Circular walk at Lagoa das Sete Cidades

Date of your route : Jul 06, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

We set off from the car park as planned. A quick glance at the lakes, which, fortunately, were bathed in sunshine. The first section is a forest track of little interest and very busy with quad bikes, motorbikes, cars…
On the other hand, section 2 (point 6) is more enjoyable, with magnificent viewpoints (lookout points) in fine weather. (Sometimes shrouded in the mist typical of the area.) And the final stretch along the road (point 9) is less enjoyable. But you’ve got to complete the circular route!

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Date of your route : May 18, 2026
Reliability of the description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing
Very busy route : No

We were quite disappointed with this hike. We set off from the car park at Miradouro da Vista do Rei, heading clockwise. It’s a pleasant, easy path at the start, up to marker n5 for about 9.5 km, where a track joins the small viewpoint. Before that, you don’t always get a view of the lakes, which is a bit frustrating.
That’s when things get tough. The path becomes very rugged and much more difficult, with long climbs along the ridge. We came across groups of quad bikes and 4x4s using the area as their playground.
There is very little of interest in this part of the walk apart from some lovely views from the sheer edges of the collapsed crater that holds the two lakes.
Then, if you don’t want to add several kilometres to the route, you really must turn off at marker n7 to take a shortcut along a steep little path through the moorland. It can be slippery when it’s rained, so be careful, especially before reaching the road.
Because that’s the problem with this route: you end up more than 3km from the car park where you started, and you have to walk them on tarmac! After 7 hours and quite a bit of effort, it’s disappointing.
It’s worth noting that the weather was fine and not too hot at the start of May.
If I had to give one piece of advice, it would be to avoid doing the full circuit unless you fancy tackling nearly 20 km just for the sake of the effort.
We met quite a few people at checkpoints 6 and 9 who had only done that section and were satisfied.
A couple aged 62 and 66 in good shape.

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Date of your route : Jun 09, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : Yes

A lovely walk offering breathtaking scenery!
Estimated time: 7 hours 20 minutes; we completed it in 6 hours 20 minutes, including plenty of stops to admire the scenery and a quick lunch break (a quarter of an hour...)
A word of advice: set off in the morning....

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Actually, I’d got the sheets mixed up – my mistake – and now everything seems much clearer!! Thanks

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VirginieW
The duration shown by the software is 7 hours 10 minutes, not 3 hours 30 minutes!

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Hello,

You’ve stated a 6-hour hike, including a break, for a route advertised as taking 3½ hours (there and back?)
Is the time on the information sheet underestimated? Or was the break a good one?

Thank you for clarifying.
Virginie

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