We've narrowed down a summer 2027 trip to one of these 3 destinations. 2 adults, one 8 yo. 10-14 days including travel days.
We enjoy active outdoor activities and hiking.
Flying from an east-coast non-hub airports so all options have a connection and are around $1000 rt. AI tells me Scotland will be most expensive but similar to GNP, with Azores being a much cheaper option.
Anyone want to weigh in on these three or point out concerns?
If Azores we'd stay in Sao Miguel (1 or 2 locations) and probably do a few days in Pico.
If GNP, we'd probably pick 2 locations, potentially a 3rd if we venture to Canada.
If Scotland, we'd play fly in/out of Edinburgh/Glasgow, maybe 2 nights in each locations making a loop to the north.

Of these, I've only done Scotland, but looking at doing Azores in August so I'll have more comparison info for you later! (Also following for any Azores info you get)

We just did Scotland, although we were only there for 4 full days and 2 partial days (Isle of Skye and Edinburgh). Happy to give thoughts/recommendations.

My son and I did The Azores in 2022. It really was fantastic. I think I posted details from our trip. Let me see if I can find it.

As far as driving/getting yourself around, The Azores is going to be MUCH easier. Roads are great on Sao Miguel. We did not go to any of the other islands, but you can island hop on Azores Air (similar to island hopping in Hawaii). I would expect The Azores to be MUCH cheaper than Scotland, too. When we visited, the most expensive hotel room on the island was probably $300/night.

In terms of outdoor adventure activities, I think The Azores tops Scotland. We did a Jeep tour, an ATV tour, canyoning, and whale watching. It's supposed to be one of the best places in the world for diving. There were other activities that we didn't do.

Scotland is a lot of sightseeing and history. It's interesting and very beautiful, but I think The Azores offers a much more diverse selection of activities, especially if you like outdoor adventure stuff.

Found my post:
https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/3294635

Below is a link to pics from what was prob my favorite day on the island. There are more pics/posts on my account besides just this one.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ceo0dGfAdva/?img_index=8&igsh=MWp0cXpldG44N3Zjdg==

Some of the top whale watching is in the Azores. Great food, wine and easy to get around. I would go there before it becomes overly saturated with tourists.

If you plan on going to Glacier and staying in the park, you better be on their website (Xantera's website) at midnight, 6/30/26, mountain time if you want reservations in the park July 2027. Probably way too late for June 2027.

I hated our time at Glacier. We were in Montana for a wedding and we were there just after you had to have tickets to get in or something. It was a madhouse. Every trail was so busy that you couldn't even park. We finally got to stop at one and I'd rather have stood in line for Space Mountain at Disney than gone on the trail. Clearly we were there at a bad time (it was the weekend that the Ags lost to App St, so September). Kalispell is a dumpy town.

I have a bad attitude about it. I'm sure people feel otherwise. But just my experience.

Edit to add that people's response to me was always that you need to be in the park at 7am to pick the trail you want. But that's a no from me, dog. Not on vacation .

NO SCOTLAND, NO PARTY!

We are going to Glacier on Saturday and cannot wait to be there. Staying in the park for all 7 days.

Azores.

That's where my parents met - on Terceira, at Lajes AFB.

Went about 10 years ago with my Dad and had an awesome time. Flew over to Terceira and drove around for a couple days. My Dad was having the time of his life reliving the island.

10/10 would definitely recommend.

Did Scotland as a kid when I grew up living in England, so I've been all over but don't remember that much. However, I did go there last October for a few days - Glasgow and then Edinburgh. Enjoyed it. We did the Johnny Walker Experience scotch tasting.