Around Madeira

As the Madeira Organ Festival draws to a close, a reminder that 2024's Madeira Piano Fest will take place in Funchal's Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias beetween 2nd and 10th November. The programme includes a variety of performances for solo piano, four hands on a single piano and pieces for two pianos. In between the two, the Maderia International Guitar Festival runs in various locations between 25th October and 3rd November.

23rd October: The majority of the PR1 trail at Pico do Areeiro remains closed. Horários do Funchal has announced two changes to the operation of its twice-daily shuttle service between Funchal and Pico do Areeiro which will come into effect on Sunday, 27th October. The departure point for the shuttle will change from Praça da Autonomia to the Cable Car Terminal bus station (4A), hopefully making it easier to find. Owing to the shortening days, the last departure from Pico do Areeiro, which is currently at 19:00 will leave an hour earlier, at 18:00. This winter timetable will run until 29th March 2025 (inclusive). The summer timetable will resume on 30th March. Summer departures from Funchal are presently timetabled as follows: 06:00 | 13:30 – Praça da Autonomia - stop Rua 31 Janeiro S (9); 06:02 | 13:32 – Jardim Santa Luzia; 06:10 | 13:40 – Monte - Largo da Fonte; 06:11 | 13:41 – Entrada Corujeira de Dentro; 06:15 | 13:45 – Terreiro da Luta; 06:23 | 13:53 – Portão Norte da Herdade do...

The IFCN has announced the closure of recommended walking route PR19 (Caminho Real do Paul do Mar) owing to rockfalls. There are also reports that a section of the Passeio Público Marítimo between Praia Formosa and Câmara de Lobos is impassable owing to construction work.

If you currently have credit on your old style Horários do Funchal Giro card, HF are "recommending" that you use it by 30th November. The last day on which you can add credit will be 15th November. It is presently unclear whether it will be possible for unused credit to be refunded or transferred, but visitors who have cards with existing credit who return after 30th November will be unable to use those cards on board.  New ticketing is being introduced that should - in theory - make it easier to undertake journeys that involve multiple buses from different operators.

On 29th September, the IFCN updated the status of walking routes. Routes with LIMITED ACCESS are: PR 1 - Vereda do Areeiro – from Pico do Areeiro to Pedra Rija viewpoint; PR 1.1 - Vereda da Ilha – from the shelter at Pico Ruivo to Ilha;  PR 1.2 Vereda do Pico Ruivo – from Achada do Teixeira to Pico Ruivo shelter. PR 2 - Vereda do Urzal – from Lombo do Urzal to the 6.2km point;  PR 17 - Caminho do Pináculo e Folhadal – from Encumeada to Bica da Cana; The following routes are CLOSED: PR 1.3 - Vereda da Encumeada PR 4 - Levada do Barreiro PR 7 - Levada do Moinho PR 12 - Caminho Real da Encumeada PR 20 - Vereda do Jardim do Mar PR 23 - Levada da Azenha PR 27 - Glaciar do Planalto PR 28 - Levada da Rocha Vermelha Please note that the routes advertised by IFCN as "open" may only be open over part of their course and pay attention to local signage as conditions are subject to change at short notice. The following routes are OPEN: PR 3 - Vereda do Burro PR 3.1. - Caminho R...

All camping was prohibited while the recent wildfires were in progress and in their aftermath. However, some camping opportunities have been reinstated. All camping on Madeira requires a permit for an approved location on specific dates. Permits are obtained via the SIMplifica website . Look under "Culture and Leisure" and then "Camping Licence". Note that if you have chosen to access the site in English, the names of the various sites will be "translated" into English (so Pico Ruivo becomes Red Peak ), so you might want to set the language to Portuguese so the place names are recognisable.