Our trip: early June 2026 · Last updated: October 26, 2026
Google Maps: Pico do Refúgio ↗
Of the five places we slept on São Miguel, Pico do Refúgio is the one I still think about. It’s a 400-year-old farm on the north coast, turned into eight country houses with a pool, an artist residency, and the best breakfast yogurt of my life. We only got 36 hours there. Next time, we’re booking the whole week.
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Arriving at midnight
It was the only place I had booked in advance, and then our flight got diverted to Lisbon for two days. When I messaged them, they simply moved our dates. We finally pulled up around midnight on a Monday, and the door had been left open for us. A WhatsApp told us which house was ours. We dropped our bags and fell asleep, so happy to finally be there.
The next morning I walked out and understood why everyone who stays here says the same things. Golden colonial buildings, tall old trees, so much green, the Atlantic on the horizon, and complete quiet.
Four hundred years in one farm
The name means something like “Refuge Peak,” and the place has earned it many times over. It dates to the early 1600s, and it has lived a lot of lives since:
- Pirate lookout. Its high, fortified position on the north coast was used to watch for corsairs.
- Militia fort. During Portugal’s civil war between the liberals and the Miguelistas in the 1830s, it was a militia stronghold.
- Orange estate. Back when oranges, not pineapples, were São Miguel’s big export.
- Tea factory. When the orange trade collapsed, the island turned to tea, and the farm ran the Ataíde tea factory. Some of the lofts are in that old factory building now.
- Artists’ home. It was the country house of the Azorean painter and writer Luís Bernardo Leite de Ataíde, and later home to the sculptor Luísa Constantina.
Her son, the architect Luís Bernardo Brito e Abreu, restored the farm and opened it as country houses in 2013. In 2015 he started an artist residency: artists from Portugal and abroad come to stay and make work, and the farm’s art collection grows with them. Musician Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth is one of the people who has stayed. That’s why there’s real art everywhere you look.
The farm sits just outside Rabo de Peixe, a fishing town that’s now famous for a very different story. In 2001 a sailboat carrying around half a ton of cocaine wrecked off São Miguel, and much of it washed ashore near Rabo de Peixe. That true story inspired the Netflix series Turn of the Tide (Rabo de Peixe in Portuguese), which was filmed in the town and around the island, including at the abandoned Monte Palace. It ran three seasons, the last in April 2026, and the town of Ribeira Grande even made a self-guided app tour of the filming locations.
The stay
The houses. There are eight one-bedroom houses spread across two parts of the farm, either lofts or apartments, each with its own kitchen. Ours was Casa da Caldeira. It was so cute, and the whole property is immaculate.
Breakfast. Farm-to-table, served in a house that’s basically a gallery: couches, big wooden tables, art on every wall, and windows looking out over the grounds. They’ll make your eggs any way you like. The yogurt is the best we have ever had, and I’m still thinking about it months later.
The host. She grew up on the island, spent years in Lisbon, and had recently moved back. Over breakfast she gave us a full list of where to go and where to eat, and every single pick was a hit, including Alabote in Ribeira Grande for sunset.
The grounds. A beautiful pool, a sauna behind it, a grill and outdoor eating area if you want to cook, and acres of farmland, part of it a protected ecological reserve. Jake spent an hour flying the drone over it while I finished some work. In the afternoon we swam, and I took far too many photos of the plants. The whole island is lush, but this place is something else.
Getting around. It’s right in the middle of the north coast, near Rabo de Peixe, so everything on the island is within easy reach. You do need a car: there’s nothing within walking distance. On our first morning we hit a cow traffic jam on the back roads leaving the farm, which is a very Azores way to start a day.
The only thing I’d change is how long we stayed. Two nights became 36 hours because of our flight. If you’re planning São Miguel, base yourself here for most of the week and take day trips.
Good to know
| Where | Roda do Pico 5, Rabo de Peixe, Ribeira Grande, on São Miguel’s north coast |
| Rooms | 8 one-bedroom lofts and apartments, each with a kitchen |
| On site | Pool, sauna, grill area, art collection, a PADI dive school |
| Check-in | No reception desk: details by WhatsApp, keys handed over in person |
| Getting there | Rental car essential; central to the whole island |
| Book | Direct, at picodorefugio.com, or on Booking.com |
| Stay | As long as you can. We’d do four nights or more. |
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