Sete Cidades by bus: the day trip everyone wants, and the timetable that makes it hard

What each line really does

Line 205 (via Candelária) is weekdays only: two full trips from the city plus two short shuttles that start at Várzea (Estrada Regional) and run the last fifteen minutes into the village ^[source]. Line 206 (via Candelária and Mosteiros) prints eleven weekday, six Saturday and five Sunday columns, but the printed stop list shows that its all-year trips from the city end at Mosteiros (Banda de Além) without a time at any Sete Cidades stop ^[source]. Line 208 (via João Bom) goes round the north-west coast through Capelas, João Bom and the Bretanha parishes; its full trips take about 120 minutes, and at weekends it is the only line with a morning departure to the village ^[source].

Where to board in Ponta Delgada

The 205 table starts at P. Delgada (Hospital) and calls at Alfândega and Forte S. Brás on the seafront; the 206 starts mostly at P. Delgada (Alfândega); both then call at the Antiga Aerogare and Avenida João Paulo II stops on the western edge of the city ^{[source, source]}. The 208 starts at P. Delgada (Alfândega) and returns to P. Delgada (Marina) ^[source].

The stops in the crater

All three lines use the same village stops, ending at Sete Cidades (Lagoas) after (Igreja), (Casa do Povo), (Rua Nova 2), (Rua Nova 1) and (Escola) ^{[source, source, source]}. The Lagoas stop is by the lakes at the bottom of the crater. Vista do Rei, the rim viewpoint over both lakes, has no printed stop on any line; the corridor guide already published on this site notes that guided trips are the realistic way to reach the rim ^[source].

Weekday plan

Out on the morning 205 from the seafront, the only weekday bus that runs from the city straight to the lakes before noon ^[source]. For a later start, a mid-morning 206 from Alfândega is printed at Várzea (Estrada Regional) at the same minute the 205 shuttle leaves Várzea for the lakes; in the afternoon a 208 from Alfândega reaches the lakes the long way round ^{[source, source, source]}.

Back: the 205 prints two morning returns from the lakes to the city and a midday one to Várzea, where a 206 from Mosteiros is printed a few minutes later on its way to Ponta Delgada ^{[source, source]}. The afternoon return is the 206 shuttle from the lakes to Ramal Mosteiros (Merendário); from that stop a 206 from Mosteiros and a 208 are both printed onward to the city ^{[source, source]}. The minutes at a roadside stop between them are what the printed times allow; the change is not a guaranteed connection.

Weekend plan

Saturdays and Sundays: out on the 208 in the morning or the afternoon and back on the 208 the same way; on Sundays and holidays a 206 also leaves the lakes in the evening, and from June to September the 206 adds an evening trip each way on Saturdays and Sundays ^{[source, source]}. The 208 table above gives every time at Alfândega and at the lakes for each day type.

Fares

AzoresBus does not publish a single fare for this or any line; the tariff feed lists on-board fares only as bands of fare units with no stop-to-band mapping ^[source]. A 1-day network pass costs €7 and covers the outbound and return on any of the three lines ^[source].

Network day passes published by AzoresBus: 1 Dia€7.00 · 2 Dias€12.00 · 3 Dias€16.00 · 5 Dias€25.00 — each valid for the whole network from first validation.