), so you'll need to pack a jacket for those cooler nights. There are nine volcanic islands, with deep blue lakes, craters, Gothic-style churches, Baroque-inspired manor homes and lots and lots of azaleas. There's even a spa resort, Furnas, with thermal baths, 23 varieties of mineral waters, geyser cooking, a thermal lake, and a botanical garden. (They also have the only tea plantations in Europe.) Terceira and Angra do Heroismo are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The promotion is available for Tuesday departures from now through the end of March. Prices for holidays periods and in April are "slightly higher." You get to choose from five hotels on two islands in the group, including the famous Terra Nostra Garden in the resort town of Furnas. A bit higher are packages at three hotels in historic Ponta Delgada (the Azores' main city) on the island of Sao Miguel. These three are the Azores Atlantic, Holiday Inn and Sao Miguel Park.
If you opt for the island of Terceira, you can stay at the brand new Terceira Mar Hotel, for just $729 per person. Another package that combines a stay on Terceira and Sao Miguel goes for the same price.
If you've always wanted to try business class on the plane but couldn't afford it, consider paying $150 each way on your Azores trip so that you can upgrade from coach to "SATA Plus Business Class." Azores Express is a US-based tour operator, part of the SATA Group (a Portuguese giant of sorts). They fly wide body Airbus 310 planes to Sao Miguel every Tuesday and Friday in spring and winter. Connecting flights from the islands are offered to Lisbon and to the island of Madeira. Boston-Portugal flights have been operated by Azores Express for over 17 years.
For more information and reservations, contact Azores Express at 800/762-9995 or visit www.sata.pt (though we were unable to find mention of these packages anywhere on the site). For more information on the Azores, check out the official tourism site at www.drtacores.pt/english/baseindex1.html.
