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hike-centric · island

Madeira

Twenty-three days, 4,271 photos, 112 km on foot

14 January - 5 February 2023

Read from 4,271 photo timestamps, 10 tracked hikes covering 112.2 km, and locality clusters across every region of the island.

The argument
Twenty-three days at Calheta on the quiet south-west coast, walking the levadas and the ridge until we had covered the island. 112 km on foot across ten tracked hikes, and our first time on Madeira. From one home we reached seven regions - Funchal and Câmara de Lobos along the south, the lava pools at Porto Moniz on the north-west tip, the wild north coast at São Vicente, the thatched-house country around Santana, the old first settlement at Machico in the east, the neighbour villages of Ponta do Sol and Ribeira Brava, and the high spine on the Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo traverse. The biggest single day was the run east to Machico and Ponta de São Lourenço, when we walked the eastern tip and shot until the light went.
Pace · photos per day
Frame data
Duration
23 days · 22 nights
Country
Portugal (Madeira) · 1 effective
Anchors
1 (Calheta · 17 days at the locality)
Path shape
home to Calheta base for 22 nights, then home via a Vienna layover
Photos
4,271 (4,240 PT · 31 across the aerial return-flight countries)
Photo density
186 / day · 484 peak
Hike signal
112.2 km recorded · 10 hikes
The one leg · day by day
settle in and open the map

Wk 1 · Jan 14-20

1806 photos
Active window
full days from the start
Peak hour
Jan 20 · east to Ponta de São Lourenço

We landed quietly on the Saturday and went straight into the trip - Funchal along the south coast, two runs up to the lava pools at Porto Moniz, the north coast at São Vicente. The first walk was the Levada Nova - Levada do Moinho loop out of Calheta on day four, an easy way in that let us find the levada rhythm before committing to anything harder. The week peaked on the Friday with the Ponta de São Lourenço walk across the bare, red-rock eastern tip - the day we shot the most and the only proper time we spent around the island’s first settlement. By the end of that first week the shape of the trip was set: drive out from home, walk, come back.

settle into a rhythm

Wk 2 · Jan 21-27

1064 photos
Active window
one big day, one quiet day
Peak hour
Jan 23 · a second Porto Moniz run

The second week leaned on the south-west corner around Calheta. Sunday was the Estanquinhos to Pico Ruivo do Paul ridge up on the plateau, Monday we went back north for Porto Moniz and later the Levada do Caldeirão Verde out of Santana, and Thursday was the big one - the 25 Fontes and Levada do Risco loop through the Rabaçal tunnel, 14.2 km and 532 m of climb, the heaviest walk of the week. The pattern held all week: a full touring day, then a lighter one at home to recover before doing it again.

keep pushing

Wk 3 · Jan 28-Feb 4

1397 photos
Active window
long days, no let-up
Peak hour
Feb 3 · the last full day out

We kept going back to Santana for the thatched-house country in the north-east, and out again to Machico. The back half of the trip held its walks: the Levada do Moinho above Achadas da Cruz, the Arco da Calheta - Levada Calheta - Levada Nova stitched together close to home, the short Vereda dos Balcões at Ribeiro Frio, the Levada da Fajã down to the black-pebble beach at Paul do Mar, and on the second-to-last day the one we had been building toward - the PR1 ridge from Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo, 14 km with more than a kilometre of ascent along the spine of the island, in and out of cloud. What surprised us at the time is how the trip closed: 458 photos on Feb 3, our last real touring day, matching the Ponta de São Lourenço peak from two weeks earlier. We never tapered.

go home

Wk 4 · Feb 5

54 photos
Active window
half a day
Peak hour
-

A Sunday morning at Ponta do Sol, coffee by the water, then Funchal airport and the flight out via a Madrid layover to Vienna. The handful of frames scattered across Spain, France, Italy and Austria are out-the-window shots from the plane, not stops on the ground. The trip was really finished the night before - this day was airports and cabin light.

