A rainy day on Terceira: Angra's museums and churches, the caves, and what opens when

Angra do Heroísmo averages about 120 days a year with at least a millimetre of rain, so a week on Terceira will probably include a wet one. You lose the Serra do Cume view and the long walks. You keep Angra, whose old town has a museum, a palace, a cathedral and two churches a short walk apart, and the two volcanic caves, which are the same in any weather.

Plan by the day of the week. From October to December the caves open only four afternoons a week, the museum closes on Mondays and the cathedral on Sundays. The hours below were listed in October 2026; check before you drive anywhere.

The Museu de Angra do Heroísmo fills the old São Francisco convent in the town centre. Its main exhibition, "From Sea and Land", tells the story of the Azores as a stop on Atlantic routes, through maps, weapons, carriages and ship models, and the convent church of Nossa Senhora da Guia is part of the visit. Plan on at least an hour.

From 1 October to 31 March it opens Tuesday to Sunday and on holidays, 9:30 to 17:00, and closes on Mondays. The last prices the museum published, in its 2023 programmes, were €2 for adults and €1 for ages 15 to 25 and over-65s, with free entry for children up to 14 and for everyone on Sundays. Its 2025 activity report says the hours are still the ones set by regional order in 2016, and also that staff shortages have put them at risk, so ring +351 295 240 800 if you are coming for it alone.

The museum's military history branch sits in the old Boa Nova hospital on Rua da Boa Nova, with the same winter hours. It is also where the museum's guided visits to the Monte Brasil fortress start; our Angra guide has the details.

If you plan to see several places in the old town, the city pass saves buying a ticket at each door. Run by the municipality and the local chamber of commerce, it cost €10 in October 2026 and gives one entry to each of six places:

• The Museu de Angra do Heroísmo, Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 to 17:00.
• The military history branch, Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 to 17:00.
• The Palácio dos Capitães-Generais, by paid guided tour, listed Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00.
• The Sé cathedral, Tuesday to Saturday, 9:30 to 17:00, without the treasury and towers.
• The Misericórdia church, Monday to Friday 10:00 to 16:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 13:00.
• The Colégio church, Monday to Friday, 9:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 17:00.

Buy it online or at any of the six. On site they take cash only.

The palace was a Jesuit college from 1572 and became the seat of the captains-general who governed the islands after 1766. It is still one of the official houses of the regional president, so you see it on a short guided tour, and photography is restricted. Its Room of the Kings has life-size portraits of the Braganza monarchs. One caution: an older official listing has the palace closed on Tuesdays and on Sunday in winter. Ring +351 295 402 300 before you build a day around it.

The cathedral was begun in 1570, burnt in 1983 after the 1980 earthquake and was restored. On Sunday it is in use for Mass rather than open to visitors.

Both of Terceira's show caves are run by the Os Montanheiros caving association. Underground it is 12 to 13 °C with wet floors whatever the weather outside. The problem is the winter timetable. From October to December, Algar do Carvão and Gruta do Natal both open only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, from 14:30 to 17:00.

Algar do Carvão is the lava chimney you walk down into; in October 2026 a ticket cost €10, with no bookings. Gruta do Natal, a lava tube a short drive away, cost €9. The Natal page said combined tickets were not being sold at the moment, though the Algar page still listed one at €15, so ask at the first cave. Algar has had no shelter, café or toilets during its visitor-centre works, which matters on a wet day: arrive with a waterproof, and do not count on waiting indoors.

From Angra it is 20 to 25 minutes by car up to the Algar car park. Our caves guide covers what each visit is like.

The Serra de Santa Bárbara interpretation centre, on the Estrada das Doze, is the Terceira Natural Park's visitor centre: how the island formed, its forest and its plants, and how people have used the high ground. Both listings agree it opens every day until 31 October. They disagree about the winter days that follow, so from November ring +351 924 403 957 first. If the cloud is down, the summit road beyond it will show you nothing.

On the north coast, the Museu do Vinho dos Biscoitos is a small family wine museum founded in 1990. Its last listed hours were 10:00 to 12:00 and 13:30 to 17:30, closed on Mondays. We could not confirm them for 2026, so call +351 965 667 324 before you make the trip. Our Biscoitos guide has more.

These are the October to December patterns:

• Monday: the museum and its military branch are closed, and so are the caves. The two churches on the pass are open, and the palace may be. Keep this day for Angra's churches and a long lunch.
• Tuesday: museum, cathedral and caves are open. Check the palace.
• Wednesday and Friday: the best wet days. Museum in the morning, palace and churches before lunch, caves from 14:30.
• Thursday: everything in Angra is open, but the caves are closed.
• Saturday: museum, cathedral and caves are open; the Misericórdia only until 13:00 and the Colégio not at all.
• Sunday: the museum was free on Sundays at the last published prices, but the cathedral, the two churches and the caves are closed to visitors.

When the sky clears, go up at once: our guide to the best time to visit Terceira has the weather month by month.

What can you do on Terceira when it rains? See Angra's museum, palace, cathedral and churches in the morning, then go to Algar do Carvão or Gruta do Natal in the afternoon, which are the same underground in any weather.

Are the caves on Terceira open in October? Yes, but only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, from 14:30 to 17:00, through December. In October 2026 Algar do Carvão cost €10 and Gruta do Natal €9.

What is the Angra City Pass? One ticket for six places in Angra's old town. It cost €10 in October 2026 and covers the museum, the military history branch, the palace tour, the cathedral and two churches. On site it is sold for cash only.

Is the Museu de Angra do Heroísmo open on Mondays? No. In winter it opens Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 to 17:00. It was free on Sundays at its last published prices.