The Baleeiros trail on Faial: Cedros to Varadouro past the whale lookouts, Capelinhos and Comprido

The Baleeiros trail (PR10FAI) is the walk to choose if you want to see the north and west of Faial on foot in one go. It runs 26 km from the church at Cedros to the old whaling station at Varadouro, graded hard, with seven hours as the official average. Decide first whether you want all of it in one day or only half.

Baleeiros means whalers, and the route links the places the island's whaling depended on. It mostly follows old rural paths. The lookout at the old Cedros port, where men once watched for whale spouts, was destroyed by the earthquake of 9 July 1998, and the one at Costado da Nau near Capelinhos is a ruin. Two others on the route, Cabeço da Vigia and Alto das Concheiras, are still manned and pass sightings to the whale-watching boats.

The route is linear, so work out before you start how you will get to Cedros and home from Varadouro.

The official GPS track measures 26.7 km. Added up, it has about 1,200 m of climbing and a little more of descent, although the highest point is only about 350 m.

• Kilometres 0 to 10: from Cedros the trail climbs slowly across farmland to around 300 m. This stretch passes the Ribeira Funda viewpoint, which sits in a picnic area.
• Kilometres 10 to 12: the Ribeira das Cabras viewpoint looks down on the Fajã da Praia do Norte, a flat shelf of lava, and across to the Capelo peninsula. Then comes the steep drop almost to sea level.
• At the Fajã: on the beach and by the small port, look for green crystals set in the black basalt. They are olivine xenoliths, bits of the Earth's mantle that the Cabeço do Fogo eruption of 1672 brought up and froze into the lava.
• Kilometres 12 to 20: up and down along the coast to Capelinhos, the westernmost point of the walk.
• Kilometres 20 to 27: past Porto do Comprido to Varadouro, with laurel forest species close to the end: white laurel, Azores laurel and the island heather.

The drop at kilometre 11 is the hardest part on tired legs. Walking poles help.

Capelinhos is the grey, almost lunar ground left by the eruption of 1957 and 1958, the newest cone on the Capelo peninsula. You can break the walk here for the Capelinhos Volcano Interpretation Centre, built underground, and the climb up the old lighthouse. That needs two hours you probably do not have on a full traverse. Our Capelinhos and Caldeira guide has the hours and tickets.

Just south, Porto do Comprido was between 1940 and 1957 the largest and most productive whaling station in the archipelago, until the eruption shut it. The Casa dos Botes keeps a whaleboat and a small exhibition on the hunt, and you can swim there.

The trail ends at Varadouro, another former whaling station, where the natural pools are the reason to keep something in reserve. They are described in our Faial beaches guide.

Most walkers will do better splitting it at Capelinhos, where there is a car park at the interpretation centre.

• The north half, Cedros to Capelinhos, is about 20 km with nearly all the climbing and the fajã.
• The south half, Capelinhos to Varadouro, is under 7 km. It pairs with a visit to the centre and an afternoon at the pools.

If you walk it in one day, start early: the official seven hours leave no time for the centre at Capelinhos.

Do not plan around the bus. In the Farias timetables we read in 2026, the only weekday bus out along the north coast leaves Horta at 12:45, too late to start a seven-hour walk, and there is no service on Sundays. Take a taxi to Cedros and book one for a fixed time at Varadouro or Capelinhos. With a hire car and two people, you can also leave one car at the finish. Our getting around Faial guide has the details.

• The route crosses protected areas of the Faial Nature Park. Keep to the path and take your rubbish with you.
• Download the GPX or the leaflet from the official trail page before you go. The official safety page warns that mobile coverage can be limited away from the start and end.
• Carry water and food for the whole day.
• Check the forecast and the trail alerts on the official site the evening before.

For the island's other walks, from short circuits to the Caldeira rim, see our guide to the walking trails on Faial. For the boats that the active lookouts work with, see whale watching from Horta.

How long is the Baleeiros trail?

26 km on the official page, 26.7 km on its GPS track, linear, from Cedros to Varadouro. The official average time is seven hours.

How hard is it?

It is graded hard. The top is only about 350 m, but the ups and downs add up to around 1,200 m of climbing, with a steep descent to the Fajã da Praia do Norte.

Can you do only part of it?

Yes. Capelinhos, about 20 km in, is the natural place to split it. The last 7 km to Varadouro make a short half day.

Is there a bus back from Varadouro?

Not one you can count on. Buses do not run on Sundays and run thin on other days, so book a taxi.

• Azores Trails: PR10FAI Baleeiros
• PR10FAI trail leaflet (PDF)
• Visit Azores: Capelinhos Volcano Interpretation Centre