Furnas - Sao Miguel Attractions

From Vila Franca do Campo a road runs inland, passing the Lagoa das Furnas, a crater lake 2km/1.25mi long, to Furnas, a popular summer resort (fine gardens, villas, golf course) in a beautiful forest-fringed valley basin (alt. 200-275m/650-900ft). Here after a violent volcanic eruption in 1630 there emerged a whole series of springs of various kinds (hot springs, mud springs, sulfur and mineral springs), some of which are used for medicinal purposes, either internally or in baths. There is magnificent luxuriant vegetation.