Things to do on São Miguel, Azorescrater lakes, hot springs, tea and a rainy-day plan

Prices and hours read on 9–10 October 2026. Operators change them; check before you go.

The short answer: on São Miguel, do the two crater lakes (Sete Cidades and Lagoa do Fogo), spend a day in Furnas for the hot springs and the cozido, see the Gorreana tea plantation on the north coast, and take one whale trip from Ponta Delgada. We would plan four or five days for that. The lakes are often in cloud, so keep those days flexible and have a rainy-day plan in Ponta Delgada. If you want the days put in order, use our São Miguel itinerary.

What	Where	Cost (Oct 2026)	By bus?
Sete Cidades lakes	West end	Free viewpoints	To the village at weekends, line 208; not to the rim [2]
Lagoa do Fogo	Centre, above Ribeira Grande	Free; summer shuttle €8 on the portal, €5 in a news report [3][4]	No (shuttle in season)
Terra Nostra	Furnas	€17, youth and senior €14.50 [5]	Yes, line 318 daily [18]
Poça da Dona Beija	Furnas	€12, ages 2–6 €10; €16 from 18:00 [7]	Day only, last bus before evening
Furnas caldeiras and cozido	Furnas lake	€3, under-12s free [9]	Line 318, stop Furnas (Lagoa) [18]
Gorreana tea plantation	North coast, Maia	Free [10]	Line 110 passes nearby [19]
Ponta Delgada centre	Town	Free; museum €2 [12]	You’re there
Whale watching	Ponta Delgada marina	From €70 [16]	On foot from the centre

Sete Cidades

The village sits in a crater at the island’s western end, next to the Blue and Green lakes. Start from the rim: the Vista do Rei viewpoint and the Grota do Inferno viewpoint. With a car you can wait for the cloud to lift. By bus, line 208 goes to the village in the crater (not up to the rim viewpoints) and only does the round trip at weekends [2]. If you walk, PR03SMI goes from Vista do Rei down to the village, 7.5 km, easy, one way [1]. Bus times and the webcam tip: Sete Cidades.

Lagoa do Fogo

A crater lake in the middle of the island, seen from the road between Ribeira Grande and Lagoa. From 1 August to 30 September 2026, and again in the Easter 2027 school holidays according to the portal, that road is closed to private cars and a hop-on, hop-off shuttle runs from the car parks at Caldeira Velha and Casa da Água, 09:00–20:00 in summer [3].

The price is unclear. The regional tourism portal lists €8 for non-residents, €4 for children 7–12 and over-65s, free up to age 6, paid on the bus [3]. RTP Açores reported “cinco euros” (€5) for tourists when the 2026 service started on 1 August, later than planned, run by Autoviação Micaelense [4]. We could not settle it from the operator, so check the price on board. Outside the shuttle season, which includes October, you drive up yourself and the view depends on the fog [3]. The Lagoa do Fogo place page has parking and the trail down.

Furnas: Terra Nostra, Poça da Dona Beija and cozido

Furnas is a village in a volcanic valley in the east, about 1 h 30 by bus on line 318, which runs every day; the last return to Ponta Delgada leaves the Lg. das Caldeiras stop in the village at 16:18 on weekdays and 17:17 at weekends (October 2026 timetable) [18]. Line 110 back along the north coast leaves Furnas at 17:10 every day [19].

• Parque Terra Nostra: a large garden with an iron-rich thermal pool. €17 for adults 18–64, €14.50 for ages 6–17 and 65+, €57 for a family of 2+2, open daily 10:30–16:30, closed 25 December [5][6].
• Poça da Dona Beija: smaller hot pools, open 08:30–23:00 with last entry 21:30. You book a time slot online: €12 for 18+ and for 7–17, €10 for 2–6, free up to age 1; evening slots cost more [7][8]. Rules and the evening prices: Azores hot springs.
• Caldeiras da Lagoa das Furnas and cozido: by the lake, fumaroles where pots of cozido (meat and vegetable stew) cook underground. Entry €3, free for under-12s and Azores residents. On line 318 the stop is Furnas (Lagoa) [18]. Pots go in from 06:00 and restaurants collect them between 11:00 and 13:00, so come late morning to watch and eat cozido at lunch [9].

Which pool for which trip (and Caldeira Velha, Ferraria): Azores hot springs.

Gorreana tea plantation

On the north coast near Maia, Gorreana grows and processes tea. Visits and tastings are free and need no booking; you can walk among the tea rows [10]. The visit page we read lists no opening hours, so check before a special trip. Line 110 passes through Maia twice a day in each direction, every day, but the timetable has no stop called Gorreana; find the nearest one in the AzoresBus app [19]. With a car it fits on the way back from Furnas via the north coast.

Ponta Delgada’s centre

The old centre is small and flat; the arches, the seafront and the museum fit in half a day. The Portas da Cidade, three 18th-century arches with the royal and city arms, were moved from the old quay to Praça Gonçalo Velho Cabral [11]. Next stop: Museu Carlos Machado, €2 per site or €5 for the three paying sites, free up to age 14 and on Sundays [12]. In summer the saltwater Piscinas de São Pedro on the seafront have a children’s pool (June–September) [17]. On the edge of town, the A. Arruda pineapple plantation shows the greenhouses where Azores pineapples grow; entry is free and the gift shop offers a free taste of its pineapple liqueur [13].

Living in town for a month: Ponta Delgada.

Whale watching

Boats leave from Ponta Delgada marina all year; Futurismo charges €70 per adult [16]. Seasons, other operators, minimum ages and Zodiac against catamaran: whale watching on São Miguel.

Hiking

For walking, from easy lake loops to the island’s high point, use our Azores hiking guide: trails by difficulty, which are closed, permits and buses to the start.

When it rains

• Museu Carlos Machado: natural history and art, free on Sundays; closed on Mondays [12].
• Expolab, Lagoa: hands-on science centre, Tuesday–Friday 10:00–17:00, Saturday 14:00–18:00 [14].
• A. Arruda pineapple greenhouses (free entry) and the Gorreana tea factory (free visits) [13][10].
• Warm pools in light rain: Terra Nostra, Beija or Caldeira Velha (€10; its pools are closed 19–21 October 2026). Operators can close in bad weather [15][5][7].

Leave the crater viewpoints for a clear spell: in cloud you see white. How wet each month is: Azores weather by month.

With kids

Most of the above works with children; watch the age rules at the pools (Terra Nostra asks you not to leave children alone in the water [20]) and on whale boats. The plan by age, with doctors: Azores with kids.

Sources

Numbered as in the source list on this page: [1] Azores Trails PR03SMI · [2] AzoresBus line 208 · [3] Turismo Açores shuttle page · [4] RTP Açores 3 Aug 2026 · [5] Terra Nostra ticketing · [6] Terra Nostra info · [7] Poça da Dona Beija booking · [8] Poça da Dona Beija homepage · [9] CM Povoação caldeiras · [10] Gorreana · [11] Visit Azores Portas da Cidade · [12] Museu Carlos Machado · [13] A. Arruda · [14] Expolab · [15] Caldeira Velha · [16] Futurismo · [17] Piscinas de São Pedro · [18] AzoresBus line 318 · [19] AzoresBus line 110 · [20] Terra Nostra thermal waters.