A 7-Day Hiking Itinerary Through Madeira's Levadas and Peaks

This is not a week that leaves room for the cable car, the market or a day on Porto Santo. It is built for people who came to Madeira to walk, and it stays on the trail for seven straight days: the traverse across the island’s two highest peaks, the tunnel-lit levada that ends at a waterfall amphitheatre, the terraced walk to 25 Fontes, the bare volcanic finger at the eastern tip, and a weather-dependent detour into the fog forest at Fanal. If you want Funchal’s old town, the market and the cable car worked in properly, one week in Madeira balances both; this one does not try.

Built for walkers, not sightseers

Seven days is enough to do Madeira’s headline trails without rushing any of them, but it leaves almost no slack for a bad-weather day or a strained ankle. Before anything else, read up on hiking permits and trail fees and mountain weather and what to wear — both change what this week costs and what you pack, and both are the details first-time visitors get wrong most often. Book a small hire car for the whole week; several of these trailheads sit well outside bus range.

Where to base yourself for a week of trailheads

Because the walks fan out across the whole island, no single base is perfect. Funchal puts you closest to the Pico do Arieiro road and has the widest choice of restaurants, while a base in the north or east trims the early-morning drive for the Queimadas and Ponta de São Lourenço days. Compare the options in where to stay in Madeira and weigh them against the driving you are happy to do before dawn. If you would rather not drive every day, getting around without a car explains what the buses can and cannot reach, and driving in Madeira covers the tunnels and steep mountain roads you will meet on the way to the trailheads.

Day 1: Arrival and an easy first walk at Ribeiro Frio

Land, collect the hire car, and resist the temptation to head straight for the mountains. Settle into your base, sort out your PR trail bookings for the week on the government portal, and use the afternoon for a short, easy leg-stretcher at Ribeiro Frio — the trout hatchery and laurel forest here are a gentle introduction to the island’s cool, damp interior after a warm arrival at sea level. Get to bed early; several days this week start before dawn.

The forest around Ribeiro Frio is part of the Laurissilva, the ancient laurel forest inscribed by UNESCO in 1999, and the laurissilva UNESCO forest guide explains what you are walking through. It is worth reading the evening before: after a week on the trail, you will recognise the trees, the mist and the moss in every walk that follows. If you land early and feel fresh, resist adding distance. The point of Day 1 is to arrive at Day 2 with legs that have not been spent.

Day 2: The PR1 traverse from Arieiro to Ruivo

The signature day. The PR1 route from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo covers around 7km one way, climbing and dropping between Pico do Arieiro at 1,818m and Pico Ruivo at 1,862m, the island’s highest point. Budget three to four hours, more with photo stops, and expect three unlit tunnels, steep stone staircases cut into the basalt, and long sections with a sheer drop and no barrier.

Read levada and trail safety around tunnels and vertigo before you go — this is the walk it applies to most directly. Some visitors prefer to start the day already up at the summit with a guided sunrise trip above the cloud line at Pico do Arieiro before setting off on the traverse itself. Arrange a car shuttle or taxi between the two trailheads in advance, since this is a point-to-point walk, not a loop.

Start as early as you can. The ridge is at its clearest in the first hours of the day, and cloud tends to build and swallow the views later on. If the forecast is poor, do not force it: the shorter Pico Ruivo short route is a gentler way to reach the summit, and the Pico do Arieiro sunrise guide and the sunrise and sunset guide help you decide whether a dawn start is worth it on a given morning. A warm layer, gloves and a windproof shell belong in the pack even if Funchal is mild when you leave.

Day 3: The Levada do Caldeirão Verde from the Queimadas

A long day with a different character entirely: flat walking along a centuries-old irrigation channel rather than mountain climbing. From the Queimadas car park, the route runs roughly 13km there and back through laurel forest, crossing four tunnels on the way to the waterfall amphitheatre at Caldeirão Verde. A headlamp is not optional here — one of the tunnels runs for several hundred metres with an uneven floor and no lighting whatsoever. Full detail, timings and tunnel-by-tunnel notes are in the Levada do Caldeirão Verde guide. This is also the day the €3-per-trail permit fee catches people off guard if they have not budgeted for it across a full week of PR trails.

Day 4: Recovery day at the Levada dos Balcões

After two demanding days, this is deliberately short. The Levada dos Balcões starts from Ribeiro Frio again and covers only a couple of kilometres return, almost flat, for one of the best views of the central massif on the whole island — Pico do Arieiro and the ridge you crossed on Day 2, seen from below. It is the Levada dos Balcões walk most guides describe as easy, and on this itinerary it earns its place as a genuine rest day rather than a filler one. Use the afternoon for laundry, sore-legs admin, and an early dinner.

If you still have energy after the walk, the village of Santana and its thatched houses are an easy add-on in the north, and Santana’s thatched houses guide is a pleasant way to spend an hour without any climbing. For dinner, where to eat by area and the Madeira food guide point you to the local dishes worth refuelling on, including espetada and bolo do caco, which suit a hungry walker well.

