Before you go
Getting there and around
Accommodation and travel
When to go
Section · 9 articles
The official list of IFCN (Madeira’s Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation) covers 39 PR walking trails in Madeira, including variants (as of 2 October 2026). In this category I describe individual routes: distance, walking time, difficulty, getting there, tickets and practical tips. Before you set off, check the trail status, because IFCN closes routes after downpours and landslides.
Madeira’s trails are levadas, almost flat paths along irrigation channels, and veredas, mountain paths with climbs, such as the PR1 from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo. I explain what a levada is and which one to choose in my guide to levada walks in Madeira.
Since 1 January 2026 IFCN trails have required a booking in SIMplifica and a fee of €4.50 (the whole PR1: €10.50). I explain how to do it step by step in my guide to trail tickets. PR3, PR3.1, PR4 and PR23 are outside the system.
Take a torch (for the tunnels), shoes with grippy soles, a rain jacket, water and an offline map, because in many places there’s no signal.
How to climb Pico Ruivo, Madeira’s highest peak: the PR1 from Pico do Arieiro (6.1 km, €10.50 ticket, one-way traffic), the shorter PR1.2 from Achada do Teixeira, getting back, the bus to the summit and the 2026 rules.
Madeira trail status: which IFCN routes are open, partly open and closed. I update this page regularly from the IFCN list and notices – the date of my last check is at the top.
Levada das 25 Fontes (PR6) and Levada do Risco (PR6.1) in Rabaçal: €4.50 per trail booked in SIMplifica, the one-way system, the council bus to Casa do Rabaçal, getting there and practical tips. Checked in October 2026.
Ponta de São Lourenço and the PR8 trail: the €4.50 ticket booked in SIMplifica, upgrade works with detours from 30 September 2026, getting there by car or on bus 702, nature, what’s nearby and practical tips. Checked in October 2026.
They don’t look like much: a narrow concrete channel with water in it and a flat path alongside. Then you learn that someone carved it into a basalt cliff by hand, often hanging on a rope over a thousand-metre drop, and that the network runs to over 3100 km.
Levada do Rei (PR18) is a 5.3 km walk along a royal irrigation channel in São Jorge, through ever denser laurel forest to the Ribeiro Bonito gorge, one of the wildest corners of northern Madeira.
Since 2026 you can’t walk Madeira’s official PR trails without booking online first – and the only place to do it is the government portal Simplifica. Here’s how to book and pay, step by step.
Pico do Areeiro is Madeira’s third-highest peak (1818 m) and the highest point you can reach by car. It’s famous for views above a sea of clouds, especially at sunrise and sunset, and it’s the start of Madeira’s best-known trail, the PR1 to Pico Ruivo.
Fanal lies on the Paul da Serra plateau in north-west Madeira. Its main attraction is the laurel forest (laurisilva), part of a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site and one of the oldest and best-preserved stretches of laurel forest on the island.
