A morning on the Sete Cidades rim

The caldera of Sete Cidades is five kilometres across, and a path follows most of its rim. On one side the crater falls away to its two lakes, one green and one blue; on the other the land runs down to the Atlantic.

The Azores can give you four seasons in a morning.

We start at seven, because on most days the cloud rolls in off the sea by eleven and the lakes disappear. The walk takes about four hours at an easy pace, and ends in the village on the shore, where lunch is waiting.

Bring a waterproof whatever the forecast says. The Azores can give you four seasons in a morning, and the rim is the first place the weather arrives.