The Peak to Peak (PR1, Vereda do Areeiro) reopened on 1 May 2026 after about 20 months closed for fire damage, and it came back with new rules. It's now strictly one-way, from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo, and you need a paid ticket with a booked day and time slot before you get to the gate. Locals hike free, but even we have to register. Here's what actually changed, and the least painful way to do it, from someone who's done this hike somewhere between 60 and 100 times.
I was up there on reopening day. No guide privileges, no skipping the line. I booked my ticket like everyone else, took an Uber up, and walked the whole thing to see exactly what’s different. This post is what I found.
What changed when PR1 reopened
The fires destroyed the plants and the roots holding the ground between the two peaks, so the trail was shut for roughly a year and a half, around 20 months by the time it reopened. [JEFF: confirm the fire date; summer/August 2024?]
What’s different now:
- It’s one-way. You hike from Pico do Arieiro towards Pico Ruivo and you do not come back the same way. There are posts and proper closures, and crossing into a closed section carries a big fine. I was told €25,000. [JEFF: confirm the fine amount as of mid-2026.]
- You need a ticket for each leg. There’s a ticket to hike as far as the Stairway to Heaven viewpoint, and a bigger one for the full route to the end. When I did it, the public prices were roughly €4.50 for the first leg and €10.50 for the full route. [JEFF: confirm exact prices as of publish date; I heard “4.50” and “10.50” on camera in May 2026 but flag it].
- You book a day AND a time slot on the government booking site, Simplifica. [JEFF: confirm current site name + link; locals say the site is a headache, and honestly, even I struggle with it.]
- They enforce it. The staff at the gate told me the card reader physically won’t let them charge someone who doesn’t have a booked ticket. No ticket, no entry. There’s no turning up and paying cash.
- Locals are free, but still register. Madeira residents get free tickets, one per leg, same booking system.
- The old steel staircases are gone. The route near the top has been rerouted onto the old path. The eastern course stays closed: it was closed before my time, and it’s properly closed now. Follow the signs, stay off the rocks piled across old paths. They’re there for a reason.
One more thing on the tickets, because people get this wrong: you’re not paying for a turnstile. The way I see it, you’re paying to conserve nature. Whether the money actually goes into the trail is another conversation, and I’ve been loud about that one.
How hard is it, honestly?
You need to be in relatively good shape. If you walk, hike, run or hit the gym two or three times a week, you’ll be alright. If you’re quite out of shape, this isn’t the one to test yourself on. We made a video ranking Madeira’s hikes for vertigo, start there.
Timings from my own legs, not a brochure:
- Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo shelter house: about 2 to 2.5 hours.
- The final push up to the Pico Ruivo summit itself: about 20 minutes more.
- Down to Achada do Teixeira (where the one-way route ends): about another 1.5 hours.
The scary-looking section everyone films with the 360 cameras comes early, right after the start: a drop on each side. In my experience, if you can pass that part, you can do the rest of the hike.
Achada do Teixeira is in the municipality of Santana, roughly a 90-minute drive from Funchal. That’s the whole point of the transport section below.
What to bring
- A headlamp. There are three or four tunnels on the route.
- Water and food. The kiosk near the start opens late; if you’re going for sunrise, it will not save you.
- Sunscreen. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of red necks and faces come off this mountain.
- Waterproof layers. Mountain weather is its own thing.
- Hiking poles if you like them.
- And a warning: don’t lean on the steel cable side-rails. They can be unstable, and the cable can be split; it’s very easy to get a piece of wire in your hand.
If you get up there and the weather looks horrible with no sign of improving, don’t do it. Have a plan B. That’s how we run our own tours: if the mountain says no, we go somewhere the mountain says yes.
When to go (the crowd answer)
Sunrise is still the most beautiful way (it’s how we’ve always done it) but it’s also the chaos hour, along with mid-morning. On reopening day I deliberately took a just-after-lunch start, around 12:30–1:30pm, and from the Stairway to Heaven onwards we barely saw anyone. Sunset works too, but you’ll be walking the last hour in the dark, so bring the lights and plan dinner.
The gate at the continuation point opens around 8am (this is Madeira, nobody’s stressed about it) so if you’re hiking before sunrise, book the 8:00 slot for that section. [JEFF: sanity-check this detail for publish; gate hours may have settled since May.]
Don’t drive yourself. Really.
This is a one-way hike. If you park at Pico do Arieiro, you finish at Achada do Teixeira with your car a mountain range away. I’ve seen influencers telling people to taxi back to their car afterwards. Where’s the logic? Take the taxi from your hotel in the first place.
Parking is a nightmare anyway: the top lot fills up fast, and the lower lot is about a 30-minute walk from the trailhead. Cars parked along the roadside are a real problem up there; ambulances and fire trucks have to get through.
Your options, best first:
- A guided tour. You get dropped off, picked up at the other end, plan B is on the guide, and there’s someone with you on the trail. The gate staff told me themselves: they’ve had no problems with guides and companies; it’s the DIY crowd that gets into trouble.
- A taxi, Uber or transfer, one-way. Drop-off at Arieiro, pickup at Achada do Teixeira. You don’t drive, you don’t park, and you can have a poncha at the end with a clear conscience. [JEFF: current ballpark prices if you want them; in 2024 I quoted shared transfers around €30–40 per person and a private taxi around €150–200 total; needs a 2026 check.]
- Rental car, only if you accept the parking and the doubling-back problem. You’re paying with your legs, your time and your patience.
You’re on vacation. You’re not at work. Pay with your wallet, not your head.
Where we stand: we stopped selling the PR1 guided hike
Straight talk, because you’ll notice we don’t have a Peak to Peak product anymore. The ticket system made it impossible for us to run this hike properly: tickets sold out weeks ahead, and I couldn’t look my guests in the eye and promise a booking I couldn’t guarantee. So we pulled out, and I’ve said publicly what I think of how it’s being managed. [JEFF: how much of the ticket-system rant do you want in print? Full story is in the June 2026 video.]
What we do instead: private hikes, away from the ticket queues. Your own guide, your pace, trails just as beautiful as PR1 without the reservation lottery, and if you want the multi-day version, our Big Walk crosses the island the slow way. If your heart is set on the Peak to Peak itself, do it with the transport tips above, book early (the summer slots go fast) and be careful up there.