The theme of Faial Island of the Azores Archipelago is volcanoes, seeing them, learning about them, and even hiking them.
Located in the center of the island at an elevation of 1043 meters, is a large volcanic crater by the name of Caldeira do Faial.
My wife and I hiked its 2 kilometer perimeter back in May of 2025 and now I'm going to tell you all about it.
We drove up to the parking lot quite early in the morning.
The lot was small so we were lucky that it wasn't very busy that day. It was cloudy and just slightly drizzling, so not ideal for hiking.
There was a panoramic viewpoint located directly in front of the lot to view the crater and there is a trail around to hike, so there are options for visitors to view the volcano. We chose to hike it.
We decided not to dilly dally at the viewpoint because there was a group of 20 or so students that day, and a guide that were getting ready to begin the hike as well.
The path around the perimeter of the crater is pretty much a single pathway so we decided to try and get ahead of them before they started, so as not to be stuck behind the crowd for the duration of our walk.
We don't like to be forced to walk at anothers pace and large groups tend to be slower than individuals and much harder to pass.
There were a few times that we stopped to take photos and the students would start to get closer. My wife would say, "Drums in the deep," to signal that its time to keep moving. Thats a Lord of the Rings reference for all of you nerds out there.
We eventually pulled away far enough that there was no way that they would be able to catch up and we could take as many breaks as needed after that. Like I said large groups move slower than individuals.
For the beginning part of the hike the clouds were completely covering the crater and we were lucky to even get a glimpse of it through the fog.
Half way into the walk our luck changed though, and the sky's opened up nicely for us.
We had clear skies for a solid hour or so before the clouds rolled in again. For that time we had clear views of the entire volcano.
The trail around the perimeter of the Caldeira was a well worn dirt path that was mostly flat walking.
There wasn't a whole lot of up and down walking other than a little near in the last 1/3 of the hike.
We walked at a good pace and the whole thing took us around two to three hours to complete, give or take 30 minutes or so. I would consider it a light easy hike myself.
The Caldeira was formed over 400 thousand years ago.
There are three small lakes (or ponds) that can be seen at its base.
They were created by the accumulation of rain water and are permanent features of crater.
Not being busy that day made it quite an enjoyable walk. Not having to wait for people makes a world of difference to me.
Its recommended that everyone travel in the same direction so that there isn't any cross over on the pathway. Signs posted at the beginning of the hike guide you to that conclusion. The Azores was the first place that I had ever seen that but it made sense to me given that the trail is a giant circle.
Not everyone we encountered that day took the suggestion but it really wasn't a huge deal. When we did encounter someone walking in the opposite direction. We just stepped off the path and let them pass, or visa versa.
Some parts were wide enough or had additional game trails as well. There were only a few parts that might have been an issue walking by someone, namely the steep areas with a single pathway. We didn't encounter anyone in those parts though. Had it been busy it might have been more cumbersome, who knows?
Overall we really enjoyed the hike. It was relatively easy and only took a few hours. As mentioned at the beginning, you could just pull up to the parking lot and check out the panoramic viewpoint if you wanted to see the crater but didn't want to do the hike. At a minimum I'd say seeing Caldeira do Faial island a "must do" activity on the island so its nice that there are choices to for different preferences.