Do you need to book hiking trails on Madeira?

Yes, since January 1, 2026. Every classified trail (PR) needs a 30-minute time slot booked and paid in advance on the SIMplifica portal: €4.50 a trail, €10.50 for the full PR1 to Pico Ruivo. Children 12 and under and Madeira residents don't pay but still book. There's no payment at the trailhead.

Can you hike Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo and back?

Not any more. Since the PR1 reopened in 2026 it's one-way, toward Pico Ruivo, past the Pedra Rija viewpoint. Walk from Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo and down to Achada do Teixeira and get a taxi back, walk Pico do Areeiro to Pedra Rija and back, or walk up to Pico Ruivo from Achada do Teixeira and back.

How long is the PR1 from Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo?

Officially 6.1 km, plus 2.8 km down the PR1.2 to Achada do Teixeira. My out-and-back in April 2023 from the Pico do Areeiro parking, by way of Achada do Teixeira, was 12.5 miles and about 5,100 ft of climbing by my GPS, about 7.5 hours with stops.

Do you need a car on Madeira?

It helps a lot. The trailheads are high and spread around the island, and the weather changes fast, so a car lets you go back when the clouds clear. There is a daily bus from Funchal to Pico do Areeiro and buses toward Santana and Baía d'Abra, but none to Queimadas, Achada do Teixeira or Fanal.

When is the best time to hike on Madeira?

April to May and September to October are the usual picks: less rain than winter and less heat and fewer people than summer. The mountains are much colder than the coast, with ice on some winter days, and the clouds can cover the peaks at any time of year.

Is Pico Grande on the booking system?

The route I hiked, from the village of Curral das Freiras, isn't one of the classified PR routes, so it wasn't on the forest service's list or in the booking system in October 2026. The classified PR12 from Boca da Corrida was only partly open.

Madeira, Portugal · 8 days · 5 hikes

Madeira Hiking Guide

Pico Grande, Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo, Fanal, a levada and Ponta de São Lourenço in 8 days.

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Real pages from the guide. Tap one to see it big.

A day page
A hike map and elevation profile
At a glance
The 2026 bookings and fees

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The route

My GPS recording of 4 days on a relief map. Each number is the day of my trip I walked that hike. The full GPX files and the day maps come with the guide.

Relief map of the Madeira route: 5 hikes drawn in red, labelled Pico Ruivo, Pico Grande, Fanal, Caldeirão Verde, Ponta de São Lourenço and Funchal. — Map data: Terrain: Mapzen Terrain Tiles (SRTM, GMTED) on AWS · Rivers & lakes © OpenStreetMap contributors

What's inside

Where things stand. Madeira in October 2026: the new booking system and fees, the one-way PR1, the trail works at Ponta de São Lourenço and the levada closures, checked on the forest service's own pages.
Five hikes, eight days. My day by day, with stats, the time I took, my notes, the route, where to turn back, a map with an elevation profile for every hike, and links to that part of my films.
My GPX files. My own recordings of all five hikes, with waypoints for the trailheads, the summits, the Pico Ruivo shelter and the cafés, ready for AllTrails, Gaia GPS, Garmin or Organic Maps.
The 2026 rules. How to book a time slot on SIMplifica, what each trail costs, the combined passes, who doesn't pay, and the ways to walk the PR1 now that it's one-way.
Getting there and around. Flights and the windy airport, the rental car and the mountain roads, the buses to Pico do Areeiro and Baía d'Abra, taxis, and where to stay.
A plan for your trip. My eight days turned into a plan for 2026, with a spare day for the weather, and what it costs.
Weather, cliffs and safety. The months that work, the sea of clouds, fog, drops and tunnels, heat at the east end, one page of checks and a printable trip sheet.

About this trip

In April 2023 I spent eight days alone on Madeira with a rental car, sleeping in hotels and doing day hikes from the road: Pico Grande from the Valley of the Nuns, Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo above the clouds, the old laurel trees at Fanal, the Levada do Caldeirão Verde and Ponta de São Lourenço, with the coast from Ponta do Sol to Porto Moniz, Seixal and Machico in between. It's the trip from my films 8 Days of Traveling and Hiking in Madeira and Madeira in 8 Days. Since 2026 every trail needs a booked time slot and the PR1 is one-way, so this guide tells my trip and how to do it now: my GPX files, a map for every hike, the 2026 bookings and fees, the car, the buses and where to stay, a day-by-day plan, costs, weather and safety, and a trip sheet.

Watch the film on YouTube (228K views).

The Day 4, Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo, then the west coast page from the Madeira Hiking Guide

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Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo, then the west coast

The whole day page from the guide as a PDF, plus my hut-to-hut packing list: the 35 things I carry, with a note on each. The PDF opens right away and both come by email. You'll also get my emails about new guides and trips, a few a year.

The details

Format: A 57-page PDF sized for a phone (A5, prints fine too) and a folder of GPX files, in one zip download.
Edition: 2027 season edition, updated October 2026.
Delivery: Instant. After you pay you get a private download link. Bookmark it to download again on any device.
Payment: Secure checkout through Stripe, in your own currency. Tax is included in the price, except in the US and Canada, where any sales tax is added at checkout.
Refunds: Not useful? Email me within 30 days for a refund: kraig@kraigadams.com.
Questions: Email kraig@kraigadams.com.

Questions

Do you need to book hiking trails on Madeira?: Yes, since January 1, 2026. Every classified trail (PR) needs a 30-minute time slot booked and paid in advance on the SIMplifica portal: €4.50 a trail, €10.50 for the full PR1 to Pico Ruivo. Children 12 and under and Madeira residents don't pay but still book. There's no payment at the trailhead.
Can you hike Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo and back?: Not any more. Since the PR1 reopened in 2026 it's one-way, toward Pico Ruivo, past the Pedra Rija viewpoint. Walk from Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo and down to Achada do Teixeira and get a taxi back, walk Pico do Areeiro to Pedra Rija and back, or walk up to Pico Ruivo from Achada do Teixeira and back.
How long is the PR1 from Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo?: Officially 6.1 km, plus 2.8 km down the PR1.2 to Achada do Teixeira. My out-and-back in April 2023 from the Pico do Areeiro parking, by way of Achada do Teixeira, was 12.5 miles and about 5,100 ft of climbing by my GPS, about 7.5 hours with stops.
Do you need a car on Madeira?: It helps a lot. The trailheads are high and spread around the island, and the weather changes fast, so a car lets you go back when the clouds clear. There is a daily bus from Funchal to Pico do Areeiro and buses toward Santana and Baía d'Abra, but none to Queimadas, Achada do Teixeira or Fanal.
When is the best time to hike on Madeira?: April to May and September to October are the usual picks: less rain than winter and less heat and fewer people than summer. The mountains are much colder than the coast, with ice on some winter days, and the clouds can cover the peaks at any time of year.
Is Pico Grande on the booking system?: The route I hiked, from the village of Curral das Freiras, isn't one of the classified PR routes, so it wasn't on the forest service's list or in the booking system in October 2026. The classified PR12 from Boca da Corrida was only partly open.