Azores - go before everyone finds out!

We recently spent 12 days in The Azores or Sao Miguel to be precise. There are 9 islands and this is the one that is easiest to get to now that their government allows Delta to fly from JFK daily from May to October. It's a little over 4 hours from NYC and (currently) a reasonable airfare if you consider it is A) Europe and B) Summer.  We scored tixs for about $800/pp in AUGUST.

The Azores are a unique place. They are volcanic, have a tea plantation, grow the best pineapples you will ever eat, largely self-sufficient when it comes to food.

You can go hiking all over the island if you're that type of person.

You can go swimming in an ocean filled pool, scuba diving, sailing and whale watching (which we suck at because we never see whales) if your that type of person.

You can go to the botanical garden, historic and still active military fort/museum, or have a personal tour of the farmer's market and cooking class on what you've bought.

A really cool and unique thing to do is have dinner cooked by volcano. Furnas is the part of the island that still has volcanic activity. There is a park where restaurants take their pots in the early morning, let them cook all day and then serve dinner at their place in town. We were lucky enough to be there when they pulled one out of the ground. It's like Mother Nature's Crock Pot.

There aren't a lot of hotels so check out Airbnb for great deals. We scored a 3 bedroom flat with a view of the harbor and a parking spot in the building right on the main drag for about $239/night. We were walking distance to everything in Ponta Delgado.

Car rental was pricey but necessary if you want to see the island. Parking in town can be a challenge but is manageable. Driving is easy and as the roads that go around the island are winding so you don't go much over 30 mph. There are roads the cut across that move faster as does the highway. But take the scenic routes to really get a feel for this island. Just know that cows are really a source of traffic.

You can take 4 full days and do the highlights or a week to 10 days gets you a really in-depth view of these islands in the middle of the Atlantic.

Bonus: No regular cruise ships stop here unless they are on transatlantic from the US to Europe for the change of season. So you will not have days where the town is flooded with people!

The one thing you can't really do is shop. If you're a shopper looking for duty-free or lots of shops selling local wares, this is not the island for you, find somewhere else for that!