Stretching around a wide bay, Faial’s capital has been a convenient anchorage
for caravels, clippers and sea planes over the centuries. Captain Cook
commented on Horta’s fine houses and gardens when he called here in 1775.
Today, visiting crews crossing between the Caribbean and Mediterranean paint
a calling card on the quayside and celebrate their safe passage in Peter’s Café Sport . In the upstairs rooms of the café, an
engrossing Museu do Scrimshaw  exhibits engraved whales’
bones and teeth dating back to 1884 (see In pursuit of the
whale).

In the Museu da Horta  displays of antique furniture,
portraits, nautical memorabilia and nostalgic photographs of the island’s
port are upstaged by miniature sculptures of liners and scenes of daily
life, painstakingly carved from the white pith of fig trees. These virtuoso
examples of a traditional island craft are by the Faial-born Euclides
Silveira da Rosa (1910–79).

Excursions for dolphin- and whale-watching (see In pursuit of the whale) in the waters around the
island are organized by the Espaço Talassa  company.

Two viewpoints overlook Horta – to its south rises the volcanic peak of Monte da Guia , while the northern Miradouro
da Espalamaca  is guarded by a huge statue of Nossa Senhora da
Conceição. If the cloud cover permits, it is well worth driving 15 km (9
miles) to see Faial’s central Caldeira do Cabeço Gordo  – a
vast green crater 2 km (1 mile) wide and 400 m (1,300 ft) deep. The path
winding around its rim takes about two hours to walk and has magnificent
views.

Faial’s other spectacular natural sight is the Vulcão dos
Capelinhos  in the far west of the island. A volcano erupted here in
1957–8, smothering a lighthouse which can now be seen buried in ash. Around
it lies a scorched and barren landscape that has, not surprisingly, been
used as the location for a German post-nuclear holocaust film. The story of
the eruption is told in the nearby Museu dos Capelinhos 
where photographs and maps trace the area’s geological activity, showing how
the black land is gradually coming back to life. Also shown are the lava
formations created in the eruption.