Before you set out
Safety on Madeira's trails: what to bring and what to expect
The catalogue answers where to go today. This page answers what to take. It sticks to what is specific to Madeira and regularly catches visitors out: unlit tunnels, levada paths without railings above a drop, fog that arrives in a quarter of an hour, and weather that changes 800 metres higher up.
What to pack, in order of importance
The first three are not comfort items. On some trails they are the condition of entry.
- 1Head torchLevadas run through unlit tunnels, some several hundred metres long. A phone will not do, because you need both hands.
- 2Waterproof and windproof jacketThe ridges are far windier than the coast and can be 10 degrees colder than Funchal.
- 3Boots with real gripWet rock and tunnel boards stay slippery long after rain. Most incidents are slips, not falls from height.
- 4Water, more than usualMany routes have no supply, and Ponta de São Lourenço has no shade either.
- 5Charged phone and an offline mapSignal disappears in ravines and tunnels. Load the GPX before you travel, not in the car park.
- 6Your booking confirmationWardens on paid trails check the code. Save it offline, because there is often no data where they check.
What you cannot see from the car park
Levadas are irrigation channels and the path runs along their edge. On many stretches there is rock on one side and a drop of tens of metres on the other, and a railing is not always there. Do not overtake on narrow sections, give way to people coming uphill, and keep your eyes off the phone while walking.
Fog around Fanal and on Paul da Serra can cut visibility to a few dozen metres within a quarter of an hour. That is not a reason to panic, but it is a reason to carry the track on your watch and never cut corners off the path.
When to turn back
Turn back when the levada runs high and muddy after heavy rain, when it starts raining on an exposed section, when you have under two hours of daylight and no head torch, or when the way on would take you under a fresh landslide. Retreating is not a failure, it is part of the plan.
The IFCN closes trails after downpours and landslides, sometimes from one day to the next. Check the status on the morning you set out, not when you plan the week before.
Numbers and calling for help
- 112: one emergency number across the EU, works from a phone with no SIM and in English.
- Before you call, work out where you are: the trail code (PR 6, for instance), the nearest landmark and roughly how far you are from the start.
- If you have signal, send someone your location before dropping into a ravine.
- Leave word at your accommodation about which trail you are on and when you expect to be back. It is the cheapest piece of safety there is.
Useful next
This is a set of practical pointers, not training and not medical advice. We are not licensed mountain guides. Judging your own fitness, kit and the conditions is down to you, and on the harder routes a guide is worth considering. An EHIC card covers treatment in the public health service, but neither a rescue operation nor repatriation.