For centuries, the easiest way to travel around the island Azores was by sea. The rugged landscape with winding paths made for slow going. Over the centuries Azoreans built a network of different footpaths for travel by foot, horse, donkeys and mules, and to take cattle to pasture. Along these trails the locals transported farm products, fish, coal and other products to trade. Larger and heavier merchandise were transported by boat.

Nowadays, this network of footpaths has been restored so everyone can use them while enjoying the landscapes of the Azores. Each of these trails has its own history and takes the hiker or walker to beautiful sight views and areas, linking the islands from the coastline to the uplands.

The Azorean Tourism Office, responsible for the restoration of the trails and their maintenance, launched a new website Trails Azores that combines all the information about the different trails on the nine islands. For each island you will find the safest and quietest trails to hike, as well as other important information such as a description of the trails, photos, level (easy, medium or hard), length and estimated hike times. You can also see the Trail Maps and download the Trail GPS, Leaflet Inside and Outside and Google Earth information.

According to Trails Azores, the most selected trails are:

1. Nove Canadas da Ribeira – Pico Island
2. Quintas e Ribeiras – Pico Island
3. Mistérios do Sul do Pico - Pico Island
4. Vigia de São Pedro - São Miguel Island
5. Trilho da Costa do Norte – Santa Maria Island
6. Trilho da Costa do Sul - Santa Maria Island
7. Fajã dos Vimes, Fragueira, Portal – São Jorge Island
8. Baia da Folga – Graciosa Island
9. Serra Branca, Praia – Graciosa Island
10. Volta à Caldeira, Furna do Enxofre – Graciosa Island