Are You Off To Walk Madeira? Check Before You Walk.

Aloe aborescens clinging to Madeiran cliffs

Madeira! What a great desination, especially at this time of year.

Swapping the dark and cold of Northern Europe for Madeira’s green and spring-like mountains is a popular choice at this time of year.

If you are planning to walk there, it’s worth checking that the paths you’re planning on following are open. The best place to look for information is on the official ‘Visit Madeira’ tourism website. To see which routes are open or temporarily closed, LOOK HERE.

If you are already on the island, you can also ask in Tourist Offices who usually have up to date information on walks that are open/closed.

A spectaculat waterfall on the Levada da Ribeira da Janela

At the moment only three of the official routes are temporarily closed. The authorities are vigilant and usually restore routes quickly; often, the problem is a landslip after heavy rain.

The three routes to avoid at the time of writing this are:

PR1 – Vereda do Areeiro
Temporarily closed

PR12 – Caminho Real da Encumeada
Temporarily closed

PR19 – Caminho Real do Paul do Mar

Temporarily closed

Levada Nova, Madeira

There’s so much great walking on Madeira that you’ll find plenty to tempt you, from strolls to all-day high altitude challenges. Even if you aren’t keen to do much walking, it’s a great idea to use the local buses which give you brilliant (sometimes a bit hairy!) adventures around the island for pocket-money prices.

There’s a great bus map available, also really useful as a driving map; LOOK HERE for details of the Madeira Bus & Touring Map.

For more information including details our two Madeira Walks guidebooks Madeira Tour & Trail Map and digital mapping for Madeira, take a look at Discovery Walking Guides; Madeira pages.