Madeira's classified walking routes: fees, booking and who runs them

The short answer

Booking depends on the route, not on the word "levada". The Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza (IFCN), the Madeira regional government's forestry and nature institute, runs a fee-and-booking model for the classified walking routes, numbered PR, that it manages. Its list page says the model has been in force since 1 January 2026.[3] For those routes, the IFCN's FAQ says each walker books an entry time slot online, exclusively through the regional government's SIMplifica portal, and that registration is mandatory for everyone, including people exempt from the fee. The same FAQ says bookings and fee payments are not taken at IFCN premises.[1]

The fee does not apply to every path on the island. The IFCN's FAQ says it covers only the classified routes the institute manages: not all trails in the region are classified, and not all classified routes are managed by the IFCN.[1] XTOUR does not sell trail bookings and does not publish route difficulty, walking times, conditions or safety advice.

Which routes are in the system

The IFCN's list of classified routes names a managing entity for each one. On the version updated on 2 October 2026, most routes on Madeira and Porto Santo are managed by the IFCN, but three are managed by the Câmara Municipal do Funchal (PR3 Vereda do Burro, PR3.1 Caminho Real do Monte and PR4 Levada do Barreiro) and one by the Junta de Freguesia do Caniço (PR23 Levada da Azenha).[3] The FAQ explains why a route may be missing from SIMplifica: it is unclassified, it is classified but managed by another entity, or it is an IFCN route that is closed.[1]

Many of the routes on the list are levadas by name, from PR6 Levada das 25 Fontes and PR9 Levada do Caldeirão Verde to PR10 Levada do Furado and PR18 Levada do Rei; others are veredas (paths) or caminhos reais (old royal roads).[3] XTOUR's reading of the FAQ is that the booking rule follows the route's classification and its manager, so a levada walk that is not on the IFCN's list is outside the system, and a classified vereda managed by the IFCN is inside it.

Visit Madeira, the Madeira Promotion Bureau's site, gives a broader answer. Its hiking FAQ says access to all classified walking trails (PR) in Madeira requires a prior time reservation on SIMplifica.[6] Its own route pages are less uniform: the pages for PR6 and PR8, both IFCN routes, carry an access-conditions section asking for payment through SIMplifica, while the pages for PR3 and PR4, which name the Câmara Municipal do Funchal as contact, carry none.[11][10][9][8] XTOUR follows the IFCN, which manages the system, and treats the tourism board's "all PR" wording as a disagreement it cannot resolve. Before walking a route managed by Funchal's council or Caniço's parish council, check that body's own information; XTOUR has not read it.

How a booking works

The IFCN's FAQ divides each day into entry slots; a walker books the slot in which to enter the route and, in the FAQ's words, may then complete it within an appropriate amount of time. Slots have separate capacities for visitors, residents and economic operators, and places cannot move between those groups. The FAQ says the institute generally allows around 15 minutes either side of the booked slot, a little more for people walking several routes in sequence, and no more than that.[1] Visit Madeira describes the slots as 30-minute windows; the IFCN's FAQ does not give a slot length.[6]

The IFCN does not run SIMplifica. Its FAQ sends error messages and card-payment problems to the SIMplifica contact centre, not to the institute.[1] Visit Madeira's FAQ says payment must be made in advance, because internet coverage in mountain areas may be limited. It also says entering a classified route without a reservation is an infraction, that walkers may be asked to leave to regularise their situation, and that a fine may follow.[6]

The 2026 fees, as the IFCN lists them

The amounts below are the IFCN's own figures for visitors without a protocol, from its FAQ updated on 2 June 2026, which cites Portaria n.º 801/2025 as amended by Portaria n.º 48/2026; XTOUR has not read either portaria.[1]

The one-, three- and seven-day fees are not passes. The IFCN's FAQ says they give neither free nor unlimited access; they are a cheaper rate applied automatically at checkout when a walker books several routes, and each route still needs its own reservation, subject to availability. None of them includes PR1. Visit Madeira adds a EUR 3 rate for visitors accompanied by tourism companies that hold a protocol with the IFCN; the IFCN's FAQ says protocol operators pay different amounts but does not list them.[6][1]

