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Visit Porto Santo
🥾 Hiker5 days

Porto Santo on foot, five days

Every trail · both coasts · natural pools · islet by kayak

At a glance

Five days to walk the whole island without repeating a place: the town and its beach on arrival, the eastern summits, Pico Branco and the north coast, Fonte da Areia and the Porto das Salemas pools, then the Levada, the Piano and a last afternoon by kayak to Ilhéu da Cal.

Difficulty
Moderate · at most one trail a day · ~25 km in total
Best season
Trails open all year (SIMplifica slots); the IFCN asks you to turn back in heavy rain or strong wind.

🎒 Packing list

  • Walking shoes
  • Water, 1.5 L per person per outing
  • Windbreaker and hat
  • Sunscreen
  • SIMplifica trail booking (€4.50)
  • Swimsuit for the evening swim

Day by day

Day 1 · Arrival: Vila Baleira on foot9

📍 Centre → Cais Velho → Fontinha → Lombas · ⏰ 09:00

  1. 10:30 → 11:00Visit

    Largo do Pelourinho

    The triangular square at the heart of the town: palms, bougainvillea and dragon trees whose resin, "dragon's blood", was used in dyes and remedies; the 16th-century old town hall, the Mannerist Misericórdia chapel a step away and the Columbus Festival stages in September.

    📍 Largo do Pelourinho
  2. 11:00 → 11:30Visiton foot · 1 min

    Nossa Senhora da Piedade church

    The mother church, on the site of the island's first chapel: built between 1430 and 1446, pillaged by French corsairs in 1566, rebuilt in 1667; the Gothic Morgada chapel, a rocaille ceiling and paintings by Conrado and Römer. Its patron is celebrated on the last weekend of August.

    📍 Igreja Nossa Senhora da Piedade
  3. 11:30 → 12:30Visiton foot · 2 min

    Casa Colombo — museum

    The house where, by oral tradition, Columbus lived after marrying Filipa Moniz: early-16th-century Gothic windows, a museum opened in 1989 and redesigned in 2004, treasure from the Slot ter Hooge wrecked in 1724. Open weekday mornings and afternoons, closed Mondays.

    📍 Casa Museu Cristóvão Colombo
  4. 13:00 → 14:30Mealon foot · 5 min

    Bolo do caco & espetada — O Forno

    The town-centre bolo do caco specialist: Porto Santo's version, taller and wider and without sweet potato, baked on basalt stone and served with an espetada.

  5. 15:00 → 15:30Breakon foot · 3 min

    Lambecas ice cream

    More than fifty years of history and the archipelago's most iconic ice cream: passion fruit, banana, mango — the afternoon ritual, in the shade, at the hours when you avoid the sun.

    📍 Lambecas
  6. 16:00 → 16:30Photoon foot · 5 min

    Cais Velho promenade

    The historic 1929 pier (102 m) marks the start of the seafront and of Fontinha beach; in the evening you stroll towards the 1960 Padrão dos Descobrimentos, the "Pau de Sabão", with low light over the bay.

    📍 Cais Velho
  7. 16:30 → 18:00Breakon foot · 1 min

    Late afternoon at Fontinha

    Back on the town beach as the sun drops: showers, lockers and a first-aid post at hand, guaranteed surveillance in season. Everything is on foot from the centre.

    📍 Praia da Fontinha
  8. 18:30 → 19:15Photoon foot · 15 min

    Evening at Miradouro das Lombas

    Very close to the centre, a small lookout over Vila Baleira as far as the old pier, the bay and the beach, with an old wooden windmill as a landmark and a nearby restaurant of regional dishes — the evening viewpoint without a car.

    📍 Miradouro das Lombas
  9. 20:00Mealon foot · 15 min

    Grandmother's cooking — Casa d'Avó

    Recipes handed down through the generations: açorda, seafood rice, passion-fruit flan. Simple and sincere, a step from the beach — dinner from 6.30 pm.

