Pico is an island that is mostly mountain. The great cone of Mount Pico rises to about 2,350 metres from the Atlantic, the highest point in Portugal, and its slopes sweep down in black lava to the sea. The summit, often wrapped in cloud, appears from nearly everywhere on the island and from the neighbouring island of Faial, and climbing it is a long, steep day on loose volcanic rock, with an extraordinary view if the weather behaves.
The label belongs to a UNESCO listing, the Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture, which protects an extraordinary agricultural invention. On the island's lava fields, the early settlers could not plough, so they built thousands of small enclosures, curraletas, from black basalt stones, and planted vines inside them to shelter from wind and salt spray. The result is a labyrinth of tiny walled plots stretching down to the sea, which makes a strange and beautiful pattern from above. The vines produce Verdelho, a white wine that was once drunk at the courts of Europe, and the tradition is still alive.
The island's other great story is whaling. For more than a century, men from Pico hunted sperm whales from open rowing boats, using hand harpoons, and the white lookout huts on the hills and the whale-oil factories still stand. The Whalers' Museum at Lajes do Pico tells the story, and whale-watching boats now take visitors to see the animals without harpoons. The last hunt took place in the 1980s.
For riding, the roads that circle the island are a pleasure. The coastal road passes through villages of black stone houses with white trim, past hedges of blue hydrangeas, and the views of the sea and of Faial across the channel are superb. The surface is generally good, with long curves and some tight bends, and the traffic is light. Wind and rain can arrive rapidly, and fog on the high roads can cut visibility. Take care on wet basalt and on cattle that cross unannounced.
Fuel is available in Madalena, the main town, about eleven kilometres away, and in São Roque and Lajes, so fill up there before you go. Cafes and small restaurants serve grilled limpets, fresh fish and local cheese, and the meat stews are famous.
The best months are from May to September, but the weather can change in minutes at any time. A ferry from Madalena to Horta, on Faial, takes about thirty minutes.