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AFFORDABLE AZORES GETAWAY DEALS
The Closest Europe Gets to US

What’s the fastest way to get to Europe? The Concorde doesn’t fly any more. Branson’s Virgin space plane is a long way off. So, how long does it take to fly to Europe? How about 4 hours to the Azores. Portugal’s Azore Islands in the mid-Atlantic are the closest land point in Europe to America. A stop on Columbus’s discovery cruises, the Azore islands of São Miguel, Terceira, and Faial are only a 4-hour flight from Boston on Azore Express Tour Airlines. Tour operator Azore Express and SATA the Portuguese Azores based airline group have been connecting New England with the Azores and mainland Portugal for more than 20 years.

The Portugese Islands like the Azores and Madeira are a remaining legacy of Portugal’s might and power in the days of sail, establishing settlements on these rare islands in the midst of the great ocean which divides the old world from the new. Of distinct and unique character of European heritage not much changed over several hundred years, but with the island experience of sea breezes, mountains that crash down to the waves with an old world style.

Azore Express is offering one week air and hotel packages starting at a very affordable $669. Direct flights from Boston to the beautiful Azore Islands will depart Tuesdays and Fridays starting September 2007 until October 2008, combined with a six-night stay with twelve hotels to choose from with six new hotels now available. For Tuesday departures, packages range from $669 to $1,079, per person, double occupancy (plus taxes and fees). Friday departures are just $80 more, a decrease from last year. For just a few hundred dollars each way, passengers can upgrade from coach to SATA Comfort Business-Class. All packages include breakfast. Kids under 6 stay free and fly for the reduced children’s fare.

The Azores experience the warm breeze of spring-like temperatures all year long with summer weather sometimes lasting until late December, perfect for exploring quaint seaside villages, bustling harbors, and unique cities overflowing with architectural treasures. The islands offer churches, palaces, and museums framed by the sea and mountainous landscape. Walk around volcanic mountainsides, cool off in a natural swimming pool formed when volcanic lava met the cold sea or view lush gardens at the bottom of a volcanic crater.

Seeking nature and adventure, the island of Sao Miguel is known for its breathtaking landscape of Azorean flowering vegetation and extraordinary volcanic lakes. It is the perfect place for the active traveler providing tennis, cycling, walking, golf, or horseback riding. Sao Miguel uniquely has Europe's only pineapple and tea plantations. Sight seeing excursions include museums, monuments, restaurants, shops and an exciting
nightlife. Packages to Sao Miguel start from $669 per person.

For Azore city life, Terceira Island with its historic city streets transports visitors back to the 16th and 17th centuries of this original European urban center Angra Do Heroísmo built in the 1500’s at the height of Portugal’s days of explorers, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Terceira also offers golfers a challenge on its Atlantic Island course. For a cosmopolitan atmosphere the island features marinas that attract yachts crossing the Atlantic. May kicks off festival season and visitors can enjoy delicious traditional dishes and displays of local culture. Packages to Terceira are from $799 p/p.

The island of Faial gives visitors the opportunity to explore one of the most famous harbors in the world among yacht sailors. It is a favorite port of call for international yacht crews crossing the Atlantic. The island's interior is a wild land with undersea volcanic caves, home to shoals of colorful fish. The city's colorful main street winds along the harbor providing an inviting path to gardens, churches, and museums. Visitors can hike to the site of a 1957-8 eruption of the Capelinhos Volcano, now dormant and view the 300-foot crater of the extinct volcano from the island's central Caldeira. Packages for Faial start at $869 p/p.

Azores Express provides direct flights on wide body A310 aircraft to São Miguel, the main island in the archipelago with connecting flights from São Miguel to Lisbon, Porto or the island of Madeira. For more information and reservations, contact Azores Express at 800-762-9995 or online. © Bargain Travel Europe

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