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — Casa Colombo (museum), Nossa Senhora da Piedade church, then cinema or an exhibition at the Centro Cultural e de Congressos.

🎒 What to bring — Parasol or hat, sunscreen, water, towel, mask and snorkel; cash for the stalls.

  • Porto Santo Line ferry: book the round trip ahead in July–August (often full); the day's sailings are on the company's site.
  • Casa Colombo: open weekdays 10–12.30 and 2–5.30 pm, Sunday 10 am–1 pm, closed Mondays and holidays — check before you go.
  • Swimming: lifeguards are guaranteed only at Fontinha, Ribeiro Salgado and Cabeço da Ponta in season; elsewhere follow the flags, and never go into the water to rescue someone — call 112.
Day 2 · PS PR2, the Facho and Portela8

📍 Moledo → Castelo → Facho → Portela · ⏰ 07:00 · 🚗 ~30 min

  1. 08:00 → 10:15Visitby car · 10 min

    PS PR2 — Vereda do Pico do Castelo

    The island's forest trail, graded easy, from Moledo: 3.2 km round the north of Pico do Facho (1:30) or 4.6 km round the south (2:15), under Aleppo pines and dragon trees, up to the 16th-century fort and its cannons. Early, before the heat, on a booked slot.

    💡 Insider tip — The forest gives shade, but carry water.

  2. 10:15 → 11:45Photoon foot · 50 min

    Pico do Facho, the roof of the island

    No road reaches the highest point: you climb on foot along the unmarked vereda that starts at Pico do Castelo. Here burned the "fachos" that warned of pirate ships; the whole island, the beach and the islets lie below.

    📍 Pico do Facho

    💡 Insider tip — A windy summit: windbreaker even in fine weather.

  3. 12:00 → 12:45Mealon foot · 40 min

    Picnic at Pico do Castelo

    Picnic area and lookout at 437 m under the conifers planted in the 1920s: the bay, Vila Baleira, Ilhéu da Cal and Ilhéu de Cima below — welcome shade in the hot hours.

    📍 Pico do Castelo
  4. 15:30 → 17:00Breakby car · 15 min

    Pedras Pretas, the locals' beach

    Fontinha's westward continuation, 200 m past the Hotel Torre Praia: straw umbrellas, showers beside the terrace bar, a neighbourhood mood — a quiet afternoon away from the crowds of the centre.

    📍 Praia das Pedras Pretas
  5. 17:45 → 18:15Photoby car · 10 min

    Miradouro da Portela

    The island's classic, accessible lookout at the eastern tip: Vila Baleira in the middle of the south coast, the beach and turquoise sea, the harbour and marina, Pico de Baixo and Ilhéu de Cima — the windmills and the Graça chapel staircase are minutes away.

    📍 Miradouro da Portela
  6. 18:15 → 18:40Photoon foot · 5 min

    The three Portela windmills

    Emblems of the island, restored and inaugurated on 14 October 2023 on their original site; Porto Santo's first windmill is said to date from 1794. With the basalt-paved lanes, fountains, wells and waterwheels, they tell of an island that made the most of the wind and of every drop of water.

    📍 Moinhos de Vento da Portela
  7. 18:45 → 19:15Visiton foot · 10 min

    Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Graça

    Alone on the slope of Pico do Castelo, reached by a staircase from Casinhas: founded in 1533, destroyed in 1812 and rebuilt by the islanders in the 20th century with materials from Serra de Fora, it holds a 16th-century Flemish Virgin and served as a refuge during pirate raids.

    📍 Capela de Nossa Senhora da Graça

    💡 Insider tip — Feast on 14–16 August: mass on the 15th, then an arraial.

  8. 19:45Mealby car · 10 min

    Wood-fire espetada — Teodorico

    An institution of the island's interior: marinated beef skewers grilled over bay branches, generous portions — the dinner that rewards a day on the peaks.

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — The IFCN asks you to give up the trails in heavy rain or strong wind: Casa Colombo, church and Centro Cultural, or a car loop of the island by the viewpoints.

