Azores – traveling with a child

Are the Azores a good destination when it comes to traveling with a child? What went through our minds that this is where we decided to spend our family vacation?

In this post, we will focus solely on the children’s aspects. There will be a little bit of practicality, some of our tips on how to make this trip successful, and we will once again dispel the attitude that with a child it is at most to go to the Polish seaside ;-)

Why the Azores?

Because we haven’t been there yet, and the views are beautiful ;)

Seriously, these were the two main reasons why we put the archipelago on our list of places we want to see a long time ago. Add to this that they are still somewhat undiscovered, not very commercialized, there is a favorable climate, and you can splash around in the warm waters. A recipe for a successful vacation perfect!

But why with a child? And why not?

The Azores are relatively close, flying with a connecting flight we have two flights that do not exceed 4 hours. We go to a place where we get along without any problems, it is safe (even very!), everywhere is close, the food is healthy, fresh and tasty, children’s products are also widely available.

Travel to the Azores with a child

The flight to the Azores was perhaps our biggest doubt. We have flown further before, but this was a flight to China, one and a long one. Here we were faced with two shorter flights, and on top of that with a long connecting flight in Lisbon (believe it or not, but we already know the airport in the Portuguese capital by heart). In a word: a whole day on the road (well, and more wordszł;-)).

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All in all, the connecting solution turned out to be better than one long flight. During a long flight, the child starts to get bored, wants to get up, explore everything around him (and especially the contents of his fellow passengers’ bags). It’s a little different on shorter flights – if you chalk it up well, chances are the baby will sleep through most of the flight, and the rest will be very interested in whatever is closest.

We managed almost perfectly – both flights were mostly slept through. Worse than the 4-hour flight was the 4-hour sitting at the airport ;) Apparently, therezł a small playground, but it was dirty, toys destroyed well and intended rather for larger children.

Nevertheless, after this experience, we much prefer connecting flights. It would probably be different flying with a toddler who sleeps most of the time.

On-site attractions for children

The Azores is famous for its trekking routes, scenic viewpoints and warm springs. While the first and second for a toddler are not the biggest attraction, the pools are. I’m leaving aside the issue of swimming in natural pools, which we wrote about here – those are too dangerous for children.

Fortunately, you’ll also find safe places to swim locally, such as the pools in Furnas or Caldeira Velha – temperatures are high, so there’s nothing to worry about the little one getting cold .

However, if your toddler is already trekking, you may be tempted to take some trekking route – you will find quite mild, groomed routes here, some you can even drive cars on ;) We especially recommend you visitazores.com, where you can use the search engine to find routes marked as easy. On the island of São Miguel alone, you will find 10 easy trails ranging in length from 2 to almost 12 kilometers! There is something for everyone. The only problem may be the weather, especially in the higher elevations.

Another interesting fact, one that is so pro-family, is that you will often find picnic/barbecue areas along the road. There are quite a few of them. It’s worth keeping this in mind when children already need a break. Admittedly, residents of the Azores do not treat these places as a stopover on the road, but more as a day trip destination. When they have the opportunity they take the family and go to just such a spot, where they barbecue and relax away from the city (as if they were fed up with their “traffic” ;-)).

Sites tailored to children

What positively surprised us on the spot is the widespread availability of baby feeding chairs and the general unavailability of changing tables.

Chairs were literally everywhere, in every restaurant we went to. Even in those that were sometimes afraid to enter ;) Another issue was what condition they were in, and often antibacterial agents were needed to keep the baby’s hands from sticking.

Scrolls, for that matter, are scarce. The fact that a few were, but it is not a popular amenity.

Moving with a stroller can also be a problem. We always had our Babyzen Yoyo stroller in the car, but we used it mainly in cities and stores, although we had problems here too. High curbs and thresholds, paved roads and sidewalks are standard in the Azores. There are, of course, places where you can easily drive a stroller in, and they are adapted for both small children and people with disabilities. Fortunately, the aforementioned stroller takes up little space, so there was no harm in taking up part of the trunk and we always had it on hand.

Baby items

The Azores is not the end of the world and you will get everything you need for toddlers here. Supermarket shelves are full of pampers, wet wipes, food in jars. You can preview the prices in the images below.

Unlike in China here, we didn’t have the slightest problem getting some emergency food in the form of jars, porridge or oatmeal (although these are only available at the organic section). It is also worth paying attention in the store to local products – looking at the conditions here, we are almost certain that they are fresh and healthy, without unnecessary chemical additives.

Summary

Would we go to the Azores again with a child?

The answer is not simple, as much depends on the age of the child. It is best to go with an infant who is not yet moving on his own or with a child who is already walking quite well.

Olive wasn’t walking yet, and carrying her on my back was no problem at all, but now that she’s mobile we’d probably spend most of our time chasing her somewhere on the trail than admiring the views ;)

We recommend more of our posts from the Azores >>