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  • Special rates for families and groups!

CULINARY TRIP TO THE AZORES ISLANDS

CURATED FOOD, WINE & ADVENTURE TRIP TO PICO ISLAND

Quick Details

Scheduled trips 2023:

  • 23th to 30th July – fully booked
  • 5th to 12th August – fully booked
  • 20h to 27th August – fully booked
  • 2nd to 9th September – fully booked
  • 13th to 20st September

Scheduled trips for 2024 June, July, August and September.

Check our online calendar!
Further dates are available upon request. Email us.

June Trips Price Per Person based on double occupancy
3120
June Trips Price Per Person based on single occupancy
3500
July, September and October Trips Price Per Person based on double occupancy
3320
July, September and October Trips Price Per Person based on single occupancy
3600
August Trips Price Per Person based on double occupancy
3620
August Trips Price Per Person based on single occupancy
3900

While the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, in the Atlantic ocean, has been making the news in recent years, the island of Pico is a hidden gem yet to be discovered by most!

At Oh! My Cod Tours we love going beyond the obvious, getting up close with captivating places and the local people, via their gastronomy, culture and ways of life – always with a laid-back approach to group travel. This is why we’d like to invite you for Oh! My Cod Pico Experience!

The Azores islands are an internationally certified sustainable destination, nominated every year for several categories by the World Travel Awards. The remote island of Pico is yet to know the effects of mass tourism, welcoming each visitor to its black and green landscape in a distinctive and slow paced way.

Just like our authentic food and cultural experiences in Lisbon, our curated Pico trips focus on the local gastronomy of the Azores, its unique volcanic Pico wines, and the people who make it all possible, but this time around also with a dash of adventure in an incredible natural setting! We will be far from the crowds but still intertwined with the local communities, curating exclusive food and cultural experiences and encounters you wouldn’t otherwise be able to live.

Check all the activities below!

All photos/videos by Sílvia Olivença, Natacha Dias and Zara Quiroga, taken during our trips, except the two taken from Pico’s summit (credits to Tripix for the group picture and Kim Wolde for the overnight camping picture).

 

THE “TRIANGLE ISLANDS” OF THE AZORES

Pico Island is strategically located in the so-called Azorean Triangle, close to two other islands, Faial and São Jorge, which can be reached by ferry boat in as little as half an hour.

Pico has a very unique ecosystem due to the black Volcanic rock present all over the island. Thanks to the local’s tenacity who, against all expectations, among other achievements, managed to grow fantastic wine from rocks in a landscape of Pico Wine has since 2004 been considered a UNESCO World Heritage site!

Pico Island is also where you can climb the highest mountain in Portugal, Mount Pico, that reaches 2351 m / 7713 ft high.

OUR TOP 10

  • Fine dining with wine pairing at the award-winning winery Azores Wine Company Backstage access during a private visit to the winery. Wine pairing with exclusive bottles which are not available in the market.
  • Exclusive curated food experiences with natives: Exclusive curated food experiences with natives: harvest and lunch with locals; indulge yourself with a meal prepared by a senior local in the luxurious São Jorge Island facing the ocean; discover Portuguese cuisine with a homemade meal cooked by our Chef/hosts; meet a multigenerational wine producing family, know their history, visit their home (now an ethnographic museum) and taste their wine with a homemade meal.
  • Discover the Unesco Heritage of Pico Vineyards, get to taste limited editions of Pico Wine and meet local wine producers who are at the forefront of this landscape and sustainable revolution.
  • Sample a wine unique in the whole world, which goes for €600 a bottle: this is the same wine that Russian tzars used to drink, from vineyards with more than 130 years old. This wine has 18% alcohol but is not fortified – is this a miracle?!
  • Climb and sleep on top of a volcano or discover Faial Island!
  • Taste farm-to-table products and discover their terroir (namely a hydroponic small farm, cheeses with PDO status, PGI grass-fed beef, tropical fruits, coffee) and sample the uttermost fresh seafood: the diversity of the Atlantic Ocean on your plate including goose barnacles, the best tuna in Europe, and so much more!
  • Behind-the-scenes cultural experiences, depending on the season: wine harvest, cooking up a feast for religious ceremonies (Espírito Santo Celebrations), cheese making, bread backing class, among others.
  • 7 volcanic natural swimming pools, such a fun and refreshing experience.
  • Dolphin and whale watching experience, with a sustainable local enterprise led by certified guides.
  • Our amazing Azores Oh! My Cod hosts and philosophy, are available to you 24h/24h during this trip.Explore all highlights of our Culinary Trip to the Azores below by clicking in each category!

