Trail Run Azores | The Whalers' Great Route

Day 1 - Arrival into Faial

Arriving into Horta International Airport (HOR) make your way through to the arrivals hall and the Pure Trails Team will be waiting to meet you.

It’s a very short 10-minute transfer to our hotel in the beautiful little city of Horta.

Check-in and relax into your room with some time to get to know the rest of our trail running group. With time available we will head out to do an easy run (approx. 10km) around this beautiful coastal town.

Back at the hotel there is time to relax before we have a group dinner with a briefing about our running days ahead of us.

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Day 2 - Climb Mount Pico

Distance: Approx. 10km

Ascent: 1,100 m

Our day today is set for us to climb to the summit of Mount Pico - Portugal’s highest peak (2,351m) and one of the highest peaks in the Atlantic ocean,

After breakfast we’ll transfer to the nearby port to take a ferry across to the neighbouring island of Pico where on arrival we start from the trail head.

We’ll be trail running/hiking around 10km+ which will take us around 3 - 4 hours to reach the crater with lots of stops along the way to take in the gorgeous views.

From the summit you can see the five islands of the Azores archipelago.

Our return gives us the much easier option of running down the mountain trails, towards the ferry port and back to our hotel in Faial to relax and recover after a beautiful day,

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Day 3 - Coast to Coast Trail Running

Distance: Approx. 36km

Ascent: 2,300m

After a good breakfast, we get our trail running gear sorted as we head towards the western point of Faial to begin our coast to coast trail run of the island.

This extraordinary run takes us along the ancient Great Whalers Route and the 10 Volcanoes trail as we run by black volcanic beaches, caves, craters, lush forests and ridges. This is truly an epic day.

The trail reaches an altitude of 1000m as it passes the volcanic caldera, flowing ‘down hill’ for the majority of the second leg of the journey as we work our way through sleepy fishing towns and villages, we arrive into Horta for an evening to rest and relax in the hotels wellness facilities.

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Day 4 - The Mounts Trail & Whale Watching

Distance: 12km

Ascent: 400m

We have an easier day planned today where we head out this morning on a circular trail run between the Montes da Guia and Queimado with sightseeing along the way. All along the trail there are several fortifications from the islands ancient maritime history. We’ll also swing by some of the old spots in Horta to learn more about their history.

After lunch we then head out on a whale watching excursion. The Azores currently has one of the world’s largest whale sanctuaries and we’ll spend a couple of hours looking out for populations of sperm and fin whales, as well as bottle nose dolphins.

Back to our hotel in Horta with the rest of the day at our leisure.

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Day 5 - Running the Capelo Peninsula

Distance: 18km

Ascent: 530m

Today we have a beautiful trail running day planned where we run around the Capelo peninsula, Varadouro and Praia do Norte.

The route begins in the village of Ribeirinha which is a spectacular area known for it’s geosites in the Archipelago. We then head to the natural pools of Varadouro where we will take advantage of a cool dip in the atlantic, before finally hitting the black sand beaches of Praia do Norte.

We’ll spend the rest of the afternoon at our leisure to relax on the beach.

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Day 6 - Mountain Biking the Eastern Island

Distance: 4 -5 hours of Mountain Biking (including stops)

Taking a break from trail running today we’ll pack up our gear for a mountain bike tour which takes us across the island.

We’ll leave directly from our hotel and finish at the Capelinhos Volcano which we visited by foot a few days before.

It’s an easy ride, using mostly dirt roads and a few single track segments. We’ll head out at a nice pace which aids the recovery of our legs from the running throughout the week.

The excursion finishes with time to relax and swim at the beach before we head back by group transfer to our hotel.

With time to relax, we will have a final farewell dinner to celebrate an extraordinary week toasting with bottles of beer and wine.

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Day 7 - Homeward Bound

It’s time to pack up and bid farewell to your new found trail running friends and our local team.

We’ll be arranging transfers back to Horta International Airport (HOR) to tie in with your onward international flights back home.