Around Madeira

Just a reminder that the prices for access to Madeira's classified walking routes has increased for 2026. The basic price for visitors over 12 is €4,50, though PR1 (Vereda do Areeiro and PR1.1, PR1.2 and PR1.3) will be €10,50. There is no charge for residents. Booking is done via the SIMplifica portal. Instructions for non-resident visitors can be found here .

A belated note to remind visitors that it is now possible once again to buy bus tickets in advance of your journey. You'll need a GIRO card (cost €0,50) and you can choose to buy a number of individual journeys (at least two) or a pass for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 days. Individual journeys are classified as municipal (for example within Funchal) or inter-municipal and are priced accordingly. Most day passes are valid for the entire network - with the exception of the Aerobus, though there is a new, more expensive, tourist pass in which Aerobus journeys are also included.  Information about where to buy tickets can be found here . 

IPMA has upgraded its warning of high winds resulting from storm Therese to "orange". The highest winds are expected from 3pm today until midnight and are expected to be most severe at altitude. There is currently also some rain forecast from Friday which may make some paths slippery. You are requested to exercise appropriate caution.

The IFCN issued an update to the list of open and closed walking routes on 17th March, 2026. You can find the details here . 

By 1st January, 2025, there will be a charge for everyone using the regionally recommended walking routes (with numbers prefixed by PR). However, some routes are payable from 28th October. These are: PR1 - Vereda do Areeiro PR1.2 - Vereda do Pico Ruivo PR 6.1 - Levada do Risco PR 8 - Vereda da Ponta de São Lourenço (existing charge goes up) PR 9 - Levada do Caldeirão Verde PR 11 - Vereda dos Balcões PR 18 - Levada do Rei  A payment of 3 Euros per person, per route per day should be made in advance online via the SIMplifica portal. Your permit will only be valid on the date and route for which it was issued, though you can contact the call centre to change it to another date or another route  if you're unable to embark on the walk you have booked. For a transitionary period, there may be staff available on site to take payments. Spot checks will me made to check people have paid the fee and penalties may be issued. Children of 12 and under are exempt, as are residents of...

Until recently, Madeira's public transport was delivered by various companies, each with their own separate branding, ticketing and websites. This has now been reorganised under the ambit of SIGA - the public transport organistation for Madeira. However, although many buses (and some transport passes) changed on 1st July, the SIGA website (and the mobile app) were missing much of the vital information and it was still necessary to rely on the former websites of the individual operators for timetable and fare information.  Those websites are now starting to disappear. The former EACL website now redirects to SIGA, the homepage of the SAM website still exists, but most of its pages now give 404 errors. The Rodoeste website still seems to be functioning, as is that for Horários do Funchal. Unfortunately, the SIGA website is still sorely lacking in functionality - the "journey planner" doesn't work at all and if you select " Timetables " you have to select ...