Best viewpoints on São Miguel
Here are the viewpoints we think deserve a dedicated spot on your itinerary – some worth catching at sunrise, others fine as a quick stop along the way.
1. Miradouro da Vista do Rei
This is our favorite viewpoint on the island. It’s especially beautiful during hydrangea season, with a view over the two Sete Cidades lakes. We came here twice, and visibility was excellent both times, but it’s still worth checking the live webcams before you go – the weather on São Miguel can turn in minutes.
Right next to it stands the abandoned Monte Palace hotel – officially off-limits, but everyone goes in anyway. It opened in 1989 as a five-star hotel with a casino and two restaurants, then closed just a year and a half later: too few tourists.
Parking right at the viewpoint is limited to 20 minutes. A bit earlier, before the viewpoint, there’s another parking area where you can leave the car without rushing.Make sure to stop by Food & Friends – Food Truck nearby and try the burgers – our favorite is the cheeseburger, and adding pineapple is a must.
Check live webcams for Sete Cidades and the whole island online.
2. Miradouro da Grota do Inferno
One of the island’s best-known viewpoints: from here you can see several Sete Cidades crater lakes at once – Sete Cidades, Rasa, Santiago and Canário – and the ocean beyond them. The platform sits right on the crater’s edge, at around 730 meters.
It’s best to come here at sunrise or sunset – during the day it gets crowded. The narrow walkway is lined with a wooden fence that looks charming but makes it harder to move around when there are a lot of people.
It’s about a 25-minute walk from the parking area to the viewpoint, and the path is easy, no prior preparation needed.
Even if the parking lot is completely fogged in, that doesn’t mean much – it can be perfectly clear up top. Visibility here changes literally every few minutes: a cloud rolls in, and a couple of minutes later everything’s visible again.
3. Miradouro do Cerrado das Freiras
Another view of the Sete Cidades lakes, but from a different angle – and much quieter than Vista do Rei. If you walk from the viewpoint toward the famous hydrangea-lined road, you’ll get a view of yet another lake from there.
4. Miradouro da Ponta do Sossego
One of our favorite spots on the island. A beautiful trail set against the mountains, plenty of greenery and hydrangeas, and there’s even a proper picnic area – you might end up staying longer than planned. The name means “calm,” and this is the largest maintained garden in the whole Nordeste region: from here you can see the rocky coastline all the way to Fajã do Araújo.
5. Miradouro da Ponta da Madrugada
It’s close to Ponta do Sossego, so it makes sense to swing by right after and cover both viewpoints in one stop. The name translates to “point of dawn,” and this is, by all accounts, the best spot on the whole island to watch the sunrise: a rocky shoreline, the Atlantic, and the Serra da Tronqueira mountains as a backdrop.
6. Miradouro do Pico do Ferro
The most famous viewpoint over Lagoa das Furnas – from here you can see the whole volcanic crater, the village of Furnas, and steam rising from the geothermal springs below. The platform sits at 570 meters, and two trails lead up from the parking area: a gentler one through the forest and a shorter but much steeper one.
7. Miradouro da Lagoa do Fogo
Another one of our favorites – a lake surrounded by mountains on all sides, at 776 meters. It’s one of the few spots on the island where you can see both the north and south coasts at once. Regular cars are supposedly not allowed up there after 9 a.m., but we got lucky: we arrived before 9 and caught great weather, even though this spot is almost always covered in cloud and fog.
If you don’t make it up in your own car before the cutoff, there are shuttle buses running up to Lagoa do Fogo as a backup option.Shuttle bus schedule to Lagoa do Fogo.
8. Miradouro do Pico da Barrosa
A bit higher up and right next to Lagoa do Fogo, so it’s worth climbing up here right after while you’re already there. The elevation here is 947 meters, and on a clear day you can see both coasts of the island at once – one of the best views on São Miguel.
9. Miradouro do Cintrão
A rocky stretch of the island’s north coast near Ribeirinha: the ocean crashes against the cliffs below, and the viewpoint itself is much quieter than the island’s main spots – tour groups rarely make it out here. From here you can see Santa Iria bay and Ponta Formosa, and right next to it stands the old Vigia das Baleias whale-watching tower, built back in 1943.
10. Santa Iria Viewpoint
Another spot on the north coast, at 221 meters, roughly halfway between the Porto Formoso and Gorreana tea factories: green terraced fields slope straight down to the ocean, and it’s exactly that line between land and water that makes this one of the most photogenic stops on this part of the island.
11. Miradouro do Pico do Carvão
We really loved this one: wide open space all around, cows grazing in the meadows, and the access road is Instagram-worthy on its own. On a clear day, it opens up into a panorama of both coasts of the island at once, plus the Sete Cidades and Lagoa do Fogo lakes.
How to track fog and weather in the Azores
The weather on São Miguel can change several times an hour, and it’s what decides whether you’ll see the lakes or just a wall of white. Before heading to any viewpoint on this list, it’s worth checking the forecast and the live cameras.
Download the SpotAzores app – real-time cloud cover and weather across all nine islands.
If the Azores leave you craving more viewpoints on mainland Portugal, we have a guide to the best viewpoints in Lisbon, and if you love ocean views from the mountains, pair it with Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of continental Europe.
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