Getting to Pico
How do I get to Pico island?
Quick answer
Two ways in. Fly to Pico's own airport, PIX, on the north coast, or fly to Horta on Faial and take the ferry across the channel to Madalena. Atlânticoline runs the ferries and serves two ports on Pico, Madalena and Cais do Pico. You will want a car either way.
Arriving
Los viajeros 77 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Flights to Pico
Pico has its own airport, IATA code PIX and ICAO code LPPI, on the north coast at 34 metres above sea level.
Ferries to Pico
Atlânticoline runs the ferries. The main crossing is Horta on Faial to Madalena, scheduled at 30 minutes and sailed several times a day.
Once you land
There is no bus network worth planning around.
Ruben JC Furtado · Public domain
Renting a car on Pico
Yes, in practice. Pico has no bus network worth planning a trip around, and the island is long enough that the two coasts are a real drive apart.
Ruben JC Furtado · CC BY-SA 3.0
Driving on Pico
Pico is 447 square kilometres of thinly populated volcanic coastline with 13,834 people on it.
Two routes in
Direct to Pico. The island has its own airport, PIX (ICAO LPPI), on the north coast between Madalena and São Roque, 34 metres above sea level. Flying straight in is the simplest arrival if a schedule suits you. See flights to Pico.
Via Faial. The alternative is to fly into Horta on Faial and cross the channel by ferry to Madalena. The channel is narrow and the crossing is short, which is why a lot of visitors treat Horta and Pico as one trip. Atlânticoline operates the inter-island ferries and serves two ports on Pico: Madalena on the west coast and Cais do Pico on the north. See ferries to Pico for the routes, the ports and what to know before you sail.
Live departures, when a timetable is committed, are on the ferry timetable. That page reads from a published schedule rather than from prose here, so it is the one to trust on times.
Plan for a car
This is the part visitors underestimate. Pico has no bus network worth building a trip around, the island is long, and the coast roads are slow. The distance from the ferry at Madalena to Lajes do Pico on the south coast is a real drive, not a hop.
Book the car before you fly rather than on arrival, particularly in summer. See renting a car on Pico and driving on Pico.
Which arrival suits which trip
If you are coming for whale watching from the south coast, or for the mountain, you will be driving regardless and the arrival point matters less than the car booking does. If you are combining Pico with Horta, arriving through Faial and crossing by ferry removes a flight and puts you in Madalena, which is the one town on the island where you can manage a day without a car.
What this page does not tell you
No flight schedules, no departure times, no fares. Atlânticoline publishes its timetable through a search tool rather than as a static page, and nothing here is transcribed from a secondary guide. The scheduled crossing times we read from that tool are on ferries to Pico, with the date we read them. Take departure times and fares from the operators on the day you book.