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Rother Walking Guide Madeira
Ref: ROT016
Every island thrives on its clichés. The name Madeira stands for a heavy wine which might have had its time a long time ago, yet is still praised by many a connoisseur. The island's all-year-round mild climate helped Madeira be awarded the description of a »floral island floating in the Atlantic«. Bird of paradise and torch lilies, daisies and hydrangea leave no doubt: Madeira is rich in flowers like no other island. And secretly the Atlantic beauty has developed into a special kind of hiking paradise.
The first Portuguese word which hikers learn on Madeira is bound to be »levada«. Levada hiking is surely unique in the whole world. A sophisticated network of narrow irrigation canals runs across the entire island. The maintenance paths installed next to the canal trenches allow the convenient exploration of Madeira without great height gain all the way to the most remote corners. Around half of the trips introduced in this guide are Levada excursions. They lead through fertile land cultivating sugar cane, bananas, vine and exotic fruit, past artistic terraces modelled into the island's rugged topography, which awaken associations of Bali or the Philippines. Rushing cascades and impressive ravines are found by the wayside as are rough, declining cliffs and marshy high-moor bogs. The still unspoilt valley to the north of the island offers sumptuous evergreen subtropical vegetation comprising fern meadows, lauraceae forests and heather shrubs that convey the feeling of walking through an emerald green tunnel.
For all the fascination of the Levada paths it should not be forgotten that the volcano island also is fabulous territory for mountain walkers. The nearly 1900m high central massif contains routes for all tastes. The triple summit tour from the Arieiro over the Torres to the Pico Ruivo is very alpine in character. This stretch, which has been spectacularly chiselled into the rock, can justifiably be considered the 'royal path'. As well as various shepherd paths and adventurous coastal ascents there are so-called »veredas«, i.e. old paths linking villages, which used to be the sole access to remote locations until a few decades ago only, crossing valleys deep and mountains high. A typical feature is the rounded steps of the paved paths - lovingly called »ox hoof plaster« by local Madeirans.
Rother Walking Guides are convenient, pocket sized guides printed throughout in full colour and presenting a wide variety of walks from easy to the more demanding .
Family-friendly routes are included as are mountain ascents, challenging day-long hikes, and tours covering several days from hut to hut.
Concise and informative descriptions, together with topographical route maps and lots of inspirational colour photographs make it a pleasure to plan and complete each of the chosen walks.
The selected walks (approximately 50 in each guide) give a full flavour of the area, well graded so that you know what terrain you are likely to encounter, and estimated walking times.
Thoroughly researched and up-to-date introductory chapters with lots of advice and informed knowledge from experienced compilers.
Invaluable tips on accommodation, interesting sights, countryside matters, transport, town walking tours etc are all included.
£8.99
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