SIMplifica: booking Madeira’s hiking trails

Do you need a SIMplifica account?

Many guides to SIMplifica open the same way: create an account. The portal’s own video for tourists says the opposite eleven seconds in: “It is not necessary to register on the portal.” The account is for residents, who need it to prove their exemption. Visitors press Request, type an email and carry on. And the “hiking permit” everyone talks about is exactly this: a timed ticket, per person and per trail.

The system began on 1 January 2026 to spread walkers across the day, in entry slots with separate places for visitors and residents. Everything happens online: at the desks of the IFCN, the institute that runs the trails, nothing can be booked or paid. You can book for the same day, as long as places remain.

How to book a trail, screen by screen

1. Open the trail fees service and ignore the register and sign-in buttons at the top. If the page stays in Portuguese after you change the language, the button names are in brackets below.
2. To check places first, use the See availability tab (Ver disponibilidade), which asks for the trail.
3. Press Request (Solicitar) to open the first form.
4. Type your email, where the tickets go, and tick the liability box. If asked about a NIF, the Portuguese tax number, answer No unless you need it on the invoice.
5. Enter your tickets: visitor over 12, visitor up to 12 and person with a disability. Children and other exempt walkers go here, at zero euros.
6. Choose the trail and the date. Names stay in Portuguese even in the English version, such as “PR1 | Vereda do Areeiro - só até à Pedra Rija”, meaning only as far as Pedra Rija. In the grid, pick one 30-minute slot, the maximum per booking, and confirm.
7. The portal asks if you want another reservation. For more trails, answer Yes and repeat the previous step: this is how the combined fees come in. If not, answer No and press Following (Seguinte).
8. Check the amount and the deadline, then press Pay (Pagar). There is card, Multibanco and MB WAY; the last two are Portuguese systems.
9. Save what arrives by email: the invoice-receipt, the tickets as a PDF and a .pkpass file for your phone’s wallet. Download everything before you leave.

The screens after Request follow the portal’s official video from January 2026. A button may have changed its name.

What it costs: €4.50, €10.50 and the combined fees

You cannot buy the combined fees: you add each trail and the system applies the cheapest rate at the end. And they are not a pass: every trail still needs its own booking, with a time and subject to places.

Do the sums and the 1-day fee only saves money from the third trail that day, the 3-day fee from the sixth and the 7-day fee from the twelfth. Keep everything in the same request: the discount is worked out at the end of it.

The traps that cost you the ticket

• The time is an entry time. You book the half hour in which you start, then take as long as you need. The IFCN usually allows about 15 minutes, a little more for people walking trails in sequence. Miss your slot and you lose the fee.
• The Pedra Rija ticket. It costs €4.50 and ends at the viewpoint, at km 1.2 of PR1. It does not reach Pico Ruivo and cannot be converted: change your mind and you buy a new €10.50 ticket, if places remain.
• Exempt walkers still book. Residents, children up to 12 and people with a disability of 60% or more, with one guardian, pay nothing but need a place and proof. The rules also allow registering at the start; the IFCN FAQ says to book.
• Rain does not get you a refund. Rescheduling or a refund only exists if the trail is officially closed or restricted that day, and you ask helpdesk.ifcn@madeira.gov.pt within 10 working days. Illness, a cancelled flight or bad weather on an open trail all lose you the fee. The SIMplifica helpline cannot change paid bookings.
• The cancelled booking email. If you already have tickets and an invoice and then get a cancellation notice, compare the reference numbers: if they differ, it refers to an earlier attempt you never finished, and you can ignore it.
• Cabo Girão is a separate service. The skywalk is sold on the same portal, on another page, for €5, also with no account for tourists. A trail ticket does not work there.

PR1 in 2026: times, one-way rule and getting back

The PR1 from Pico do Areeiro (often spelt Arieiro) reopened in full on 1 May 2026 and on 26 June began opening every day, with two new slots, at 07:00 and 07:30, of 70 places each.

Only the stretch to Pedra Rija runs both ways; from there to Pico Ruivo it is one way, through the tunnels, and you always enter at Pico do Areeiro, never at the Pedra Rija gate. You leave via Ilha or Achada do Teixeira, and getting back is up to you: a car left at Pico do Areeiro, at €4 an hour up to €20 a day, ends up on the wrong side of the mountain. If you only want to stand on Pico Ruivo, take PR1.2 from Achada do Teixeira, 2.8 km each way, for €4.50.

Which trails need booking and which are free

The official list has 42 classified trails. You book and pay on the 38 run by the IFCN, the ones the portal shows. The other four have no fee or booking: PR3 Vereda do Burro, PR3.1 Caminho Real do Monte and PR4 Levada do Barreiro, run by Funchal City Council, and PR23 Levada da Azenha, run by Caniço Parish Council.

Check the status on the IFCN list on the day. At Fanal the forest itself stays free: you only pay for the trails that cross it, PR13 and PR14.

Reaching your entry slot on time, by car or by bus

Pick your entry time only once you know when you will arrive. Times and fares for the whole network are in our guide to Madeira without a car. This autumn the ER105 is closed between Encumeada and Paul da Serra: check your route to Rabaçal.

Two days that fit the entry slots

• Without a car, Balcões. Take the 801 at 10:00, which reaches Ribeiro Frio at 10:41, and book PR11 for 11:00. It is 1.5 km each way, plenty for the 13:15 bus back, or the 13:45 outside term time. The timetable shows no other.
• With a car, Rabaçal. PR6, PR6.1 and PR6.3 start in the same place, and all three on one day cost €9 instead of €13.50. Book them in the same request, with 25 Fontes first, and leave at least three and a half hours before the next entry.
• When to book. Rain brings no refund, so the ideal is to book with the forecast in sight, two or three days ahead. But full slots close by themselves: on PR1 and at Rabaçal, the busiest, book as soon as you have a date on summer mornings.

Frequently asked questions

How do you book hiking trails in Madeira?

On the SIMplifica portal, in the service for trail fees. Press Request, enter your email and number of tickets, choose the trail, the day and a 30-minute entry slot, then pay by card, Multibanco or MB WAY. The tickets arrive by email.

Do I need an account on SIMplifica to book a hike?

Not if you are a tourist or non-resident: the portal’s official video says registering is not necessary. Madeira residents do need an account and a resident card to claim their exemption.

How much do Madeira’s hiking trails cost in 2026?

Each trail costs €4.50. PR1 costs €4.50 to Pedra Rija and €10.50 to Pico Ruivo. Two or more trails come to €9 in one day, €22.50 over three days and €52.50 over seven, always without PR1.

What happens to my booking if it rains?

If the trail stays open, you lose the fee, even with a weather warning. Rescheduling or a refund only applies if it is officially closed or restricted that day. The request goes by email to the IFCN, within 10 working days.

Which hiking trails in Madeira are free?

The classified trails not run by the IFCN have no fee or booking: PR3, PR3.1, PR4 and PR23. Levadas and paths outside the official list do not pay either, but the IFCN takes no responsibility for them.

Does the Pedra Rija ticket get me to Pico Ruivo?

No. That €4.50 ticket ends at the viewpoint, at km 1.2, and cannot be converted. To reach Pico Ruivo on PR1 you need the full €10.50 ticket, which includes PR1.1, PR1.2 and PR1.3.

What is the fine for hiking without a ticket in Madeira?

Between April and 13 May 2026, the Forest Police checked 5,538 walkers and issued 43 fines of €50 for not paying the fee, settled on the spot. The €250 you read about went to people who entered closed trails, where the law goes up to €2,500.