Madeira’s PR1 Hike: Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo (in August 2026)

Madeira is a Portuguese volcanic island off the coast of Morocco. It has stunning jagged peaks that are perfect for hiking. I’d had the PR1 hike on my bucket list for many years, so I am very grateful I finally got to complete it in August!

This hike starts at Pico do Arieiro, which is the third-highest peak in Madeira, and treks along a mountain ridge, ending at Pico Ruivo, the highest peak. It is an impressive, well-maintained trail that includes lots of steps and cables to make you feel secure. It’s nicknamed the “Stairway to Heaven”. If the cloud conditions are just right, it looks like the stairs on the trail are ascending into the sky.

The trail was closed for about two years due to severe wildfires that caused landslides, destroying the trail. I was so happy when it reopened in May 2026! The trail is now only one direction. Once you get to Pico Ruivo, you must get a ride back since you can’t hike back to the start.

How to get there

I visited Pico do Arieiro twice during my time here. I drove once closer to sunset, and took a sunrise shuttle for our full hike.

Driving

I drove up for sunset on our first night in Madeira. Mike was jet-lagged and exhausted so he chose to stay at the Airbnb. I was so excited and running on adrenaline, so I chose to go. There are two parking lots near Pico do Arieiro: one right next to the Visitor Center, and one about a kilometer down the road. Since I was there around 6:45pm (probably the least-busy time), I decided to try my luck at the upper lot. There were plenty of spots, and I ended up parking only about 30 feet from the Visitor Center. Note that the price is a touch higher in the upper lot, but I think it is worth it, since it saves about 20 minutes of walking uphill.

If you are coming any other time of day, I recommend taking a shuttle or Bolt/Uber/taxi! When we arrived via shuttle for the full hike at 6:40am, the upper lot was full, and the lower lot looked to be close to full as well. There was also a huge line of people waiting to pay for parking at the pay machine. Seemed like a bit of a nightmare!

The driving route I would recommend taking is the most eastern option that goes up via ER203. The GPS says it is about five minutes longer than the most direct route, but after witnessing some of the insane winding mountain roads Madeira has to offer, I can say that this road was fairly pleasant. It is still very twisty and straight up, but there were two good-sized lanes and I felt safe driving on it.

If you are driving and hiking the full way to Pico Ruivo, remember that you can not hike back to your car. You’ll need to take transportation from Achada do Teixeira, which is the closest spot accessible by vehicle. There were several taxis waiting there when we finished our hike. I’ve heard that it costs €20 per person to get a ride back to Pico do Arieiro or €80 total for a cab back to Funchal.

Get a ride

I highly recommend this option! We took a bus with the company Get to Hikes Madeira. It was a large coach bus that picked us up in town, about a 10-minute walk from our Airbnb. It was really nice just getting dropped off as the sun was starting to rise, as opposed to getting there much earlier to ensure we could get a parking spot.

Another nice thing about getting a ride in both directions is that it saves you extra driving time. Funchal to Pico do Arieiro is about 40 minutes driving, Pico Ruivo back to Pico do Arieiro takes about an hour, and Pico Ruivo to Funchal takes about an hour. So if you are taking a taxi back to your car, you’ll have an extra hour or so on the road.

One downside of the shuttle was that they gave us six full hours to complete the hike, and we reached the end about two hours before the bus arrived. Fortunately, there is a nice cafe to wait at that has a full restaurant and bathrooms. It ended up being fine to sit around for a couple hours while we waited. If you are a slower hiker, six hours should be plenty of time.

We paid €66 total for the roundtrip shuttle, where taking two taxis/Ubers would have most likely cost much more than that. If you are hiking solo, the shuttle would definitely be the cheapest option!

Note: If you are getting a ride and get carsick easily, I recommend taking a Dramamine. Mike struggled a bit in the back of the bus on the mountain roads, but said the medicine helped.

How to book the hike

The more popular trails in Madeira now require booking through a reservation system on the Simplifica website. In the bottom right of that page there is a blue “request” button. You’ll click on that, select the hike you want to reserve, and select the date and time. It’s a little frustrating to have to pick which day you want to do each hike ahead of time since you don’t know what the weather will be like. If there is a hike you absolutely do not want to miss, I recommend booking two or three slots on different days just to make sure you are able to go.

The cost per person of most hikes is €4.50. The cost for the PR1 hike to Pico Ruivo is €10.50.

Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo

Trail length: 5.8 miles (9.3 km)

Elevation gain: 2,000 feet (609 m)

Bus pickup

We’d gotten a WhatsApp message the day before the hike letting us know the exact pickup time and a location where we should wait. The bus arrived exactly when it was scheduled (5:50am) and we’d gotten there about 10 minutes earlier to ensure we were in the right place. There were a few other hikers waiting, so we knew we were in the correct spot. One nice thing about this company is that it has a massive orange bus. It’s very easy to spot and know you’re in the right place.

Starting the hike

The driver dropped us off at Pico do Arieiro at 6:40am, just as the sky was starting to get light. We started hiking the trail with headlamps, but then decided to stop and watch the sunrise, knowing we had plenty of time to complete the hike. We sat on a nice rock for about 15 minutes until the sky started to illuminate, and then figured we’d get away from some of the crowds and start walking.

As soon as we got away from the peak, the crowds dispersed. There were just a few small groups making their way to Ninho da Manta, a popular viewpoint along the first section.