🎒 What to bring — Walking shoes, 1.5 L of water per person, snacks, hat, sunscreen, windbreaker — the peaks are windy even in fine weather.

  • PS PR trails: since 1 January 2026 you book a 30-minute slot on SIMplifica — €4.50, free for residents and children up to 12. Yellow-and-red waymarks.
  • Water: at least 1.5 L per person — there are no fountains on the trails, and the IFCN asks you to carry spare water and food.
  • IFCN rules: don't walk alone, tell someone your route, finish before dark and turn back in heavy rain or strong wind. Emergencies 112.
Day 3 · PS PR1, Cotrim and Serra de Dentro7

📍 ER 120 → Pico Branco → Serra de Fora → Serra de Dentro · ⏰ 07:00 · 🚗 ~35 min

  1. 08:00 → 09:30Visitby car · 15 min

    PS PR1 — Pico Branco and Terra Chã

    An old 2.7 km mule path (1:30 one way, back the same way, 184 to 450 m): cut into the Rocha Quebrada, it squeezes through the Cabeço do Caranguejo fissure and enters the cypresses planted in the early 20th century. At the fork, Terra Chã right, Pico Branco left.

    💡 Insider tip — Start on the regional road ER 111.

  2. 09:30 → 10:15Photo

    Terra Chã, the native flora

    End of the PR1, a Natura 2000 site: the spot on the island with the most well-preserved native flora, a stone house used as a base for reintroductions, "urzela" lichens on the rocks and, all around, Vila Baleira, Ilhéu de Cima and Pico Branco (450 m).

    📍 Miradouro Terra Chã
  3. 12:00 → 13:30Visitby car · 10 min

    Snorkelling at Porto dos Frades (Cotrim)

    East coast, Serra de Fora: a beach carved by sea and wind, sand and stones in very clear emerald water, often deserted. Old salt pans and a lime kiln to see; no facilities and no lifeguards.

    📍 Praia do Cotrim (Porto dos Frades)
  4. 14:00 → 14:45Visitby car · 10 min

    Serra de Dentro, the green clays

    In the north-east, a landscape of gullies in shades of green: "salão", clays formed by the alteration of undersea volcanic rocks and crossed by dark basaltic dykes — unique in Portugal, they once roofed the casas de salão. Geosite beside the road.

    📍 Serra de Dentro — argiles « salão »
  5. 15:15 → 15:45Visitby car · 10 min

    Casa de Salão

    An ex-libris of the island's heritage: a low house roofed with salão, the sandy clay of Serra de Dentro, which cracks in summer to let air through and swells in winter to become watertight; reed partitions, an oven and a stone chimney.

    📍 Casa de Salão
  6. 16:30 → 18:00Breakby car · 10 min

    Swim at Ribeiro Cochino

    Calm sea almost without waves in front of the Hotel Porto Santo, one of the island's oldest; lifeguards, toilets and straw umbrellas. Also the start of the cycle path to Calheta.

    📍 Praia do Porto Santo
  7. 19:30Mealon foot · 5 min

    Dinner with feet in the sand — Pé na Água

    A beach restaurant whose terrace sits on the sand, facing the Atlantic: grilled fish of the day, limpets with garlic, caldeirada and homemade bolo do caco. Booking recommended in July and August.

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — The IFCN asks you to give up the trails in heavy rain or strong wind: Casa Colombo, church and Centro Cultural, or a car loop of the island by the viewpoints.

🎒 What to bring — Closed shoes for the coastal paths, water, hat, sunscreen, mask and snorkel, a picnic.

