The story of a place
An oceanic mountain island with forest, cultivated slopes and precipitous views.
Madeira's most dramatic scenes occur where high ridges meet cloud and sea. Its laurel forest and water channels reveal a more sheltered world, while coastal settlements show how people adapted to steep ground.
Walking routes vary enormously. A levada path can include exposed edges and tunnels, and famous mountain traverses may close for conservation or repair.
The essential experience
Make time for this.
Choose one open route suited to your experience, then contrast it with a coastal or forest visit.
Explore the highlights
Look a little closer.
Madeira’s mountain slopes connect cultivated terraces, forest and views across the Atlantic.
Levada engineering
Notice how water is carried across difficult terrain.
Forest moisture
Look for the ecological role of cloud.
Cultivated terraces
The inhabited landscape is part of the island's story.
For the curious reader
History, landscape
and context.
Madeira, officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira, is an autonomous region of Portugal, in the Atlantic Ocean about 805 km (500 miles) southwest of mainland Portugal. Together with the Azores, it is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal and a special territory of the European Union. It is the southernmost point and region of Portugal. Madeira is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under 400 kilometres (250 mi) north of the Canary Islands, Spain, 520 kilometres (320 mi) west of Morocco and 805 kilometres (500 mi) southwest of mainland Portugal.
Background reading: an abridged extract from Madeira, by Wikipedia contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and shortened for this guide. Retrieved 22 September 2026. Source revision ↗.
Turn curiosity into a visit
Plan your visit.
- Physical demands
- Some walks are exposed, steep or tunnelled despite modest distances.
- The practical detail
- A closed route is not an invitation to bypass a barrier.
Before you set off.
Your ticks stay in this browser.Through the seasons
A place in the world
Find your bearings.
Select the pin to open a detailed map. Use Closer look to see the surrounding region. Drag to move a zoomed map.
Map: Natural EarthA closer view.
Load the local map to explore the surrounding area. Map tiles require an internet connection.
- 1MadeiraOpen directions ↗ · Location reference ↗
A sense of place
In pictures.
Keep looking.
10 photographs, with full-size views and individual credits.
Go a little further
Sources & further reading.
The UNESCO link names the specific inscribed property. A broad entry in this project can extend beyond that property’s boundaries.
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