Nordeste and Povoação: São Miguel's green east, its viewpoints and how long the drive takes

Povoação and Nordeste are the two municipalities at the far end of São Miguel from Ponta Delgada. The question for most visitors is whether they fit into a detour from Furnas or need a day of their own. The drive itself is short; what takes the time is stopping at the viewpoints and walking. This guide sets out the distances, the viewpoints in the order you reach them, the walks worth stopping for, and what a car-free visitor can do with the weekday bus.

A loop from Ponta Delgada out along the south coast and back along the north is about 147 km. Route planners put the driving at around two and a half hours. That figure assumes you never get out of the car, and on this coast you will, every few kilometres.

The legs, as a routing service gives them:

• Ponta Delgada to Furnas: 43 km, about 40 minutes.
• Furnas to Povoação: 10 km, about 15 minutes.
• Povoação to the Ponta da Madrugada viewpoint: 20 km, about 20 minutes.
• Ponta da Madrugada to Nordeste village: 8 km, under 10 minutes.
• Nordeste village to the Salto da Farinha viewpoint on the north coast: 18 km, about 17 minutes.
• Salto da Farinha to Ribeira Grande: 28 km, about 30 minutes.
• Ribeira Grande back to Ponta Delgada: 20 km, about 20 minutes.

Driving straight to Nordeste village by the north coast is about 58 km and under an hour. Treat the router's times as a floor: the regional road through the east is a chain of bends, villages and viewpoint car parks. A day that takes in Povoação, one short walk, the Nordeste viewpoints and the north coast fills eight or nine hours comfortably.

Which way round? Coming from the south, the Nordeste viewpoints run in order along the road, and you finish on the north coast, about 50 minutes' drive from Ponta Delgada. If you want sunrise at Ponta da Madrugada, you have to sleep in the east, or leave Ponta Delgada in the dark.

Povoação sits on a flat valley floor at the mouth of the Caldeira da Povoação, a crater open to the sea on the south side. It is where São Miguel's settlement started: in 1432 Gonçalo Velho Cabral, the island's first captain, chose this spot for the first colony. The town was badly damaged in the 1935 earthquake, and the municipal garden was laid out in the 1940s as part of the rebuilding.

The crater wall behind the town is cut into seven ridges, the lombas. Two viewpoints on the regional roads show you the whole layout.

• Miradouro da Lomba do Cavaleiro is at 232 m on the westernmost of the seven ridges. You look down over the crater, the plain with the town on it, and the coast to Ponta do Faial. Behind, the Graminhais plateau, Pico do Bartolomeu and Pico da Vara line the skyline. On a clear day Santa Maria shows on the horizon.
• Miradouro do Pico Longo is at 410 m on the road east through Lomba do Alcaide. From here the seven ridges read from west to east: Lomba do Cavaleiro, do Carro, do Botão, do Pomar, do Loução, do Alcaide and dos Pós. The coastal flat at Ribeira Quente is in the background. It has a car park and a ramp for reduced mobility.

Faial da Terra is the village in the next valley east of Povoação, about 9 km and a quarter of an hour by road. Three official trails start here or pass through.

• PRC09SMI Sanguinho: a 4.6 km circuit, graded medium, about two hours. It follows the stream up to the Salto do Prego waterfall, then comes back through Sanguinho, a hamlet of stone houses abandoned in the 1970s and since restored. The official description asks walkers not to pick fruit from the gardens.
• PR18SMI Vigia da Baleia: the old footpath between Povoação and Faial da Terra over the ridge that separates the two valleys, 7 km, about three hours, graded medium. Much of it is the paved way the villagers built, with a detour to the Pico dos Bodes viewpoint.
• PRC40SMI Quatro Caminhos: a 7.4 km circuit from Faial da Terra past the old whale lookout, the vigia, and up to Pico dos Bodes. Medium, about three hours.

If you only have time for one, take the Salto do Prego circuit: it fits into a driving day, while the other two take half of one.

Nordeste is the least populated municipality on São Miguel, and most of its interior is forest and steep valleys. The coastal road from Povoação climbs onto the cliffs, and the official viewpoints follow one another in quick succession.