  • PS PR trails: since 1 January 2026 you book a 30-minute slot on SIMplifica — €4.50, free for residents and children up to 12. Yellow-and-red waymarks.
  • Water: at least 1.5 L per person — there are no fountains on the trails, and the IFCN asks you to carry spare water and food.
  • Swimming: lifeguards are guaranteed only at Fontinha, Ribeiro Salgado and Cabeço da Ponta in season; elsewhere follow the flags, and never go into the water to rescue someone — call 112.
Day 4 · Fonte da Areia, Salemas and the western tip7

📍 North coast → Zimbralinho → Morenos → Canavieira · ⏰ 07:30 · 🚗 ~45 min

  1. 08:30 → 09:15Visitby car · 15 min

    Fonte da Areia, the spring and the sandstones

    The island's historic spring (18th-century fountain) among pale sandstone cliffs carved by the wind: dune sandstones about 31,000 years old, four units separated by palaeosols, root casts and fossil snails. 25 m from the road; view over Ilhéu da Fonte da Areia and the north coast.

    📍 Fonte da Areia
  2. 09:15 → 11:30Visiton foot · 20 min

    Natural pools of Porto das Salemas

    At low tide the sea pulls back to reveal a multitude of turquoise pools, some sandy-bottomed, in a cove on the north coast. Access on foot only from Fonte da Areia: a track, then a steep path with loose stones.

    📍 Porto das Salemas
  3. 11:30 → 12:15Meal

    Picnic at Porto das Salemas

    Straw shelters, tables and fireplaces above the natural pools of the north coast — lunch happens here; there is nothing else on site.

    📍 Porto das Salemas
  4. 15:30 → 17:30Visitby car · 25 min

    Down to Zimbralinho cove

    From the Miradouro das Flores junction a road and then a steep path (930 m from the tarmac) drop to a pebble beach squeezed between cliffs: the island's finest pillow lavas and renowned snorkelling in calm seas. Sunny in the morning; in shade in the afternoon.

    📍 Zimbralinho

    💡 Insider tip — Look for the snail fossils in the rock on the way down.

  5. 18:00 → 18:30Photoby car · 10 min

    Ponta da Canavieira and Morenos

    The western tip facing Ilhéu de Ferro and its "Furna que Berra" that roars beneath the swell; on the way, the Morenos area — typical vegetation, tables and straw shelters — and its geosite of volcanic dykes and 30,000-year-old fossil roots.

    📍 Miradouro da Ponta da Canavieira
  6. 18:30 → 19:30Photo

    Sunset at Ponta da Canavieira

    The island's western tip, all dark basalt and cliffs: Ilhéu de Ferro ahead, Pico de Ana Ferreira behind and, in good visibility, Madeira's north coast — the sun sinks into the ocean right in front of you.

    📍 Miradouro da Ponta da Canavieira
  7. 20:00Mealby car · 10 min

    Island wines — Adega das Levadas

    Home cooking and Porto Santo wines: Listrão, the "queen of the white grapes", and Caracol, grown on calcareous sand behind croché dry-stone walls — a tasting before the nearby Calheta sunset.

    💡 Insider tip — Late August: Festa das Vindimas, public press and tastings in the town centre.

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — The IFCN asks you to give up the trails in heavy rain or strong wind: Casa Colombo, church and Centro Cultural, or a car loop of the island by the viewpoints.

🎒 What to bring — Closed shoes for the coastal paths, water, hat, sunscreen, mask and snorkel, a picnic.

  • Porto das Salemas: the natural pools only show at low tide — check the tide time before you go (link below). No lifeguards; keep away from the foot of the cliffs.
  • Closed shoes are a must for Zimbralinho and Porto das Salemas: steep paths with loose stones and no services on site.
  • Swimming: lifeguards are guaranteed only at Fontinha, Ribeiro Salgado and Cabeço da Ponta in season; elsewhere follow the flags, and never go into the water to rescue someone — call 112.
  • Sun: the National Maritime Authority advises avoiding the sun between 11 am and 4 pm and drinking regularly — hence beach time early and late in the day.
Day 5 · The Levada, the Piano and Ilhéu da Cal8

📍 Camacha → Graça → Campo de Baixo → Calheta · ⏰ 07:00 · 🚗 ~40 min

  1. 08:00 → 09:45Visitby car · 10 min

    PS PR3 — Levada do Pico do Castelo

    Dug in the first half of the 20th century to collect rainwater, the Levada links Camacha to the Graça chapel along the southern foot of Pico do Castelo (80 to 210 m): endemic heather, white poplars and views over the coast and Ilhéu de Baixo. Only this section is passable; the 530 m tunnel is closed.

