Let’s also talk about your camping in Madeira adventure. Where exactly did you stay and what were your impressions?
As we spent our days in the mountains, hiking, we did not stay in one place. We slept on a couple of different free camping sites in Madeira: Camping at Fonte do Bispo, Rabaçal, Chao dos Louros, Pico Ruivo and Casa do Sardinha.
Each one of these campsites was completely different. Fonte do Bispo is a green glade surrounded by a forest. The campsite in Rabaçal is small, but the views are amazing. There is also a restaurant and a bathroom nearby. At Chao dos Louros you can feel like you are in a real jungle! Perhaps the most beautiful views were at the Casa do Sardinha campsite on the Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula located just on the shore of the ocean. We were most disappointed with the “campsite” at Pico Ruivo. “Campsite” – deliberately in quotation marks – because it really turned out that the campsite wasn’t there! We spent the night in a covered barbecue building!
There was access to water on all campsites, and most of them had a toilet. And those beautiful views… I definitely recommend camping in Madeira.
What would you advise to other tourists planning on camping in Madeira?
It is important to remember, that in order to sleep on one of these free campsites, you need a permit from the Instituto das Florestas e Conservacao da Natureza, because the campsites are located within the national park. We explain how to get such a permit on our [blog].
It’s so true that you meet some really interesting people when you travel. travels, Whats in a Poncha. Is it alcoholic?
Hello Janine, Yes, Poncha is asmall, but pretty strong drink, made with aguardente de cana (distilled alcohol made from sugar cane juice), sugar/honey + usually lemon juice.. Good medicine for your sore throat 🙂
I live the sense of adventure this couple has. Now I want to try my hand at hitchhiking through Madeira too! Though truth be told, I’d travel through Madeira any way possible!
Great interview with good questions and information. Madeira wasn’t in my mind so far, but sounds definitely interesting.
I am glad that the place met your expectations and you manage to enjoy yourself there! Thats vry important! I dislike setting expectation only to be dissapointed after :((
I am planning to hitchhike next month so this interview was really useful for me 🙂
Loved to see a new perceptive on Madeira through this story. Budget travelers are always looking for options which would help save costs and hitch hiking and free camp sites sounds just perfect!
Thanks for sharing this interview with such a niece couple of adventured with an interesting perspective on Madeira
Wow honestly I’ve never heard of Madeira, but it looks so so stunning! I guess its time to add this to my ever-growing bucket list.
I never associated hitchhiking with Portugal to be honedt. I haven’t done it before myself but it sounds like a really exciting bonding experience for people!
Johnny | Johnny’s Traventures
http://ww.johnnystraventures.com
It’s great to discover so many interesting places like this in the world. I have never traveled to Portugal but will have to check this out when I do one day. 🙂
Madeira is on my list of places to go but probably minus kids. From your experience is it more of an adult friendly location?
Great point. I am actually going to post soon an interview with another blogger, who visited Madeira with her toddler twins. In her opinion, Madeira is a perfect destination for families with kids. Due to the mountains and difficult terrain, I would say it is not the easiest country to walk with a stroller. However, if you rent a car, that should not be a problem. Visiting Madeira with kids won’t be worse, it will be simply different. You won’t be able to take the difficult hikes or go diving with a go-pro, but you can still find a lot… Read more »
A brilliant read! We actually just tried hitchhiking ourselves for the first time a couple of days ago. I know there’s a lot of stigma about it, but we had a great experience with a lovely man in Slovakia. I am yet to visit Portugal (my partner has), and we’ve talked about going soon. Maybe we’ll have to try some hitchhiking in Madeira ourselves!
Maderia has been on my bucketlist for so log, I really enjoyed reading your post and the photos. Bookmarked for future reference, lots of great tips and info.
Thanks for sharing! This place sounds truly amazing! Another one for the bucketlist!
Hey. Thanks for the post, it’s been really helpful in our research.
Could you please give me some more details on the Pico Ruivo area since we intend (and have permission) to camp over there. From the videos I saw, the path around there is really narrow and there’s no place to actually set up a tent. Is this barbeque building hard to find, is it near the shelter?
Thanks
Hello Silviu,
I suggest you contact our guests on their social media. They have the first-hand experience with camping there, which unfortunately I do not. I am sure they will get back to you. Enjoy Madeira!
Hello 🙂 thank you for this blog! Can you tell me if the permission is for free?
As far as I can see, you can camp for free: https://ifcn.madeira.gov.pt/canyoning/campismo/campismo_form.php?estado=campismo_form# Only the shelters aren’t free.