Sete Cidades Tour Review: Is the West Coast Lunch Trip Worth It?

The Azores, a really fascinating collection of islands dropped right in the middle of the Atlantic, have been calling to pretty much everyone with their wild beauty and really serene vibes. Among all the awesome things to see and do there, touring Sete Cidades, with a lunch thrown in, stands out, arguably, as a pretty iconic experience. I recently spent some time checking out the West Coast tour, lunch included, and I’m here to pass along my take, so that you, too, can tell whether it’s a good way to use your precious travel bucks. Ready? Well then, lets do this thing!

Booking the Sete Cidades West Coast Tour

Alright, so let’s jump right to how this all got started. It turns out that getting everything booked for the Sete Cidades West Coast tour really wasn’t difficult. Actually, a lot of different outfits run these trips, you see, it’s almost finding one that jives with your budget and the stuff that really calls to you. It turns out I went with a smaller, local operation because the word on the street said they offered a, shall we say, “more personalized touch”. The booking process, to be honest, went smoothly on their website. Anyway, within moments, I had my spot booked for a spin around this very gorgeous part of São Miguel Island. In effect, there are options for everyone from full day explorations to half day jaunts. The thing that really got my attention was, in my case, having lunch included. That, very very frankly, seemed to be the best, you know, combo. And by the way, the price felt like what I’d expect, very given everything wrapped into the adventure. I’d say, too, don’t wait too long to book, since the ideal times can fill up very swiftly!

The Scenic Drive Begins

Alright, so, things kicked off bright and pretty early when the tour van made its way to my place to pick me up. It was kinda perfect to start the day without really wrestling with trying to drive in, probably, places that I, personally, am not really familiar with! The driver, super cordial, really gave like a short rundown on our, basically, game plan for the day and introduced a handful of things that, apparently, make Sete Cidades so ridiculously photographable. From Ponta Delgada, the ride started to offer views that make you gasp as we headed, basically, toward the west coast. The way the roads curved, too it’s almost offering peeps of the ocean, then, suddenly, you are plunged into the wild heart of the island, totally green and really dense with local flora. Right at that moment, my phone and camera started firing away!

Viewpoints That Will Make You Gasp

Is that just me, or are these viewpoints at Sete Cidades the absolute BOMB? A handful of stops were planned along the perimeter to soak in the views, each really more knockout than the prior. Arguably, Vista do Rei gives you like this absolute, postcard picture of the twin lakes down in the volcanic caldera. The views are absolutely unreal – one lake sparkling in greens, the other one reflecting in blues, as that is due to, very seemingly, the sunlight. We chilled there a little, more or less, letting everybody go hog-wild with photos and simply breathing in the, really, great air. That said, the other spots like Miradouro do Inferno and Miradouro da Boca do Inferno – each one, quite simply, handed over angles of the scenery so incredibly unique it’s more or less just a complete overload for your peepers. Be sure you’ve cleared enough gigabytes in your gizmos, because, right away, it goes quickly as you make a point to capture these gems!

Lunchtime: A Taste of the Azores

Listen, after a really engaging morning, and some seriously sweet views, comes chow time, which I feel I was especially pumped about, frankly. It’s that thing of kicking back and having some genuine grub locally made in Azores! That particular tour took our, umm, group to a comfortable local resto near the Sete Cidades locality, so that everyone could enjoy some traditional dishes. I went with the “cozido das Furnas,” so that’s pretty much a meat and veggie stew made right in the volcanic ground – honestly, it was totally unique! Very tasty, with its tastes totally blending together for a thing that is, like, purely Azores. Turns out the spot also had other goodies available. Those that love the sea should order the seafood – they surely hook you up. Lunch turned into a laid-back part of the tour, you see, it’s almost allowing all of us to connect over the tasty grub and really sharing how incredibly amazing everything looked so far.

Exploring the Village of Sete Cidades

Right after stuffing my face, it was time to knock about Sete Cidades personally. Listen, this, arguably, quiet enclave presents a charming look into what, clearly, existence can be like amidst all the lush scenery. Getting the chance to wander, really slowing things way down to enjoy the simple buildings and see, apparently, what life may be like. We made sure to stop at the Sao Nicolau Church – so, too it’s almost capturing how charming older Azores spots really are! Getting some solo wandering around and linking with the peeps running stores, which, frankly, kicked things up a few notches.

Activities and Adventures

Very unlike taking pictures of awesome stuff is that there really is some cool other thing to enjoy at Sete Cidades! So it all hinges on your thing, but from what I saw, everyone can find something truly cool that they are likely to love. If you fancy spending sometime on the ponds then you might, conceivably, get involved with kayaks, giving peeps some unreal stuff to check out by simply hanging on the shoreline in a slow and personal kinda approach. Then, as I came to know, a bit, tons of individuals enjoy cycling adventures across trails across all kinds of crazy landscapes around, too, so that’s arguably cool stuff, huh? To say nothing regarding guided tours available – these guides, quite obviously, increase appreciation, or you learn about the geographical wonder with plenty cool stories included. Regardless if you are extremely chilled or more a kick-it, find-your-thrill type person, then, very apparently, it really has potential for some awesome action for anyone visiting.

What Could be Improved

Basically, the tour came through by way of awesome spots that I might highly advocate for my social circle to check out sometime. I guess, one could point towards what tour operators must be focusing on for raising some bars here too: Primarily, managing things and timelines – there felt at least a tiny sense as if certain halts happened too fast. Getting more free range, it may be, would offer one the opportunities of being further engaged throughout various location’s individuality at one’s rate instead of feeling slightly controlled within restricted moments. Second – raising involvement with smaller merchants across certain sectors that travelers flock, like hand-made items sellers across tiny townships surrounding them. At a bare minimum including all throughout those ventures might, probably, prove more sustainable in generating some cash around local societies including exhibiting craft traditions that tourists would have liked viewing close hand rather solely depending on what the main retail locations offer within Sao Miguel main town zone; as for me?

Final Thoughts: Worth the Hype?

Therefore – should exploring Western Sevenside combined, probably, including food items pass approval tests at full steam? I argue quite strongly YES. When seeing unbelievable geological things through really yummy cooking along genuine neighborhood parts provides not merely amazing views however quite full insights on lifestyles plus legacy which characterizes land well past normal scenic tours.

While possibly various bits merit improving upon, similar extended leisure hours among destinations while adding closer engagement possibilities alongside modest firms? Then perhaps; yet at minimum while checking magnificent bits coupled with all delicious delicacies found exclusively in islands offers undoubtedly worthy time input! And just one more last consideration…Do remember as you check for availability online from any vacation service operators throughout stay for suitable departure window before finalising booking plans because some seasons result rather jam-packed; so schedule sooner other times.

Bottom line. You might be glad getting out discovering landscapes from places like Europe etc yet experiencing the true soul of the Azores. Seeing is truly trusting at that juncture!

Key Takeaways:

• Stunning vistas of the twin lakes and surrounding landscape.
• A genuine, great meal which provides some flavor for something purely local
• Charming tour throughout smaller neighborhoods close up in villages that I passed time taking those streets throughout plus linking faces/folks throughout community locations I walked.
• Cool ventures – perhaps taking kayaking alongside scenic routes surrounding countryside could improve that experience highly to make it way more interesting too!

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