Who is exempt, and who still has to register

The IFCN's FAQ exempts three groups from the fee: residents of the Autonomous Region of Madeira who prove it with a resident card and citizen card, children aged 12 or under, and people with a disability of 60% or more together with one accompanying legal guardian. All three must still register and book a slot. Only two groups need neither to book nor to pay: holders of rights over properties crossed by or next to a route, when using them in the exercise of those rights, and people providing essential public services.[1]

Refunds and closed routes

The FAQ's refund rule is narrow. Rescheduling or a refund is possible only when the route was officially closed or restricted by the authorities or the IFCN on the booked date; a change of plan, rain, a cancelled flight, illness or missed transport all mean the fee is lost. Requests go to the IFCN by email within 10 working days of the booking date, a refund is paid only by bank transfer, and a rescheduled booking stays on the same route except, at the institute's discretion, after a prolonged closure.[1]

Closures are the IFCN's decision. Its FAQ says the authorities, namely the IFCN, close or restrict a route for safety, weather, ground risks or works, and that a weather warning does not by itself close every classified route. It points walkers to the IFCN's route page for each PR's status.[1] The institute's conduct page asks walkers to respect the official information on route status and the weather before starting, to stay on the trail and to take their litter back.[5]

PR1 from Pico do Areeiro, and PR1.3

PR1, the Vereda do Areeiro, has its own rules. The IFCN's FAQ says it fully reopened on 1 May 2026, that it runs in both directions between Pico do Areeiro and the Pedra Rija viewpoint but one way only from there to Pico Ruivo, and that walkers leave Pico Ruivo by PR1.1 Vereda da Ilha or PR1.2 Vereda do Pico Ruivo. The FAQ is explicit that the IFCN does not arrange the return to Pico do Areeiro.[1] An IFCN notice closed the Pedra Rija to Pico Ruivo section on 14 to 17 and 21 to 22 September 2026 for planned work, while the two-way section from Pico do Areeiro to Pedra Rija stayed open.[4]

For PR1.3, the Vereda da Encumeada, the IFCN's notices say the section from Pico Ruivo to Boca das Torrinhas reopened on 18 June 2026 and the section from Boca das Torrinhas to Encumeada stays closed until it can reopen safely.[4] The list page updated in October shows the same split.[3] The June FAQ still describes PR1.3 as closed, and says that crossing between the central mountain massif and Paul da Serra, east to west, is not currently possible on classified routes.[1]

Where the official pages disagree

The IFCN's pages were updated on different dates, and the tourism board's pages do not always match them. XTOUR reports the differences rather than choosing between them.

• Which routes need a booking. The IFCN says routes managed by other entities are not bookable on SIMplifica; Visit Madeira's FAQ says all classified routes require a reservation.[6][1]
• Route status. On 9 October 2026 the IFCN's list showed PR8 Vereda da Ponta de São Lourenço as open, while Visit Madeira's PR8 page showed it as restricted, with minor temporary diversions marked by signs.[9][3]
• Route lengths. The IFCN's list gives PR3 as 6.7 km and PR4 as 6.7 km; Visit Madeira's pages give 7.2 km and 5.2 km.[11][10][3] XTOUR publishes neither as a route measurement.
• PR1 weekday opening. Both FAQ versions, updated on 2 June 2026, say the Pedra Rija to Pico Ruivo section was under maintenance until 26 June and open only Friday to Sunday; only the Portuguese version adds that the full PR1 would open every day from 26 June.[2][1] Neither has been updated since, so XTOUR states neither as current.
• A route number. One question in the IFCN's FAQ calls the Vereda da Encumeada "PR3", while the list numbers it PR1.3 and gives PR3 to the Vereda do Burro.[3][1]

What XTOUR does not know

XTOUR has not opened SIMplifica's booking screens, Portaria n.º 801/2025 or Portaria n.º 48/2026, or the route information published by the Câmara Municipal do Funchal and the Junta de Freguesia do Caniço. It does not know slot capacities, how far ahead slots open, or whether the 2026 fees will change in 2027. It publishes no difficulty grades, walking times, weather, terrain or safety information for any route; Visit Madeira's walkers' notice page describes the "Um caminho para todos" theme of PR9.1 as giving people with motor and visual disabilities direct contact with nature.[7] XTOUR has not verified accessibility on that route or any other. Route status changes, so the IFCN's list page on the day of the walk is the source to check.

For Funchal as a base on the island, see Funchal as a Madeira base, the Funchal destination page and the Portugal country page.