Madeira Guide : 100 long and short walks with detailed maps and GPS; 6 car tours with pull-out map

THE walkers’ guide to Madeira for more than 30 years and a past winner of the Best Travel Guide Award, this book was thoroughly revised for the current 14th edition just before press date.  The book is in a new, wider format, allowing larger type and clearer maps. The maps include waypoints, there are free downloadable GPS tracks for all the walks, and satnav coordinates are included for motorists, to get to the start of the walks – even if you don’t hire a satnav, you can just use your smartphone. The book guides the visitor across the island by car and on foot. But it is primarily known as a walking guide. The Sunday Times said, ‘A remarkable paperback which may have done more than any other to change the way its readers spend their holidays: this book single-handedly turned levada-walking into something approaching a craze.’ ‘Levadas’ are watercourses that carry rainfall from the mountains to irrigate the cultivated terraces, and they have totally captured the imagination of visitors to the island – whether walkers or not. Many people use the book just to picnic or stroll in the idyllic surroundings beside a levada. But Madeira is also one of Europe's top destinations for mountain walks.  The authors visit the island annually to update the guide. Several years ago we concentrated on re-walking all the high-level routes – especially important in view of the path collapse on the major traverse from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo – the island’s top walk. In the 13th edition we concentrated on the devastating 2016 forest fires north of the capital and on the Paul da Serra. In this 14th edition we’ve replaced a walk which became too dangerous, and covered the major changes on the Paul da Serra. As usual, there are fairly significant changes to all the maps. The bright red numbered waypoints on the maps and in the text have been welcomed by walkers, since it makes it very easy to see immediately where you are on a walk.  Key features 100 long and short walking routes  topo maps at a scale of 1:40,000 free downloadable GPS tracks satnav coordinates for walk starting points 6 car tours and accompanying pull-out touring map timetables for public transport plan of Funchal with tourist attractions and the all-important bus departure points online update service for the latest news