    💡 Insider tip — Little shade: water and sun protection.

  2. 09:45 → 10:15Visit

    Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Graça

    Alone on the slope of Pico do Castelo, reached by a staircase from Casinhas: founded in 1533, destroyed in 1812 and rebuilt by the islanders in the 20th century with materials from Serra de Fora, it holds a 16th-century Flemish Virgin and served as a refuge during pirate raids.

    📍 Capela de Nossa Senhora da Graça

    💡 Insider tip — Feast on 14–16 August: mass on the 15th, then an arraial.

  3. 11:00 → 11:30Visitby car · 20 min

    São Pedro chapel and its caravel

    On the slopes of Pico de Ana Ferreira at Campo de Baixo: Baroque and Mannerist, gilded altarpiece, painted vault, a holy-water font decorated with shells and, on the pebble forecourt, a caravel for the patron of sailors. A footpath leaves from here to the Piano columns.

    📍 Capela de São Pedro

    💡 Insider tip — 29 June: procession from Ribeiro Salgado beach, then the fish auction.

  4. 11:30 → 12:15Photoon foot · 25 min

    The "Piano" of Pico de Ana Ferreira

    Light-grey prismatic columns of lava, born of the contraction of magma cooling slowly inside a volcanic conduit and exposed by a former quarry: geosite, geological heritage of regional value. Best seen from the Miradouro da Pedreira, 144 m from the road.

    📍 Pico de Ana Ferreira
  5. 13:00 → 14:30Mealby car · 10 min

    Grilled lapas at Calheta

    The restaurant on Praia da Calheta is known for grilled lapas served with garlic-butter bolo do caco, facing Ilhéu da Cal and its lime galleries.

    📍 Praia da Calheta (Porto Santo)

    💡 Insider tip — Lapas outside the closed season (1 Dec – 31 Mar).

  6. 16:00 → 17:30Visiton foot · 5 min

    Kayak to Ilhéu da Cal

    From Ponta da Calheta the islet is only about 500 m away: calm turquoise water all year, a large cave opening in its flanks and the 19th-century lime galleries. No landing — it is a no-entry zone.

    📍 Ilhéu da Cal

    💡 Insider tip — Equipment hired from the tourist-entertainment companies.

  7. 18:30 → 19:30Photo

    Sunset at Calheta

    For the tourist board, THE Porto Santo photo: the sun drops behind Ilhéu da Cal (179 m) and, on clear days, Madeira's outline shows on the horizon. Terminus of the SIGA "Centro – Calheta" bus.

    📍 Praia da Calheta (Porto Santo)
  8. 20:00Mealby car · 10 min

    Polvo à lagareira — Vila Alencastre

    A Campo de Baixo terrace favoured by residents: octopus with olive oil and garlic, local catch — the evening table closest to the western beaches.

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — The IFCN asks you to give up the trails in heavy rain or strong wind: Casa Colombo, church and Centro Cultural, or a car loop of the island by the viewpoints.

🎒 What to bring — Closed shoes for the coastal paths, water, hat, sunscreen, mask and snorkel, a picnic.

  • PS PR trails: since 1 January 2026 you book a 30-minute slot on SIMplifica — €4.50, free for residents and children up to 12. Yellow-and-red waymarks.
  • Islets: no-entry zones (Natura 2000, marine reserve) — no landing without IFCN authorisation; admire them from the sea or the shore.
  • Boat trips: the water is calm almost all year; in a swell the operator's programme prevails.
  • For the tourist board, the one photo to bring home is the Calheta sunset: arrive half an hour early, with Ilhéu da Cal in silhouette across the water.
  • SIGA bus "Centro – Calheta" (running since July 2024): timetables change with the season — check the operator's page below.

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