São Miguel · twin crater lakes
How to get to Sete Cidades by bus
The green and blue lakes in a drowned volcano — the single most famous view in the Azores.
By bus
Getting to Sete Cidades
Scheduled service
AzoresBus lines 205, 206 and 208 serve Sete Cidades village via different routes. Check the village and Ponta Delgada stop rows in both directions; these stops are not Vista do Rei.
- Interurban São Miguel is not the Ponta Delgada MiniBUS — the two systems are separate.
- Some trips cover only part of the route; the 206 timetable also includes June–September services.
- If timings don’t line up, guided tours and taxis fill the gap for the crater viewpoints.
Source: AzoresBus (Vale do Ave Açores): Current São Miguel interurban timetables () · Municipality of Ponta Delgada: Mini BUS timetable, fares, network, and official app ()
Check current AzoresBus timetables
Bus lines serving Sete Cidades
From the AzoresBus line PDFs in force on 14 October 2026. 10 stops printed under "Sete Cidades"; the day-type columns listed are the ones on which at least one of those stops has a printed time, and the times are those printed at the first of those stops each trip reaches.
- 205 Ponta Delgada – Sete Cidades (via Candelária) 10 printed stops here: Sete Cidades (Igreja) · Sete Cidades (Casa do Povo) · Sete Cidades (R. Nova 2) · Sete Cidades (R. Nova 1) · and 6 more
- Columns serving Sete Cidades
- Weekdays
- At Sete Cidades, arriving · Weekdays
- – , 4 trips
- At Sete Cidades, towards Ponta Delgada · Weekdays
- – , 3 trips
- 206 Ponta Delgada – Sete Cidades (via Candelária e Mosteiros) 10 printed stops here: Sete Cidades (Igreja) · Sete Cidades (Casa do Povo) · Sete Cidades (R. Nova 2) · Sete Cidades (R. Nova 1) · and 6 more
- Columns serving Sete Cidades
- Weekdays · Saturdays · Sundays and public holidays
- At Sete Cidades, arriving · Weekdays
- , 1 trip
- At Sete Cidades, arriving · Saturdays
- , 1 trip (June to September only)
- At Sete Cidades, arriving · Sundays and public holidays
- , 1 trip (June to September only)
- At Sete Cidades, towards Ponta Delgada · Weekdays
- , 1 trip
- At Sete Cidades, towards Ponta Delgada · Saturdays
- – , 2 trips (some June to September only)
- At Sete Cidades, towards Ponta Delgada · Sundays and public holidays
- – , 2 trips (some June to September only)
- 208 Ponta Delgada – Sete Cidades (via João Bom) 10 printed stops here: Sete Cidades (Igreja) · Sete Cidades (Casa do Povo) · Sete Cidades (R. Nova 2) · Sete Cidades (R. Nova 1) · and 6 more
- Columns serving Sete Cidades
- Weekdays · Saturdays · Sundays and public holidays
- At Sete Cidades, arriving · Weekdays
- , 1 trip
- At Sete Cidades, arriving · Saturdays
- – , 2 trips
- At Sete Cidades, arriving · Sundays and public holidays
- – , 2 trips
- At Sete Cidades, towards Ponta Delgada · Saturdays
- – , 2 trips
- At Sete Cidades, towards Ponta Delgada · Sundays and public holidays
- – , 2 trips
AzoresBus publishes no stop coordinates, and no printed stop name here matched an OpenStreetMap node exactly on the read date, so no coordinates are shown rather than guessed.
What goes wrong here
The line with the most departures, the 206, ends its all-year trips from the city at Mosteiros and prints no time at the Sete Cidades stops; the weekday bus into the village is the morning 205 from the seafront, and the weekend buses are the 208 [source, source, source]. The last weekday bus out of the village is the afternoon line 206 shuttle to the Mosteiros junction; the cards below print each time at the village stops [source].
Sete Cidades
The bus network over the terrain
Lines 205206208
Terrain © DLR e.V. 2010-2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014-2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA
Before you go
Times change. Take them with you.
Published departures shift with the season. Azores Bus keeps the current timetable in your pocket.
Worth your time
What Sete Cidades does best
From the rim at Vista do Rei, the caldera of Sete Cidades opens beneath you: one lake green, one blue, a village between them, and cloud pouring over the far wall when the Atlantic feels like it. It is the defining image of São Miguel — and a place where honest transport planning still matters: check the current AzoresBus timetable before you build the day around a bus.
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Vista do Rei
The classic rim viewpoint over both lakes, beside the ghostly abandoned Monte Palace hotel. Mornings before the cloud builds give the best chance of the full twin-lake panorama.
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The crater floor
Down in the caldera, the village of Sete Cidades sits between the lakes with its neo-Gothic church and hydrangea-lined lanes. Rowboats and lakeside picnics move at Azorean speed.
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The rim trails
Waymarked walking routes follow the caldera edge — the Mata do Canário to Sete Cidades trail is widely considered one of Portugal’s finest walks.
Good to know
- Weather decides everything here: if the rim is in cloud, wait an hour — it often clears as fast as it closed.
- The blue/green colour split is real, driven by depth and algae, and strongest under high sun.
- There are cafés in the village but none on the rim viewpoints — carry water for the trails.
While you’re there When the interurban timings don’t line up, guided crater-lake trips cover Vista do Rei and the rim viewpoints. See São Miguel experiences
Keep exploring