Off-path · per zone
  1. Calheta (home) ~30% quieter side of the island than the Funchal-area rentals
  2. Funchal ~5% the capital, and everyone comes here
  3. Porto Moniz ~20% the north-west lava pools - a photographers’ spot, but not a mass one
  4. São Vicente / N coast ~30% the wild north, and thinner on visitors
  5. Santana ~20% the thatched-house village - canonical but calm
  6. Levada trails ~5% one of the more walked hiking networks anywhere
  7. Pico Arieiro / Pico Ruivo ~0% the headline ridge, walked by everyone with the legs for it

This is canonical Madeira, top to bottom - every region of the island is in the data. The off-path frame is the wrong one to reach for. What made the trip its own thing was how much of it we walked (112.2 km across ten tracked hikes), not any novelty in where we went.

Hike highlights
View all trails →
Negative space
  1. absent Porto Santo The smaller second Madeiran island, two hours across on the ferry. We never got on the boat.
  2. absent Madeira New Year's Eve fireworks The island’s famous Funchal fireworks fall about two weeks before we arrived on 14 January. Skipped on purpose - we came for the walking, not the crowd.
  3. absent Desertas Islands The uninhabited reserve off the south coast. Reachable by boat trip, and we never made the crossing.
  4. absent Cabo Girão skywalk Europe’s highest sea-cliff platform, a short drive west of Funchal. We passed nearby on our Câmara de Lobos runs but never stopped on the glass.
  5. absent Curral das Freiras The Nuns’ Valley, deep in the interior. We touched the edges from the road but never sat down inside the valley - we spent our days on the coast and the ridge instead.

The main island got walked from end to end - both coasts, both tips, and the high spine. What we did not do was cross the channel to Porto Santo or take the boat to the Desertas. The trip was to hike, not to ferry-hop, and against the depth of what we did cover the skipped pieces feel like footnotes.

Numbers
Photos / day average
186
Photo peak day
484 · 20 Jan · the Ponta de São Lourenço walk
Walking recorded
112.2 km across 10 hikes
Calheta day-count
17 of 23 days touched the anchor
Heaviest hike day
26 Jan · 25 Fontes / Levada do Risco · 14.2 km · 532 m ascent
Highest hike day
3 Feb · Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo · 14.0 km · 1,038 m ascent
Days above 300 photos
6 of 22 active days
First photo
2023-01-14 · Frankfurt connection and Calheta on arrival
Last photo
2023-02-05 · Vienna layover on the way home
From this trip

Where this trip surfaced elsewhere on Travelfoss. Public-facing posts and itineraries, drawn from the same days the data describes.

  1. Hike Feb 2023
    PR1 - Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo Hike in Madeira, Portugal

    PR 1 is probably the most scenic and impressive hike in Madeira. Although full of exhilarating beauty, it is also a physical challenge for most people.

  2. Hike Feb 2023
    PR6 - Levada das 25 Fontes Hike in Madeira, Portugal

    The PR6 - Levada das 25 Fontes trail is probably the most beautiful and iconic levada walk in Madeira, and everybody knows it.

  3. Post Apr 2023
    What You Should Know Before Hiking in Madeira, Portugal

    Hiking on a remote island in the middle of the ocean comes with challenges. Learn how to be prepared and enjoy your hikes in Madeira to their fullest.

  4. Post Jul 2023
    What You Should Know About Driving In Madeira, Portugal

    Roads on Madeira can be a challenge for less experienced drivers. Knowing what to expect and being prepared are essential.

  5. Post Jul 2023
    What You Should Know Before Traveling to Madeira, Portugal

    Make planing for Madeira easier with a bit of knowledge about climate, transportation, accommodation, hiking, food and other usefull information.

Reading 048 Last read 12 August 2026 Read from 4,271 photo timestamps, 10 tracked hikes covering 112.2 km, and locality clusters across every region of the island.