A large tetralactam macrocycle (961.3 amu), which is a frequently used building block for catenanes and rotaxanes, was deposited onto Au(1 1 1) and Cu(1 1 1) surfaces by vacuum sublimation under UHV. STM images were recorded for different coverages at room temperature. The macrocycles are found to be very mobile on both surfaces, which leads to pronounced STM tip effects. At low coverage, the macrocycles preferentially form small clusters at step edges and surface defects, leaving large terraces uncovered. At a higher coverage of about one monolayer, disordered closed films are observed on Au(1 1 1), which remain disordered after annealing to 423 K. Presumably, the reason for these observations is a week interaction between the Au and Cu surfaces and the molecules, in combination with formation of hydrogen bonds between the molecules.