Side by Side Tour - Sete Cidades from North Coast (Half Day)
Recommended by 99% of travelers
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Ponta Delgada, Portugal
- 3 to 4 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Explore the surroundings of the Sete Cidades Volcano in a different way on this side-by-side tour from Ponta Delgada. Join a small group and climb aboard your buggy to start your rugged adventure. Head towards the north coast and make stops at villages and scenic viewpoints to get a full picture of the Azorean landscapes. This tour is great for families, couples, or small groups who want some adventure on their vacation.
- Feel the wind in your hair as you explore the island
- All necessary safety equipment is provided
- Choose to ride as a passenger or drive the vehicle
- A small group means more attention from your guide
What's Included
- UTV
- guide
- helmets
- Insurance
- Snacks
- Alcoholic Beverages
- Lunch
- Gloves and rain coats
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- R. Nossa Sra. das Candeias 1D, 9545-242 Ponta Delgada, Portugal
The meeting place is in a residential area, and you will find a "meeting point" sign on the gate and ATVs parked outside
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
Fenais da Luz
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Pico da Cruz
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Vista do Rei Miradouro
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Miradouro do Cerrado das Freiras
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
5
Sao Vicente Ferreira
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
6
Fenais da Luz
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Driving License(+18) is required for drivers
- We recommend bringing warm coats and raincoats
- You can have a two seater buggy or a 4 seater, depending on the number of people on your reservation
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 14 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Great side-by-side tour of Ponta Delgada. Took all the off-road short cuts. We went high. We went low. Fantastic views on a beautiful day. Our guide, Phillipe, was excellent and overall nice guy. I highly recommend. Excellent value.
Reviews
4.9
based on 417 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
This was a fun activity for both my husband and I. We were able to see many different things as we travelled to several areas around the island.
Very well organised. Great way to see the sights. Really enjoyed the off roading experience. Phillips was our guide and great fun.
Had a great time on this tour. Gorgeous views up close and personal with Sete Cidades. Plenty of opportunities to switch drivers if multiple people in one vehicle are of age. The only thing I would do differently is book a taxi back to my hotel as I did not have a rental ahead of time. The owners / tour guides were kind enough to call a taxi service for us, as service on my phone was non-existent at the meeting point.
My family (husband, 18 yr old son and 21 yr old daughter) all enjoyed ourselves. Instead of one 4-person UTV, we decided to get two 2-person UTVs so both my husband and I could have the opportunity to drive (and potentially the kids if they chose to, which they did not). We went on a mostly sunny day and the views were outstanding. This was our first trip to the Azores so we had no idea what was the best way to access views, and this experience allowed us to see several views we would have had to hike up to see, and gave us ideas about future excursions on our own.
While we all enjoyed ourselves, this excursion may not be for everyone. The UTVs were very loud and I had to almost yell to talk to my daughter next to me, but they do provide headphones to help cut the noise of the engine down. We all drove in a line (2 person ATVs in the front, 2 person UTVs in the middle and then 4 person ATVs), so the route is very specific and there is no opportunity to deviate. We drove on paved major roads about half the time, paved back roads about 20% of the time and dirt roads about 30% of the time. I absolutely have no confidence to drive the rental car whenever we travel to Europe, but I enjoyed myself driving the UTV because for the most part we were in a line and I just followed the person in front of me. When we got to stop signs, my daughter looked right while i looked left if we were on a blind corner. My family plays a lot of Mario Kart and it felt a bit like I was driving one in real life. I am happy we chose the 2 person UTV over the 2 person ATV because we had some shade as opposed to full sun the whole time.
Overall I recommend this excursion if you are new to the island and want to see 5 different views in a relatively short amount of time.
What an amazing experience! It was so much fun and the tour guides were great!! Highly recommended!!
Trip leaders were awesome, side by side worked great. Had a great time, only wish there was more off road time.
Great tour. We were taken to some amazing scenic views and an aqueduct. We were in a side by side and it was a good amount of off road with paved roads as well.
There is a bathroom break half way through, you may want to consider a mask because the dust and fumes can be strong, bring warm clothes.
So much fun! And the sights!!! This is a must for tour. Cannot say enough. You are missing out if you don't make the time. I highly recommend
The buggy ride was really fun and we ended up seeing several amazing view points even though we couldn’t see the blue and green lakes from the viewpoints as there was too much fog. We did get to ride around them on a trail and it was beautiful. The guide was really good and patient with the group. It was an amazing experience.
I don't recommend this trip. 95% of the trip is on paved roads or dirt roads any car can travel on starting from quite a distance away from Sete Cidatels. Guide did mention there had been a landslide recently so some offroad areas normally in the tour weren't allowed. No great tour guide talks, explorations or highlights of various sights, one small talk at the bridge in the Sete Cidatels village, mostly just drove by what we'd already seen on our own with our rental car. Honestly, I was quite bored most of the time and so disappointed to have wasted so much money on a nothing special afternoon. Noise of the machine was intense. Much better off just to rent a car and tour the place on your own.
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.
We are sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations.
In the Azores, tours are often subject to sudden changes due to weather conditions and local safety regulations. In your case, a severe storm had recently affected the area, resulting in the temporary closure of one of the off-road sections normally included in the route. Unfortunately, these circumstances are outside of our control, and we are required to strictly follow the instructions issued by the local authorities.
The safety of our guests and team is always our top priority, and for this reason, adjustments to the itinerary are sometimes necessary.
