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Madeira…a hiker´s paradise

Experience nature at its finest by traveling on foot through the lush green mountains of Madeira Island.

For those who enjoy hiking or simply love to go on walks, Madeira Island is the perfect destination choice.

Thanks to the excellent climatic conditions, hiking is an activity that may be done all year round. During the hot summer months of July and August, the mountains are at their best, contrasting beautifully with the bright blue sky. Between October and May the climate may be rather volatile, with plenty of fog and rain, which contribute to the rich green colour that these mountains possess.

Hiking Areas

North, south, east or west, each region of Madeira Island offers the most unique and beautiful hiking trails for travelers and locals to explore and enjoy. Nevertheless, you should always have a trail map and even better yet have a hiking book in your backpack.

Inland, you'll find a magnificent mountainous world that is virtually untouched. There are numerous hiking  trails and levadas which terrain ranges from flat land to steep slopes. It is amazing how dense of a network of hiking trails that may be found in Madeira Island. The freeway and tunnels make accessing these trails an easy and fast task as it will take you from north to south, east to west  quickly.

Those who think that they may stroll in a leisurely fashion through the mountains is quite mistake as there are few easy routes. For they sporty more advanced hikers, the high mountains are suitable and will certainly provide a memorable experience. For those who are not so advanced of a hiker,  a more convenient route where you may spend hours walking is through the jungle-like Laurissilva (laurel) forest levada.  Even though the difficulty level is low, you must be cautious as there higher points that require great care walking through. On most mountains paths that were previously used by goat heards , extra care is required as those paths are rather slippery.