• Miradouro da Ponta da Madrugada (276 m) is the first one you reach from the south. Its name means "point of dawn": it faces east from the end of the island and is the sunrise spot. Gardens, a car park and a ramp; behind it, the Serra da Tronqueira.
• Miradouro da Ponta do Sossego (280 m) is a short way on at Pedreira. It has gardens too, with the rugged coast below and a view to Fajã do Araújo and the beach at Lombo Gordo. Car park, toilets and a ramp.
• Miradouro da Vista dos Barcos (about 303 m) is by the road on the way into the village. It looks down on the Ponta do Arnel lighthouse and the village's fishing harbour, which dates from the 16th century. Car park and toilets.
• Miradouro da Ponta do Arnel (150 m) is at the entrance to Nordeste village in the Nazaré area, with a closer view of the lighthouse and the coast, parking and toilets. Locals meet here in the late afternoon and on sunny Sunday afternoons.

The lighthouse itself, Farol do Arnel, was the first in the Azores to be lit, on 26 November 1876. Its octagonal tower stands on an octagonal keepers' house and is capped by a red glass lantern.

From Nordeste village the regional road turns west along the north coast towards Ribeira Grande.

• Miradouro do Salto da Farinha (129 m) is in the parish of Salga. It faces a waterfall more than 40 m high with a pool at its foot. In the rock at the viewpoint you can see basalt that has weathered into rounded, onion-like layers. Car park and ramp.
• PRC31SMI Lomba da Fazenda: a 6 km circuit just north of Nordeste village, graded medium, about two and a half hours. It passes old watermills on the Ribeira do Guilherme and comes back along the shore past the Boca da Ribeira bathing spot.
• The Gorreana tea plantation is on the same road, further west, if you still have daylight.

At 1,103 m, Pico da Vara is the highest point on São Miguel, inland from Nordeste. The official route, PRC07SMI, starts at the forest guard house at Atalhada above Santo António Nordestinho and climbs through the Tronqueira protected area to the summit ridge. It is graded hard, 7.3 km and about three hours. The summit area is a nature reserve and the last habitat of the Azores bullfinch, the priolo. It is often in cloud, so keep it for a clear day and set off early.

The east is hard to see without a car, but a weekday visit to Nordeste village works. The Caetano Raposo e Pereiras timetable in force since 15 September 2025 has:

• Line 105 leaving Ponta Delgada (Avenida Marginal) at 6:45 and reaching the Vila do Nordeste terminal at 9:00, by way of Ribeira Grande and the north coast.
• Back from Nordeste at 11:30 (line 106 via Maia, Ponta Delgada at 14:05) or 16:15 (line 107 via Maia and Porto Formoso, Ponta Delgada at 19:05).
• Line 115 between Salga, Nordeste and Povoação runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays only: from the Nordeste terminal at 9:45 to Povoação at 11:13, and back from Povoação at 15:00 to Nordeste at 16:15.

That gives you a few hours in Nordeste village and the viewpoint at Ponta do Arnel on foot. The other viewpoints are spread along the road and the bus does not stop at them. Check the timetable before you go, as the operator revises it.

Can I see Nordeste and Povoação in one day?

Yes, by car. The full loop from Ponta Delgada is about 147 km and two and a half hours of driving without stops. With Povoação, one short walk and the Nordeste viewpoints, plan on eight or nine hours.

Which viewpoint is best for sunrise?

Ponta da Madrugada, at 276 m, faces east from the end of the island. Ponta do Sossego is a short drive further on if you want a second view in the morning light.

What is the easiest walk in the east?

The PRC09SMI circuit from Faial da Terra to the Salto do Prego waterfall and the restored hamlet of Sanguinho: 4.6 km and about two hours. It is graded medium, so wear proper shoes.

Can I get to Nordeste by bus?

On weekdays, yes. In the timetable valid since September 2025, line 105 leaves Ponta Delgada at 6:45 and arrives at 9:00, and buses return at 11:30 and 16:15. Povoação is linked to Nordeste by bus only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.