This is a walking trip, not a sightseeing trip that happens to include walks. Each of the six days has one graded trail at its centre, chosen so the week builds from a gentle start to the island’s hardest mainstream walk and then eases off. Towns, viewpoints and restaurants are here only as bookends to the trails.

The plan keeps a single base in or near Funchal. Madeira is small enough that every trailhead is within ninety minutes’ drive, so moving hotels would cost more than it saves. A rental car is essential: trailheads are scattered and public transport does not reach most of them on a useful schedule. The biggest single variable is weather, which on Madeira differs sharply between the south coast, the north coast and the high massif. Read the weather-contingency note before you fix the order.

The plan in one paragraph

Day 1: an easy legs-in walk, the Balcões levada at Ribeiro Frio, grade easy. Day 2: the 25 Fontes levada in the western highlands, grade easy to medium. Day 3: the Caldeirão Verde levada in the north, grade medium. Day 4: the Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula in the east, grade medium. Day 5: the big one, the Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo traverse, grade hard. Day 6: a recovery walk, the Vereda dos Balcões or a short levada near Funchal, grade easy. Base in or near Funchal for all six nights.

How the grades work

The grades here are relative to a fit, regular walker. Easy means level, well-surfaced and under three hours. Medium means longer, with sustained ascent or descent, narrow ledges, or unlit tunnels. Hard means the Arieiro traverse: serious exposure, many steps, real altitude, and a genuine turn-back point in bad weather. None of these walks need technical skill, but the medium and hard days reward proper footwear, a head torch and a windproof layer.

Day 1: Balcões levada, Ribeiro Frio, easy

Start gentle to let your legs find the rhythm. Drive 35 minutes up to Ribeiro Frio and follow the level levada to the Balcões viewpoint, about 1.5 km each way through the laurisilva, the ancient laurel forest. It is flat, shaded and short. Lunch at the trout restaurant in the village, then an easy afternoon back in Funchal. Use the spare time to buy or check your kit: torch, waterproof, grippy boots.

Day 2: 25 Fontes levada, Rabaçal, easy to medium

A longer level walk with a steeper start. Drive an hour into the western highlands to Rabaçal. The car park is small and fills early; in peak season a shuttle van runs the last stretch of road, and a guided 25 Fontes walk removes the parking problem entirely. From the car park the path drops to the levada, then runs level through forest to a rock amphitheatre of springs and a green pool. Three to four hours return. The link path back up to the car park is the only real climb.

Day 3: Caldeirão Verde levada, north, medium

The classic deep-laurisilva walk. Drive about 75 minutes to the levada trailhead near Santana, on the north side, and follow the Caldeirão Verde levada to a tall waterfall dropping into a dark green pool. It is roughly 13 km return, four to five hours, level along the water channel but with several narrow ledges and four short tunnels with no lighting. A head torch is not optional here. The exposed sections have handrails but are not for anyone uneasy with drops.

Day 4: Ponta de São Lourenço, east, medium

A complete change of scenery: no forest, no levada, just bare red and ochre rock on a peninsula that points into the Atlantic wind. Drive 45 minutes east to the Ponta de São Lourenço trailhead at Baía de Abra. The path is about 8 km return, two and a half to three hours, with several short climbs and descents and zero shade. Go early, carry water, and skip it outright on a very windy day; the exposed ridge is genuinely unpleasant in a gale. Lunch in Machico on the way back.

Day 5: Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo traverse, central, hard

The week’s hardest walk and, for most people, its best. The PR1 traverse crosses the high massif from Pico do Arieiro at 1,818 m to Pico Ruivo at 1,862 m, the island’s highest point. Around 7 km one way, five to six hours, with cut stone steps, unlit tunnels and long stretches of serious exposure.

The transfer logistics are the catch. The cleanest line walks from Arieiro to the Achada do Teixeira car park, which is not where you started. Your options: two cars, with one left at Achada do Teixeira the day before; a taxi pre-booked to collect you at Achada do Teixeira; or a guided trip with a vehicle at both ends. The out-and-back from Arieiro alone is also valid and removes the transfer, at the cost of a longer, steeper return. Start at dawn for cool air and a clear ridge.

Day 6: recovery walk near Funchal, easy

After the traverse your legs deserve a short day. Pick a level levada close to town, a stretch of the Levada dos Tornos above Funchal, for example, a flat two-hour walk with cafés along the way. Or, if the weather on Day 1 was poor and you skipped detail, repeat Balcões properly. The afternoon is for a slow lunch in Funchal and a wine lodge tasting, neither of which asks anything of your knees.

Weather-contingency reordering

Madeira’s mountains and north coast can be socked in while Funchal sits in sunshine. Do not commit to the day order until you see a multi-day forecast, and reorder freely on these rules:

• Day 5, the traverse, needs a clear high massif. It is the one walk to shift around the most. If the peaks are forecast clear on what would be Day 3, move the traverse there and push everything back.
• Day 4, São Lourenço, needs low wind more than sun. Avoid it on a day with strong gusts even if the sky is blue.
• Days 2 and 3, the levadas, tolerate cloud and light rain well, the forest canopy shelters you, so use grey days for them.
• Day 1 and Day 6 are flexible fillers. Slot them into whatever is left.

The simple principle: spend your clearest day on the traverse, your windiest day indoors or on a levada, and your dampest day in the laurel forest where it matters least.

Costs at a glance

A rough per-person estimate at a mid-range standard, excluding flights.

Item	Per person
Accommodation, 6 nights mid-range	€420 to €780
Rental car, 6 days (split per person)	€150 to €280
Fuel and tolls	€40 to €65
Trailhead shuttle, traverse transfer or taxi	€40 to €110
One guided walk, optional	€0 to €80
Restaurant meals	€240 to €390
Coffees, snacks, drinks	€70 to €130
Total per person (estimate)	€960 to €1,835

Variations

Add a guide for the hard days. If you would rather not arrange the traverse transfer or the Rabaçal parking yourself, book guided versions of Day 2 and Day 5. It raises the cost and removes the logistics.

Swap in canyoning. For walkers who also like a wet-rope day, replace the Day 6 recovery walk with canyoning in one of the highland ravines. It is not a rest, so only do this if your legs are fine.

A gentler week. Cut the Day 5 traverse, replace it with a second levada at easy to medium grade, and the week loses its hard day without losing its character. That is close to the relaxed itinerary, which goes further in the same direction.

Stretch to a week. With a seventh day, add a rest day in Funchal or a whale watching trip, which puts no load on tired legs.

For trail descriptions and current conditions, see the activities catalogue and the regions overview.