Even though the Azores are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, there are quite a few convenient ways to reach it!

Since islands of the Azores are surrounded by water, as you can imagine, you can get here by two means of transportation: plane or boat.

This article was last updated on 25.03.2023. Please double check the current connections.

Getting to the Azores by plane

Most of the connections (with the highest frequency) are from mainland Portugal: Lisbon and Porto, however there are some airline companies which allow you to travel directly from various countries. This often is a seasonal thing, so I recommend to check it in advance. In general you can land on the following islands with a direct connection (when no dates are stated, the connection is usually operated throughout the whole year).

São Miguel Island (PDL, Ponta Delgada) from: 

Portugal

Lisbon (LIS) - Azores Airlines, TAP, Ryanair 

Porto (OPO) - Azores Airlines, TAP, Ryanair 

Germany

Frankfurt (FRA) - Azores Airlines (March 26 to October 22, 2023) 

Frankfurt (FRA) - Lufthansa (April 04 to October 22, 2023)

Nuremberg (NUE) - Ryanair (April 01 to October 28, 2023)

Switzerland 

Zurich (ZRH) - SWISS (April 10 to November 6, 2023)

Spain 

Barcelona (BCN) - Azores Airlines (June 02 to December 22, 2023)

Madrid (MAD) - Iberia Airlines (June 17 to September 30, 2023)

Las Palmas (LPA) - Binter Canarias (April 01 to October 28, 2023) 

Netherlands 

Amsterdam (AMS) - Transavia (April 23 to October 29, 2023) 

Belgium 

Brussels (BRU) - TUI fly (April 03 to August 21, 2023)

UK 

London-Stansted (STN) - Ryanair (March 27 to October 23, 2023)

Bermuda (BDA) - Azores Airlines (June 13 to September 19, 2023) 

France 

Paris (CDG) - Azores Airlines 

Paris (ORY) - Transavia (April 23 to October 22, 2023) 

Canada 

Toronto (YYZ) - Azores Airlines 

USA 

Boston (BOS) - Azores Airlines 

New York (JFK) - Azores Airlines

New York/Newark (EWR) - Delta Airlines (June 22 to September 27, 2023)

Oakland (OAK) - Azores Airlines (June 28 to September 19, 2023)

Terceira Island (TER, Lajes) from:

Portugal

Lisbon (LIS) - Azores Airlines, TAP, Ryanair

Porto (OPO) - Azores Airlines, TAP, Ryanair

UK

London Heathrow (LHR) - British Airways (July 24 to August 28, 2022)

Canada

Toronto (YYZ) - Azores Airlines

Montreal (YUL) - Azores Airlines (June 15 to September 14, 2022)

USA

Boston (BOS) - Azores Airlines

Oakland (OAK) - Azores Airlines (June 15 to August 30, 2022)

Faial Island (HOR, Horta) from:

Portugal

Lisbon (LIS) - Azores Airlines

Pico (PIX, Madalena) from:

Portugal

Lisbon (LIS) - Azores Airlines

Santa Maria (SMA, Vila do Porto) from:

Portugal

Lisbon (LIS) - Azores Airlines

To reach the other islands of the Archipelago you first need to get to one of the islands listed above and get a transfer with local Azores Airlines (SATA) company.

Getting to the Azores by boat

There are no frequent connections by boat to the Azores. However, you can get here by one of the cruise line companies, mostly during the winter time and as a part of the transatlantic crossing. If you have the sailor's spirit, you can also sail here - all the islands are boat-friendly!

You can travel between the islands of Pico, Faial and São Jorge by local ferry (Atlanticoline) as well as Flores and Corvo by a small boat. So if you decide to land on one of them, you can explore the neighbouring islands by boat.