Walking the Island of Madeira

Best way to spend a week in Madeira. The trip was exceptional with 5 great hikes and extraordinary views at each turn. It was a full bloom season and and that made every hike interesting. Hiking through lush green mountains with the sea always in sight- it was just beautiful. The trials along the Levadas (ancient water channels) were very interesting. Dip in the natural pools at Porto Moniz or in the hotel after the hikes were worth it. Aqua Natura Bay was the best stay and had great meals at the hotel. Till the last hike, everything worked out perfectly. This is a great itinerary to explore Madeira -its culture and natural beauty of the Island.

Madeira is one of the most beautiful islands I have ever seen. The hiking/walking was sometimes challenging, but the days were not extremely long. Flowers everywhere and scenery that is spectacular from above. The sunrise hike was chilly, but rewarding!

Fantastic trip with a great guide (Bruno) walking the isle of Madeira.

Madeira is a beautiful island and the hikes were just the right length to get in some good exercise but still be able to enjoy going out and about on foot afterwards.

This holiday lived up to expectations! It was wonderful to see the whole island with varied walks and hotels and a really friendly group who gelled well from the outset. Bruno was an excellent guide who looked after us well and imparted much local knowledge as we passed through different terrain. The views on the coastal paths were spectacular, and the levada walks, especially the waterfalls one, were unique. We had to adapt due to a storm on the first day making the peninsula unsuitable, but Bruno quickly planned an alternative, and the rest of the week was dry and warm, with some days of sunshine, and some mist on occasion which added to the atmosphere.

We had a very enjoyable week in Madeira with our group of 14 and guide Nelio. We thought the trip worked really well to be able to stay in 4 different locations across the week to really see all parts of Madeira and allow short transfers for each walk. We enjoyed all the walks and liked the variety - coast line, forest, levadas etc. The biggest disappointment of the week however was not being able to do the main walk of the week on the final day (Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo) - due to a fire in the middle of the walk a few weeks previously, as well as bad weather. But the alternative walk Nelio took us on (a levada from Fajã da Ovelha finishing with a steep descent on PR19 Caminho Real do Paul do Mar) was a real highlight and finished in the little town of Paul do Mar for beers in the sun and a refreshing swim in the sea. The walk on day 4 at Queimadas Natural Park (walking along the Levada do Caldeirão Verde) was really interesting and beautiful, but we felt far too busy and quite dangerous. You walk along the narrow ledges of the levada with steep dropoffs, with two-way traffic so you have to keep leaning out over the rope barriers to let others pass. There have been incidents there, and it could do with either making it one-way, or certain times where people go in or come out, so it stops the 2-way traffic which the narrow ledges cannot accomodate and makes progress very slow. One point that we also felt could improve the trip was the ability to buy/make packed lunches. The first day in Machino we all had to go to the supermarket to buy food for the following day. We all found this difficult as there was little options for easy picnic food. The rest of the week most of us just made a sandwich at breakfast to bring with us. We thought it would make the trip a lot simpler if the hotels allowed guests to make a small packed lunch at breakfast, or alternatively provide a packed lunch service for a small fee. Apparently Exodus had mentioned to some others in our group that it would be possible to buy prepared packed lunches from hotels. It was not always practical to go to a supermarket, and they often didnt have appropraite items. We found all the hotels to be of good quality and enjoyed all our stays. We loved the pool at Hotel Dom Pedro which we enjoyed on both afternoons. The spa at Hotel O Colmo and Hotel Aqua Natura Bay were great, and it was lovely to be able to use the large pool and facilites at the Pestana Casino for the final few days. Our favourite hotel of the week however was the Hotel Aqua Natura Bay which was super clean, modern, great facilities, large bedrooms, excellent staff and great location just across the road from the natural pools. The included dinners here were fantastic and beautifully presented. The transport for the week worked well and although the trip notes mentioned public transport, we had a private mini bus for the whole trip. Although be aware on the trip from Porto Moniz to Funchal, all luggage was stacked up in one big pile at the back of the minibus which made it cramped for the people at the back, and any bags at the bottom of the pile got squashed.

A great introduction to walking in Madeira with a friendly and knowledgeable guide. All the distances were manageable and the routes were well assessed

This trip shows you the varied aspects of Madeira's beauty.

I was expecting this trip to be full of activity and it did not disappoint. The five days which were dedicated to walking around the different areas of the island all had something unique to offer, from the barren coastline in the east to the misty and mystical forests in the north. The climax of the trip was the final day achieving the summit of Pico Ruivo, from where all the previous walks could be seen after the sunrise.

Excellent organisation start to finish. Very good itinerary Excellent guide A good price.

I felt it was well organised to give a good experience of hiking in Madeira.

The trip was well planned and executed, very few minor issues with accommodation check ins, easy itinerary changes to allow for weather- whole trip ran incredibly smoothly and guide was great.

Varied terrain and spectacular scenery. This trip surpassed my already high expectations!

The trip to Madeira was awesome. Seeing different landscapes and vegetation each day made for a great hiking experience. Guide was excellent and knew the island and culture very well.

A varied selection of walks around the island. 3 out of 4 hotels were excellent - the second one was a bit dark and cold. Length of walks were good - about 7 miles. Pace for me was a bit slow. One of the walks (high up near the tops) was frustrating as there was no view over the hedges. The replacement walk as the highest peak was closed was in fact my favourite (on the Friday)

This walking trip was a great way to spend a week. There’s a great variety of walks which meant each walking day was different and interesting. Staying at four different hotels across the week, we covered a lot of the island. We went at New Year and the weather was really mild, t-shirt weather during the day. The views were fantastic and it’s a lovely island. Highly recommended. Local food was great. A good balance of walking and some time to relax.

Excellent trip. We saw so much of the island.

What a wonderful way to experience the varied landscape and unique plant life in Madeira! This was my first walking trip, and I was worried that I would get bored after a few days of walking, but what we saw each day was so different from the last! We did have one day of walking in the rain, but I think we got very lucky as the walk we did that day was covered for a lot of the way by trees and we were walking through some tunnels as well. The hotels were comfortable and lovely, but the one in Porto Moniz was beauuuuutiful!

Lovely island, great guide and group. Really nice hotels, lucky with the weather! However, the most interesting walks to the Eastern peninsula and the central mountains were very busy. Also, for me, the overall pace was rather slow and the distances covered could have been greater.

This was a great trip. Madeira is a stunning island, with an abundance of natural beauty. We were very lucky to have sunny clear weather for the Pico Ruivo, and the views were well worth the at times tricky climb. The food and wine were lovely in Madeira!