There was a cloud inversion and I was so excited to have the gorgeous sunrise colors along with the wispy clouds hovering around the trail.

We arrived at Pedra Rija at 7:30am, just in time to watch the first appearance of the sun.

Gate entry

I’d booked our entry tickets for 8am, and had heard that the gate does not open until 8 or 8:30. However, when we approached it at 7:30, the gate was wide open with no one there to check our tickets. We figured we may as well get started.

The hike to Pico Ruivo

Almost immediately after you go through the gate, the trail descends via many stairs. Just as our knees were starting to hurt, the trail started to flatten out.

I was really impressed with the people who made this trail! You’ll go through several tunnels on the way. Tunnels make the trail much easier since you don’t have to climb up and over the mountains along the way. A couple of the tunnels are pretty long, and I was glad I had my headlamp. A phone flashlight would also be sufficient here.

The trail then starts to climb as you approach Pico Ruivo. We could see from the trail that the peak was completely covered by a cloud, and we knew we would be walking into it soon.

The last section before Pico Ruivo felt a bit spooky when we walked through. You could see all the burned trees from the wildfire and it was super foggy since we were walking through the clouds. It felt like a mystical forest!

I really loved the one-way trail, especially since it is so narrow in spots. Passing people going the opposite direction would be difficult. It also cut down on the number of people we saw. We only saw a few other couples during this entire stretch! It was definitely not the crowded trail that social media makes it out to be.

Pico Ruivo

As you get close to Pico Ruivo, you will exit the gate through a one-way turnstile. It got instantly more crowded as people who had hiked to Pico Ruivo from Achada do Teixeira were entering the trail. You’ll reach the small cafe that has bathrooms (for 1 Euro) and a small coffee shop. I’m not sure if they sold food as well, but we’d brought our own snacks so we stopped here to eat some.

We could see from the lookout here that we were still covered by a cloud. However, we decided to climb up to the peak anyway in case that changed. The final ascent is only about 0.3 miles from the cafe. When we reached the top, we were just on top of the clouds, which really was incredible even though we couldn’t see any of the surrounding mountains. We decided to take a seat and see if any of the clouds would disperse and give us a glimpse of the view.

We probably spent about 20 minutes up here. The clouds did go in and out some, so it was worth sticking around.

Achada do Teixeira

We headed to the end of the trail, Achada do Teixeira, which is about 1.75 miles (3 km) from Pico Ruivo. This part was mostly easy and downhill. I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t see any views of this entire section since there was so much cloud coverage. Once we reached the parking lot, the cloud was so thick that it almost felt like it was misting.

We went straight to the cafe here and got one of the only tables available on their outside porch. The waitress took our order and we waited a while on our food. Good thing we had plenty of time to wait on the bus! The food wasn’t the best we had on the trip, but after a long hike, it was satisfying. The bathrooms here were also much nicer than the ones at Pico Ruivo.

Heading back to Funchal

Our bus driver had told us to meet at the bus at 12:40pm. At 12:20, we decided to start walking that way. The parking lot was too small for a large bus to turn around in. He had mentioned that he would be a little ways down the road. The bus was parked further down than we expected, but it was easy to spot since it was huge and orange. We were some of the last people to get on, and got seats in the very back.

The drive down the road to Santana was very narrow and winding. It seemed almost impossible for a giant bus to make it down, but we did. After we passed Santana, it was mostly highway-style roads which are not as curvy. Most of the passengers fell asleep on the drive – makes sense since we were all up very early!

Those of us getting off in downtown Funchal were the first stop and got off the bus at 1:50pm. It was nice to have the rest of our day as downtime after a tiring morning!

Alternate Route: Pico do Arieiro to Pedra Rija

Trail length: 1.6 miles (2.6 km) round trip

Elevation gain: 750 feet (230 m)

If you are not a big hiker but still want to see the beauty of Pico do Arieiro, I highly recommend hiking to Pedra Rija. This is a two-way trail that allows you to walk on the Stairway to Heaven and see some of the amazing views past the parking lot.

If you’re doing this option, the best time to come is a couple hours before sunset. I arrived at the parking lot at 6:45pm (a little over two hours before sunset). There were several parking spots in the upper lot. The views from the parking lot are also beautiful, and you don’t need to book a hike to see them.

The Visitor Center and bathrooms were already closed when I arrived, so I started my hike. The trail is the same trail you will follow for the full PR1 hike to Pico Ruivo, you’ll just turn around when you get to the gate. It’s mostly downhill on the way out, meaning there are lots of stairs on the way back. Bring water!

There were very few people here when I was hiking and I got the entire trail to myself in several places so I could set up my tripod and take as many pictures as I wanted. I got back to my car around 8pm, and it was getting more crowded for the sunset at 9pm. I don’t think there were any open parking spots in the upper lot when I left.

Check the weather for temperatures!

When I came up for sunset, it was hot (82F/28C). When we started our sunrise hike it was much colder (55F/13C) because a cold front had come through the previous night. Since it had been hot the previous few days, several hikers that were on the bus with us had only brought shorts and a t-shirt. They were surprised when they got off the bus. I found this temperature forecast to be pretty accurate. However, rain was predicted for the morning we were hiking and it never rained on us. It’s best to be prepared with rain jackets even if it isn’t in the forecast.