Madeira Ativa › Levada trails › PR 13
Vereda do Fanal (PR 13) is a moderate 10.8 km walking trail on Madeira, running from Assobiadores to Fanal. It climbs about 235 m and descends about 539 m along the way. That averages a gentle but steady gradient, about 22 m of climb per kilometre. The route loses far more height than it gains (539 m down against 235 m up), so walked in this direction it is mostly descent — hard on the knees rather than the lungs. It runs between 1129 m and 1434 m above sea level. At that height the trail is often above or inside the cloud, and noticeably colder than the coast, whatever Funchal is doing. It is a point-to-point route. The official walking time is 4 h. Access status is currently open. The trail is waymarked in yellow.
Official walking time and difficulty from Visit Madeira, as on the trailhead board.
Narrow sections are limited (0% of the surveyed route), and 2% is without a railing. These figures come from OpenStreetMap surveys covering 46% of the route, so the unsurveyed remainder may differ.
OpenStreetMap, where surveyed; mapped on 46% of the route.
No bus route is mapped near either end, so this one effectively needs a car or a transfer. It is point-to-point, not a loop, so a car left at the start is a car you have to walk back to — most people arrange a drop-off, a taxi, or the bus.
Official route page (visitmadeira.com) ↗
The official walking time for PR 13 is 4 h over 10.8 km. That is the signed estimate at the trailhead, walking steadily and without long stops.
No. This trail is free to walk; some other marked trails on Madeira are not.
Not directly — no bus route is mapped near either end.
It runs between 1129 m and 1434 m above sea level. At that height the trail is often above or inside the cloud, and noticeably colder than the coast, whatever Funchal is doing.
The last published status is open. Closures on Madeira follow storms and landslides and change without much warning, so check the official status on the day.