What time zone is Pico in?
Quick answer
Pico keeps Azores time: UTC−01:00 in standard time and UTC±00:00 in summer time. Mainland Portugal is UTC±00:00 in standard time and UTC+01:00 in summer, so Pico is one hour behind Lisbon all year. Every island in the Azores keeps the same time, so Horta and Ponta Delgada match Pico.
Azores time, one hour behind Lisbon
Pico is in the Azores, and the whole archipelago keeps one time. In standard time that is UTC−01:00. In summer time the clocks go forward an hour to UTC±00:00. Mainland Portugal makes the same change from UTC±00:00 to UTC+01:00, so the gap between Pico and Lisbon stays at one hour all year.
Faial and São Miguel are in the Azores too, so a connection through Horta or Ponta Delgada does not change the clock. A connection through Lisbon does.
Where it catches people out
Connecting flights. A booking that routes through Lisbon shows each departure and arrival in local time. The leg from Lisbon to the Azores therefore looks an hour shorter on paper than it is. Use the airport code PIX and read the times as local at each end. See flights to Pico.
Calls and meetings. If you work remotely from Pico, a meeting set in Lisbon time falls an hour earlier on the island than you expect. Check which zone the invitation is in.
Early starts. Whale watching boats and the summit both start early in local time. Set the alarm on a phone that has picked up the island's time, not on a watch still set to home. See whale watching.
What this page does not tell you
No dates for the clock change. The offsets above are sourced. The day the clocks move each spring and autumn is not stated here. Your phone will follow it.
For the rest of the trip, read the full guide to planning a trip.