We are disappointed to receive a one-star review, particularly as the changes made were due to safety measures beyond our control and no issues or incidents occurred during the tour. We fully respect your opinion, however we believe it does not fully reflect the nature of the situation on the day.
Thank you again for your visit and feedback.
Kind regards,
The Team
You don’t need an atv or off road vehicle for anything that you do on this tour. You basically just drive on the road and then some dirt roads. If you want to drive one of the vehicles you will be able to, but it’s pretty boring. I would have just drove our car and took my time at the various stops without the group if I knew it wasn’t an off road tour
Response from Host, Jun 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.
We are sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations.
In the Azores, tours are often subject to sudden changes due to weather conditions and local safety regulations. In your case, a severe storm had recently affected the area, resulting in the temporary closure of one of the off-road sections normally included in the route. Unfortunately, these circumstances are outside of our control, and we are required to strictly follow the instructions issued by the local authorities.
The safety of our guests and team is always our top priority, and for this reason, adjustments to the itinerary are sometimes necessary.
We are disappointed to receive a 2-star review, particularly as the changes made were due to safety measures beyond our control and no issues or incidents occurred during the tour. We fully respect your opinion, however we believe it does not fully reflect the nature of the situation on the day.
Thank you again for your visit and feedback.
Kind regards,
The Team
Great adventure. You’ll need to walk to the town taxi stand to get a ride to the meeting location. The cost was 15 euros (one-way). Bruno, the tour operator, helped us call a cab for the trip back to the cruise port. Be sure to wear layers and the temps really change along the way. Enjoy!
BIG group of four wheelers and side-by-sides; wear layers - changing weather; gorgeous scenery! Very cool to ride around the rim of an active volcano! Bruno, our guide, shared some interesting information about what we saw…very friendly!
Amazing experience!! Bruno, our guide, was wonderful. He took us through these trails where the views were spectacular. Everything with the booking went well, all information was accurate. We are so glad we did this adventure. It’s been the highlight of our trip.
Our Tour Guide Bruno did a great job on the tour, we all had a great time! Weather was perfect and views were amazing! Thank you!!!
The tour operators couldn't have been nicer and more accommodating! Nice too that all the staff spoke English as I have no skill in Portuguese and fairly limited Spanish.
The side by sides were well taken care of and in good shape. They got us all setup on operating things and then we headed off to our ultimate destination of the twin lakes. Along the way we make 3-5 stops and were given a lesson in local history and about life on the island.
I spoke with both guides (one leading on a quad and the other at the tail end) at various stops and they were quite fun to speak with!
Tons of travel through the countryside (You will love this excursion if you like cows!) that is quite green and beautiful. We were here in spring so lots of thing in bloom!
If you are traveling on a cruise ship like we were, allow for extra time to find a taxi at the port. We were quite surprised that no taxis were lined up to take us places. We talked to a boy in high school that spoke excellent English and he helped us to find a Taxi! The ride was about 20 minutes and it took us about 1/2 hour to find a taxi.
On the return trip the tour operator called a number of taxi's out to pick us up and take us to Ponte Delgado.
A great way to spend 3-4 hours!
Great side-by-side tour of Ponta Delgada. Took all the off-road short cuts. We went high. We went low. Fantastic views on a beautiful day. Our guide, Phillipe, was excellent and overall nice guy. I highly recommend. Excellent value.
There is no better way to see the western part of the island. You will ride in places that you can only hike to the tour. Guides were fantastic and the overall trip was unbelievable
Wonderfull experience ! Great guide. Beautiful scenery. Felt secure and handled by experienced people.
Even though the weather did not cooperate as we experienced a lot of fog in Sete Cidades and some rain during the ride, our guide, Bruno, was able to turn the tour into a fun experience with the buggy! Even with the bad weather, it was a very good and fun experience. Thank you for your time, Bruno!
We had such a fun time, the guide brought us different ways on the way there and back so we got to see some off the beaten path places and scenery! Such a cool experience!
Beautiful scenery that you can only get to through this ATV transportation. Guide was excellent and informative
Highly recommend. Breathtaking views. Wonderful guide. The ride to some of the most beautiful areas on the north coast. Green lush valleys and hydrangeas for days.
We had a great time on this tour! Highly recommend as a great way to see Sete Cidades! The views are unmatched.
Beautiful all around. You get to see so much of the island in a 4 hour excursion. Bring water and a light jacket.
Amazing experience. Luckily the island is not crowded by massive tourism, so this activity offers something unique. Awesome views.
Our favorite part of the trip. The guide was great, the ride was fun but not challenging. The route provided a great mix of sites with beautiful views and variety. The machines were well kept and rode well. Beginner friendly but also kept a more experienced rider enthusiastic.
If this weather had been nice, this adventure would have been an Epic experience. But we had rain and fog not allowing us to see much. I know it’s high season and it’s hard for operators to cancel. But given the price of this, I’m not sure this should have been operating. It’s a lot of driving and we had zero visibility. Your guide was amazing, and certainly not his fault for the bad weather. The side by sides are kept in great condition and communication ahead of time was perfect. I just wish we had been given the option to cancel and told the visibility was zero beforehand. I would absolutely recommend this is nice weather.
This side by side tour was AMAZING! We had a group of 14...everything was organized, safe and our tour guide was wonderful! We saw so many beautiful sights and it was so much fun driving around Sete Cidades! Its a trip we will never forget!
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Side by Side Tour - Sete Cidades from North Coast (Half Day)
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