The lakes in the old craters and the miradouros on their rims.
The lakes sit in collapsed volcanoes, several hundred metres up, and the best view of each is from the rim above it. That height is also why they are so often in cloud: a rim can be a wall of white while the coast is in sunshine. Each place below says when to try and where to leave the car, and the forecast and the webcams are a better guide on the day than any rule.
The best-known view of the Sete Cidades lakes, on the southern rim of the caldera.
From the railing you look north into the crater: Lagoa Verde and Lagoa Azul, the low bridge across the strait between them, and the village of Sete Cidades on the crater floor. The name goes back to the visit of King Carlos I and Queen Amélia on 6 July 1901. The road runs right past the viewpoint, so there is nothing to walk.
556 m above sea level
Parking
At the car park
When to go: Cloud sits on the rim on many days, and when the car park is in fog the lakes below are invisible. Check the forecast or a live view before driving up, and if it is grey, try again later in the day.
Worth knowing: Parking is one strip of about two dozen spaces along the road beside the railing; when tour buses are in, wait for a space rather than stopping on the road.
A ridge-top viewpoint over the crater lakes of the Sete Cidades massif, reached on foot from the Lagoa do Canário car park.
Also signposted as Grota do Inferno. From the end of the ridge you look down on Lagoa de Santiago and Lagoa Rasa, with Lagoa Azul and the Sete Cidades caldera behind them. The walk from the car park follows a forest track and then a narrow path with steps along the ridge.
766 m above sea level
Parking
19 min walk
When to go: This is one of the higher points of the massif and often in cloud. If the car park is already in fog, the view at the end will be white too; check the forecast or a live view and come back when the rim clears.
Worth knowing: Leave the car at the Lagoa do Canário car park (toilets and picnic tables in the woods nearby); it is about 1.2 km each way. The track gets muddy after rain, so wear shoes with grip.
A roadside viewpoint looking straight down into the steep crater of Lagoa de Santiago, inside the Sete Cidades caldera.
The lake lies at the bottom of its own crater, about 700 m long and 29 m deep, with forest on every side. The viewpoint is on the ER 9-1ª, the same road that crosses the bridge over Lagoa das Sete Cidades about a kilometre away.
473 m above sea level
Parking
At the car park
When to go: Mist can fill the crater and hide the lake completely. A live view or a look at the rim from Sete Cidades tells you whether it is worth stopping.
Worth knowing: There is room for only a few cars at the roadside; if it is full, the viewpoint is quick enough to see on a second pass.
The main viewpoint over Lagoa do Fogo, on the mountain road between Ribeira Grande and Lagoa.
The lake fills the caldera of the Fogo volcano at about 575 m, with walls up to 300 m high rising to the rim at Pico da Barrosa; the crater is roughly 3 by 2.5 km. Below the viewpoint a beach of pale sand curves round the shore. The lake and its slopes are a nature reserve.
697 m above sea level
Parking
At the car park
When to go: The rim is in cloud on a large share of days, and from inside fog you see nothing of the lake. Check a live view before setting off, and if it is closed in, try again later in the day.
Worth knowing: In summer the road is shuttle-only for rental cars: in 2024 and 2025 a hop-on hop-off bus ran from 15 June to 30 September, 09:00 to 19:00, between the car parks at Caldeira Velha and Casa da Água, with stops here, at Bela Vista and at Pico da Barrosa (5 euros, free for residents; tickets at lagoadofogo.pt). Taxis, tour operators and residents may still drive. The shore is reached on the PR02SMI trail from Praia (10.2 km loop, about 4 hours); in April and May keep away from the nesting gulls.
The highest viewpoint over Lagoa do Fogo, below the 947 m summit of Pico da Barrosa on the western rim.
From here the whole lake lies below you to the east, with the sand spit and the inner slopes of the caldera. The summit just above carries a television and radio antenna. It is on the same mountain road as the main Lagoa do Fogo viewpoint, a little higher up.
888 m above sea level
Parking
At the car park
When to go: At almost 900 m it is in cloud more often than the main viewpoint below. If the main viewpoint below is clear and this one is not, wait a little; otherwise check a live view and come back later.
Worth knowing: The summer shuttle rules for the Lagoa do Fogo road apply here too: Pico da Barrosa is one of the shuttle stops, and in season a rental car cannot drive up.
The viewpoint over the Furnas crater, with Lagoa das Furnas on one side and the valley and village on the other.
From the rim of the Furnas volcano you see the lake to the right and the wide crater floor opening to the left, with the steam of the fumaroles on the lake shore below. The viewpoint is laid out with flower beds and a stone wall, and is reached by a road climbing from the Furnas side.
524 m above sea level
Parking
2 min walk
When to go: Lower than the big crater rims, so it clears more often, but cloud can still sit on it while the lake below is clear. Check a live view, and if the top is in fog, go down to the lake and come back up later.
