What you should know before you pack your backpack and head to the archipelago.
Not every travel blog pot has to be pumped out as much as possible, and when it comes to the Azores your packing list doesn’t throw you many wild cards.
Azores pro tip: prepare for three seasons in one day.
You’ll hear from time to time ‘the Azores has a four season day’ but in all honesty those who say this have never landed themselves in a real winter climate. Which brings us to temperatures:
If you visit in the winter months you can expect around 12 °C (53 °F) at night and 18 °C (64 °F) during the day, really mild and not about to put your body into shock (although the high humidity can make it feel a little colder.
If you’re here in summer you can expect nights to be around 18 °C (64 °F) and the days to average around 26 °C (79 °F), again not so extreme and unlikely to boil you alive.
What to expect weather-wise?
To put it simply; any day it can rain and any day it can shine. Some days it can do both and some days the wind can blow so hard it seems like it’s trying to send you on an involuntary whale watching tour. Just prepare for unpredicted changes in the forecast.
Finally, what to bring?
You’re a backpacker, so I don’t need to list the basics for clothing (waterproofs, clean underwear etc..) and I’m just going to focus on things you might not have considered.
- Boots with ankle support.
- Sunblock
- Refillable water bottle.
- Swimming clothes you are not in love with.
The boots are fairly obvious; a lot of people underestimate the roughness of the terrain and the ruggedness of the hiking trails… so I’m here to say that it an be more rough and rugged than you expect.
Even though the islands get a lot of cloud cover, some days it’s damn hot and even with a bit of cloud the UV rays can still get to you. Anyway, you should always wear sunscreen.
The islands have fantastic water and you’ll find taps coming from natural springs all along the hiking trails. Let’s not add plastic to the ocean folks and bring a refillable.
The swimmers? Something a lot of people don’t know is that the Azores Hot Springs (a must visit) are so high in minerals that if you wear your favorite shorts or bikini you’re likely to find that any lighter or whiter parts of the clothing are pretty permanently darkened. Even the drawstring will turn brown and, from personal experience, it’s not going to wash out. So bring a cheap spare pair and keep it in mind before you take a Thermal Bath.
That’s about all I think I need to tell you before you pack that bag. Please feel free to message the website with any questions or suggestions.