| photos : GPS tracks

We visited Madeira for a fortnight in June 2025. We had some difficulty in choosing a destination for the time of year, and settled on Madeira without being confident that it would offer good riding. We knew, at least, that it was an attractive place.

The weather when we were there was less than ideal (we learnt later that June is the cloudiest month in Madeira). It was warm and dry but claggy. We had swimming pools both weeks but Colin didn’t bother to get wet on the second.

We got most of our information from Trailforks, but also used the route recommendations on the official tourist website. The riding wasn’t what we like best, being mostly limited to rider-made trails through forests. There were a few good views but the terrain is more sandy than rocky. We passed one of the Freeride Madeira vans almost every day, and on two occasions, as we dithered over steep sections, riders on their tours zoomed past us. We saw more mountain bikers than on most of our previous trips; to our surprise, it seems to be something of a Mecca for them.

Legality

We enquired in advance about the legality of riding on footpaths. We were told that it was legal but frowned upon. This might have been putting it too strongly. Madeira is well known for terrifying paths along precipices, often following levadas, many of which are popular with walkers. It would be dangerous and anti-social to ride along them. But the levadas vary in nature. Some are relatively broad and safe; fragments of one are even used for vehicular access. We don’t see any reason to avoid the Levada da Serra do Faial (or at least the stretches we rode ourselves). But reputable web sites sometimes suggest routes which will put you in conflict with walkers; the Levada do Caniçal is an example. Most of the routes we rode were described as ‘unsanctioned’ by Trailforks, but we didn’t see any problem with them.

Travel and accommodation

We flew out with Easyjet and hired a car.

We stayed in two rental accommodations for a week each. In the west we stayed at the Casa de Prazeres and in the east at the Rifúgio dos Anjos at Aguas Mansas.

Food

The variety in the supermarkets was disappointing, though we usually managed to find pink grapefruit juice. Only Portuguese wines are to be seen. We aren’t fond of the reds (too jammy), but were surprised to enjoy two bottles of table wine from the island. There is no decent coffee.

We didn’t eat out much, and only at lunch time. Our impression of the menus was... that they’re too meaty.

| photos : GPS tracks