Budget Package to the Azores

I've never been to the Azores, but with the soaring Euro and the declining dollar, a headline promising one autumn week on these Atlantic islands starting at $699 sounds like a good deal. Here's what I know: Azores Express, which seems to be an airline linked with a Boston-based tour operator, offers air/land packages featuring roundtrip air from Boston and hotels on the islands of São Miguel, Terceira and Faial -- three of the group's nine islands.

In the early days of trans-Atlantic passenger flights, Portugal's Azores Islands, Europe's closest point to the United States and just a four-hour flight from Boston, were a regular refueling stop. Flights from Boston depart Tuesdays and Fridays from September 2007 through October 2008, combined with a six-night stay at a choice of 12 hotels, including daily breakfast. For Tuesday departures, packages range from $669 to $1,079, per person, double occupancy (plus taxes and fees). Friday departures are $80 more, which is actually a decrease from last year's prices. I don't know why anyone would need business class for such a short flight, but it is available "for just a few hundred dollars each way," according to the tour operator.

The Azores are said to enjoy the warm breezes and spring-like temperatures year-round, with summer weather often lasting into late December. I read about "quaint seaside villages, bustling harbors and unique cities overflowing with architectural treasures. The islands offer churches, palaces, and museums framed by the sea and mountainous landscape. Travelers interested in taking the unbeaten path can walk around volcanic mountainsides, cool off in a natural swimming pool formed when volcanic lava met the cold sea or they can view a lush garden at the bottom of a volcanic crater." And it all sounds good.

Azores Express operates its flights with Airbus A310 aircraft. I could drop the names of hotels, but the only one familiar to most Americans is the Holiday Inn Azores. For more information, call 800-762-9995 or go to Azores Express' website.

To put this into perspective, a website called Perfect Escapes is offering a $699 package too: for one night in a rooftop terrace suite with private outdoor Jacuzzi at Miami's luxurious Regent South Beach, including champagne on arrival and breakfast for two. That "bargain" price is valid through September 30, the height of hurricane season. After that it rises to $799 a night for a couple of months and then, after December 1, to $900 nightly. Let me think: one night in Miami Beach or a week in the Azores? I know which I'd select for my money. What about you?