Worth knowing: Parking is along the road just before the viewpoint, a couple of minutes' walk away. You can also come up on foot: a branch off the PRC06SMI lake trail, the PRC22SMI (Grená – Pico do Ferro), leads to the viewpoint.
The twin lake on the floor of the Sete Cidades caldera, green on one side of the bridge and blue on the other.
Lagoa Verde and Lagoa Azul are one lake, about 4.4 square kilometres and up to 33 m deep, split by a shallow strait that the road crosses on the low Ponte dos Regos. The story told locally is of a princess with green eyes and a shepherd with blue eyes whose tears filled the two halves. The village of Sete Cidades sits on the shore just north-west of the bridge.
259 m above sea level
Parking
4 min walk
When to go: Down at lake level you are often below the cloud that covers the rim, so this can work on a day when Vista do Rei is in fog.
Worth knowing: Park at the car park just west of the bridge and walk the few minutes onto it: from the middle, Lagoa Verde is to the south and Lagoa Azul to the north.
The lake in the Furnas volcano, with steaming fumaroles on its northern shore where the cozido is cooked in the ground.
On the north shore, boardwalks lead between boiling pools and vents, and pots of cozido are buried in the hot earth to cook. On the south shore stand the chapel of Nossa Senhora das Vitórias, built as José do Canto's mausoleum and inaugurated in 1886, and the Furnas monitoring and research centre. The PRC06SMI trail is a 9.4 km loop around the lake from Furnas village.
281 m above sea level
Parking
3 min walk
When to go: At under 300 m the lake is often below the cloud that covers the crater rim, so it is a good choice on a grey day.
Worth knowing: The municipality of Povoação charges an entry fee to the fumarole area on the north shore, paid at a booth on the access road. The car park is a few minutes' walk from the fumaroles.
A green lake at the bottom of a forested explosion crater, reached by a short path down through the trees.
Lagoa do Congro fills a maar, a crater blown out by steam explosions some 3,900 years ago, which sits sunk into the fairly flat country around it rather than on top of a cone. The shore is about 1.25 km round and closed in by tall trees, so you only see the water once you are down at it. It lies a few kilometres inland from Vila Franca do Campo.
442 m above sea level
Parking
11 min walk
When to go: Being sunk in a hollow and under trees, it is less exposed than the crater rims, and a grey or drizzly day does not spoil it. After heavy rain the path is slippery; give it a dry spell.
Worth knowing: From the car park the path drops about 700 m to the shore, steep in places and muddy after rain, and you have to climb back up the same way.
A garden viewpoint on the cliffs of Nordeste, looking along the island's eastern coast.
The viewpoint is laid out as a terraced garden of flowers and endemic plants, with thatched shelters and picnic tables. From the edge you see the coast run past Fajã do Araújo, Ponta da Madrugada and Ponta da Marquesa, with the Nordeste mountains behind. It is on the regional road that follows the coast through Nordeste.
291 m above sea level
Parking
1 min walk
When to go: Being on the coast at under 300 m, it is clear more often than the inland crater rims. Morning light falls on this east-facing coast, but there is no bad time if the cloud is high.
Worth knowing: Ponta da Madrugada, about a kilometre south on the same road, is a second viewpoint with its own car park; the two make one stop.
A north-coast viewpoint over the bay of Santa Iria and the cliffs towards Porto Formoso.
From the edge you look down on the bay and along a green coast of fields and headlands to Porto Formoso. On the slopes in view, at Ladeira da Velha, troops of Pedro IV defeated those of his brother Miguel on 3 August 1831, in the Battle of Ladeira da Velha. The viewpoint is just off the main road along the north coast.
204 m above sea level
Parking
3 min walk
When to go: As a coastal viewpoint at about 200 m, it is usually below the cloud. The view faces roughly north-east, so in the afternoon the sun is behind you.
Worth knowing: The car park is a couple of minutes' walk from the railing. It is an easy stop on the drive between Ribeira Grande and Furnas.
A high viewpoint on the ridge east of Furnas, looking over the Furnas basin and towards Povoação.
At about 760 m on the Pico do Salto do Cavalo, it looks down into the green Furnas basin and out over the valley of Povoação and its ridges to the sea. The municipal road M 521 runs right past it.
760 m above sea level
Parking
1 min walk
When to go: At this height the viewpoint is often in cloud even when Furnas below is clear. Check a live view or look up at the ridge from Furnas before driving up, and if it is in fog, come back later.
Worth knowing: There is only a small pull-in for a handful of cars, with the viewpoint a few steps away.
Roads up to the rims can close for works or in bad weather, and in summer some run a shuttle instead. If the car park is in fog, the lake below is invisible: come back later rather than walk to the edge.
