Azores · Portugal
March
Spring begins — hydrangeas start appearing on the roadsides and the first clear days open the crater lake views.
Strong option
#8 of 12 months
There are better months for Azores — see the full ranking below.
See when to go instead →Climate
High
18°C
Low
12°C
Rain
90mm
Sun
5hrs/day
30-year climate normals · Open Meteo ERA5
How March scores in Azores
Weather
Average
Value
Excellent
Crowds
Excellent
Events
Above average
Atmosphere
Very good
What you gain in March
- ↑The whale watching season intensifies in March as migrating blue whales, sei whales, and fin whales join the resident sperm whales in the deep-water channels between islands; the Azores is the best whale watching destination in Europe and March marks the beginning of the peak season for cetacean diversity
- ↑Spring light in the Azores has a clarity that the summer humidity obscures: the first clear days of March reveal the full scale of the islands — Pico's 2,351m volcano (the highest point in Portugal) visible from Faial across 8km of cobalt Atlantic, the Corvo caldera lake from the air, the Sete Cidades twin lakes in the morning light
- ↑Walking the hydrangea-lined roads of Faial and Flores: the blue hydrangeas (Hortensia) that line every Azorean roadside begin blooming in March; by May they are so dense that the field boundaries disappear into walls of blue, but March offers the first glimpse of the colour combination — black volcanic lava walls, green grass, and vivid blue hydrangea heads — that defines the Azorean aesthetic
What you sacrifice
- ↓March remains within the wet season — 90mm of rain and variable cloud cover still compromise the crater lake views; the same flexibility needed in winter applies to early spring
- ↓Pico mountain summit hiking (the primary bucket-list activity on the volcanic island) is still unreliable in March; the summit is frequently in cloud and the trail requires good visibility for safe descent
- ↓International flight availability to Ponta Delgada airport begins increasing in March but direct routes from outside Lisbon are still limited; connections via TAP from Lisbon are reliable but add to journey time
How March compares to May (best month)
| Factor | March | May ★ |
|---|---|---|
| Weather | 4 | 7 |
| Value | 8 | 7 |
| Crowds | 8 | 7 |
March in other destinations
Lisbon (16.6°C)Barcelona (15.8°C)Tokyo (13.8°C)Bali (30.8°C)Santorini (14.6°C)Paris (11.5°C)New York (9.7°C)Marrakech (22.3°C)Amsterdam (9.2°C)Maldives (30.8°C)Rome (15°C)Bangkok (34.3°C)Istanbul (11.6°C)Vienna (10.3°C)Seoul (9.6°C)Dubrovnik (13.9°C)Rio de Janeiro (29.7°C)Kyoto (14.3°C)Phuket (33°C)Cape Town (25.4°C)Prague (10°C)Amalfi Coast (15°C)Mexico City (26°C)Medellín (28°C)Fiji (30°C)London (12°C)Sydney (25°C)Iceland (4°C)Tulum (30°C)Dubai (29°C)Singapore (32°C)Hoi An (28°C)Chiang Mai (34.5°C)Miami (26.7°C)Florence (14.8°C)Queenstown (19.5°C)Madrid (15°C)Porto (17°C)Edinburgh (9°C)Copenhagen (7°C)Budapest (11°C)Kraków (9°C)Tbilisi (13°C)Palawan (31°C)Hanoi (22°C)Osaka (14°C)Goa (34°C)Cusco (19°C)Buenos Aires (27°C)Mykonos (15°C)Zanzibar (32°C)Sri Lanka (32°C)Costa Rica (27°C)Cancun (30°C)Krabi (34°C)Athens (16°C)Seville (21°C)Cartagena (32°C)Siem Reap (33°C)Havana (28°C)Split (14°C)Taipei (22°C)Kuala Lumpur (33°C)Valletta (17°C)Ho Chi Minh City (35°C)Hawaii (27°C)Cappadocia (11°C)Dominican Republic (29°C)Jamaica (30°C)Tanzania (27°C)Seychelles (30°C)Nepal (24°C)Jordan (17°C)Bora Bora (30°C)Los Angeles (21.5°C)Cairo (25.1°C)Kenya (28.5°C)Jaipur (30.8°C)Las Vegas (22.5°C)San Francisco (15.1°C)Madeira (20.5°C)Vancouver (10.5°C)Muscat (31.5°C)Lima (26.4°C)Cinque Terre (14°C)Kotor (14°C)Tel Aviv (21°C)Santiago (27°C)Bogotá (18°C)Bruges (10.1°C)Penang (33.1°C)Lombok (31.4°C)Cape Verde (26.5°C)Fez (19.5°C)Kerala (33°C)Kigali (26°C)Hong Kong (21°C)Oslo (5°C)Auckland (22°C)
Climate data: 30-year normals (1991–2020) from Open Meteo ERA5 reanalysis. Scores compare months within Azores, not across destinations. Methodology →