Day 5: The 25 Fontes and Levada do Risco at Rabaçal

Back to a full day. Rabaçal sits down a narrow access road closed to private cars, so the walk in starts with a shuttle from the car park at the top. From there, the paths to the 25 Fontes — a natural amphitheatre fed by dozens of small waterfalls — and the shorter Levada do Risco are two of the most photographed walks on the island, and deservedly so. Full route notes and the fee-booking link are in the Levada das 25 Fontes guide. Go early: this is the busiest trail in the network, and the shuttle queue lengthens fast after mid-morning.

Day 6: Ponta de São Lourenço, without shade

A complete change of scenery. The Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula at the island’s eastern tip is bare volcanic rock in red and ochre, with almost nothing green and no shade for the roughly 8km round trip. It is the least “Madeira” landscape on the whole itinerary, and the most exposed to sun and wind — start early, carry more water than the distance suggests you need, and check conditions before setting out, since high wind here is common.

Those who would rather have the trailhead admin handled can book the PR8 Ponta de São Lourenço trail with the permit included. If the wind rules out walking altogether, a private catamaran trip along this same coastline is the fallback plan.

Day 7: Fanal, weather permitting, and departure

The most unpredictable day of the week, so treat it as flexible rather than fixed. Fanal is a high plateau of ancient, wind-bent til trees, and it is only genuinely atmospheric when the cloud rolls in — check the forecast the evening before and, if this itinerary allows, swap Fanal with Day 4’s rest day rather than gambling on a specific date. Without fog, it is simply a paddock with old trees; with it, it is the most photographed forest on the island.

A guided PR13 hike to Fanal with transfer included removes the guesswork of getting there and back on a tight departure day. If you have energy and time left over before your flight, a shorter valley walk from Ribeiro Frio to Portela makes a good half-day alternative if Fanal is fogged out in the wrong direction — socked in below cloud rather than sitting above it.

When the weather breaks the plan

Madeira’s mountains make their own weather, and one wet or windy day in seven is a realistic assumption. Keep the order of the days flexible: the low, sheltered walks can move into a bad-weather slot, and the exposed ridge belongs on the clearest forecast you can find. Read a rainy day plan for Madeira for ideas that keep the day useful, and what nobody tells you about levada walking for the practical details that experienced walkers wish they had known earlier.

A guided full-day walk can also fill a gap when you would rather have a guide read the conditions for you. Whatever you choose, check whether the trail is open before you drive to it, and remember that best levada walks lists alternatives at different difficulty levels if your first choice is closed.

Tired legs, sore feet and the small things

A week of consecutive walking is harder on the body than the distances suggest, because the descents and the stone steps wear on knees and ankles. Walking poles take a lot of the strain on the PR1 steps, and a second pair of dry socks in the daypack is worth its weight. Wear boots that are already broken in, as walking Madeira in trainers: a cautionary tale makes clear, and pack with what to pack for Madeira open beside you.

If you want a lighter option for a companion or a day when your legs refuse, the family-friendly walks cover shorter routes with less exposure. And for the evenings, a glass of poncha is the traditional reward, though most walkers find an early night does more for the next morning’s climb.

Trail permits, distances and difficulty at a glance

Day	Trail	Approx. distance	Permit required	Difficulty
2	PR1 Arieiro–Ruivo	7km one way	Yes, paid	Challenging, exposed
3	Levada do Caldeirão Verde	13km return	Yes, paid	Moderate, long, tunnels
4	Levada dos Balcões	2km return	No	Easy
5	Levada das 25 Fontes / Risco	6–11km return	Yes, paid	Moderate
6	Ponta de São Lourenço (PR8)	8km return	Yes, paid	Moderate, no shade
7	Fanal (PR13)	Variable	Yes, paid	Easy–moderate

At roughly €3 per person, per trail, per day, the four paid PR days on this itinerary add up to around €12 per person across the week — a small line item, but one that catches people out when it is missing from a budget built from older guides. Reserve each permit online in advance through the official portal; walking in without one risks being turned back at the checkpoint.

Packing and planning notes

• A headlamp with spare batteries is non-negotiable for Day 3’s tunnels, and useful insurance on Day 2’s three tunnels too.
• Layer for a 15–20°C swing between the coast and 1,800m; it can sit near freezing at the Pico do Arieiro trailhead before dawn while Funchal is mild.
• Trail conditions change fast after heavy rain — routes close after landslips, and a booked permit does not override a closed trail. Check the IFCN’s status page the night before each walk.
• A small hire car earns its cost this week; see car rental in Madeira before you book, since the narrow mountain roads favour a compact model over anything larger.
• If a non-walking companion is joining part of the trip, point them toward one week in Madeira for the days you are on trail, so the itineraries can run side by side.