Madeira - Sunflower Books

THE guide to Madeira for more than 30 years and a winner of the Thomas Cook Best Travel Guide Award.
It really is indispensable for walking in Madeira or seeing Madeira by car. Not only has this 13th edition been updated to take into account the fires in August 2016 (with a couple of new replacement walks), but the maps have been annotated with waypoints — and there are free downloadable GPS for all the walks. While dedicated hikers will revel in the island’s mountainous terrain (Madeira is one of Europe’s top destinations for mountain walks), walking the ‘levada’ paths is one of the most popular activities with visitors. Levadas are watercourses that carry rainfall from the mountains to irrigate the cultivated terraces. Click to read about the history of the levada system in Madeira.

Area covered: The entire island is covered by over 100 long and short walking routes.

The best months for walking in Madeira are July till May (June can be overcast).

If you plan to use the local buses, stay in Funchal or Ribeira Brava for ease of access to the entire island. With a hire car you can stay almost anywhere since there are so many fast new roads.