Historic Praia da Vitória, a major point of interest about 20 km northeast of Angra, is one of the most modern towns in the Azores. Located in a large bay on the east coast, this pretty town boasts a long and attractive sandy beach, a smart marina, a nice pedestrian shopping zone and a very pleasant ambiance with two notable churches, several public squares, and a number of hotels and restaurants.
Praia’s centre has a pleasant pedestrian zone with many attractive shops and some notable historic buildings that well deserve a glance. The most impressive of all is probably the all-dominating Igreja Matriz de Santa Cruz, an attractive parish church with a large façade with two imposing bell-towers that can be seen from far.
Because of the sea breeze Praia De Vitoria is extremely popular amongst the windsurfing community. It edges up against a low mountain ridge called Facho (Portuguese for Torch, because in its top a primitive lighthouse and lookout place against pirates, and later a marine and military semaphoric signal station, operated for about 400 years), and a large public park atop the ridge affords excellent views of the surrounding countryside and the Atlantic Ocean.
