45 SET SAIL FOR A HISTORIC CITY IN THE AZORES
With whitewashed Portuguese colonial houses huddled around a natural cove, Angra do Heroísmo looks like it might belong somewhere on the Algarve, or feasibly on the coast of Brazil. In fact it’s on the way between the two, on the Azorean island of Terceira. Traditionally a pitstop for transatlantic sailors, it’s also just within reach for a long weekend’s escape. Spend a day or two ambling its cobbled, World Heritage-listed streets, peeking into merchants’ mansions and shadowy churches, scaling the old volcanic cone of Monte Brasil on the edge of town or storming the 16thcentury fortress, built in days when Portuguese sailors ruled the oceans. The following morning, set sail yourself aboard a whale-watching cruise to spy sperm whales, pilot whales and fin whales passing by Angra on their own transatlantic journeys (£45; oceanemotion.pt).
PHOTOGRAPHS: MAURICIO ABREU/AWL, ALFONSO CACCIOLA/GETTY, OLYA NOSENKO/SOOPX