Vista Do Rei

Vista do Rei, the King's View, is the lookout over Sete Cidades that everyone has seen in photographs: a wide terrace on the crater rim, high above the twin lakes, with the village of Sete Cidades tucked between them and the green walls of the caldera sweeping around. The viewpoint takes its name from a royal visit. In 1901, King Carlos I and Queen Amélia toured the Azores, and it is said that the king admired the panorama from this spot, so that it became known as the King's View. Whatever the exact details, the name has stuck for over a century.

The view is among the most photographed in Portugal. Below you lie the two lakes, joined by a narrow neck crossed by a small bridge, the Lagoa Azul and the Lagoa Verde, each reflecting the sky and hills in a different tint, and between them the church and red roofs of the village. The crater walls rise on all sides, covered in forest and pasture, and hedges of hydrangea trace lines along the roads in summer. Clouds often drift across the caldera, and the scene can change within minutes from sunlit to misty, so it pays to wait. On clear mornings, the light is clear and the colours are strongest.

The viewpoint is also a landmark of another kind. Just behind it stand the shell of a large hotel, the Monte Palace, begun in the 1980s and never finished, and abandoned after the project failed. Its empty concrete walls, now covered in graffiti and vegetation, have become a curious sight, and a point of interest for photographers, though the building is unsafe, and entering it is not advised. It is a reminder of an ambition to bring large-scale tourism to this part of the island that did not come to pass.

Reaching Vista do Rei is easy by car from Ponta Delgada, a drive of about forty-five minutes, with a car park near the lookout. A few other viewpoints lie along the crater rim, and a footpath leads along the edge and down toward the lakes, so you can combine the view with a walk. The terrace is open at all times and free, and it is often crowded at midday in summer, when tour buses arrive. Come early for peace and better light, or at the end of the day. Weather at the rim is cooler and windier than on the coast, so bring a jacket, and take care near the edge, which has fences in places but not everywhere.

The viewpoint suits everyone and takes only a few minutes, though many people stay for an hour. It combines well with the village and the lakeshore, and with the other lookouts around the crater.