Travel Leaders & Narrators

a person smiling for the camera

Founder and CEO of Oh! My Cod, food host, clinical psychologist and anthropologist. Silvia traveled to Pico for the first time in 2017 and has been back as often as possible ever since. To say she has a soft spot for this island is an understatement. She likes it there so much that she even started doing group trips to have a fun and delicious excuse to keep coming back! After the success of the experiences organized during the summer of 2021, this year will have even more opportunities with great experiences.

a person posing for the camera

Portuguese travel and food writer, who has previously worked with Oh! My Cod leading gastronomic experiences in Lisbon. Besides being the author of “Lisbon in 100 Bites”, she’s also the creator of Portugal’s only Pastel de Nata baking workshop to take place inside a real working bakery. Silvia managed to convince Zara that there’s something truly special about Pico island and, after sharing many stories, she decided to travel there herself and finally join the Oh! My Cod Pico Experience too.

a person in a blue shirt

Natacha is a Portuguese certified skipper, a fisherwoman, fantastic cook and currently attending culinary school. She is an expert on Portuguese ‘conventual’ desserts and passionate about Portuguese organic and biodynamic wines. Being a Pico lover, Natacha accompanied Silvia in the very first food and wine Pico expeditions, with former guests and friends, where the present food-travel model was tested and developed. Because of her studies, we will be meeting Natacha in Pico exclusively in August.

a man sitting on a rock

Together with the Locals, we will all become the narrators of this special island, while enjoying delicious local food and wine with a profound context.

Always, in the greatest company!

    FAQS

WHEN YOU JOIN OH! MY COD PICO EXPERIENCE YOU WILL...

AZORES GASTRONOMY

  • Indulge in the local cuisine of the Azores islands
  • Sample the most delectable sustainable tuna in the world
  • Try local seafood delicacies, such as limpets, barnacles and giant clams
  • Taste Azorean grass-fed PGI beef cooked in typical recipes
  • We will visit Pico’s most renowned restaurants to taste its land and its sea
  • From simple family-style eateries with deliciously authentic food, to a multi-course fine dining meal with wine pairing at Azores Wine Company
  • Visit an artisanal cheese factory and taste Azorean PDO cheeses
  • Sip local coffee from the Azores
  • Savor tropical fruits 

 

PICO WINE

  • Discover the volcanic vineyards of Pico, a Unesco World Heritage site
  • Learn the fascinating history of Pico wine (always with a glass in hand!)
  • Try Pico’s best wines, during at least 5 distinct wine tastings
  • Meet well established wine producers, as well as talented new winemakers

    This will be a full immersion into Pico’s wine culture – one of the most peculiar in the world!

 

AZOREAN PEOPLE & CULTURE

  • Meet the people of Pico Island
  • Enjoy a meal with a local family
  • Understand the whaling history of the region
  • Participate in the wine harvest with the locals (August & September trips only!)
  • Discover the local handicrafts created by resident artisans
  • Make new friends with fellow traveler

NATURE & ADVENTURE

  • Climb Mount Pico, the highest mountain in Portugal (2,351 meters / 7,713 feet)
  • Swim in the natural pools all around the island
  • Snorkel in a stunning Marine Protected Area
  • Immerse yourself in nature as you explore Pico’s hiking trails (from the coastal lava fields to the verdant central high plateau)
  • Go whale-watching: this is one of the world’s top spots to do it!
  • See dolphins during a boat trip
  • Soak in the scenic views all around you: mountain, greenery, ocean… it’s all there!
  • Admire centuries-old dragon trees at the biggest Dracaena draco forest in Macaronesia

DAY-TRIPS TO FAIAL OR SÃO JORGE ISLANDS

  • Explore one of the neighboring islands: Faial or São Jorge
  • Depending of the day-trip destination you will:
  • Sip local coffee from the Azores at a local plantation
  • Experience what living in a remote “ fajã” is like
  • Enjoy a traditional meal cooked by locals in an exclusive setting
  • Swim in one one of the best natural pools of the region
  • Lay down your towel in a black sand beach surrounded by unique landscapes
  • We can help you plan further experiences in Pico and on-going trips to other islands in the Azores…
  • … there are 8 other islands in the Azores besides Pico!

REST OR EXPERIENCE MORE

  • Stay at our hand-picked accommodations
  • Take it easy and recharge your batteries
  • We have a great program lined up for you… but it’s not all rush, rush!
  • You can also soak up the sun at the beach
  • Or take a refreshing dip at the natural pools
  • Apart from our scheduled activities and meals, you’ll have free time too!

We can help you to book additional activities such as:

  • Massages
  • Go-fishing with a local fisherman
  • Scuba-diving tours
  • Snorkeling activities
  • Excursion into a lava cave
  • Visit local museums