Pico do Arieiro: the peak you drive to, and what it costs

What is up there

A road ends at 1,818 m, next to a radar station, a café with toilets and a viewpoint over the ridge. The Freira centre, named after the island's rarest seabird, sits on the same summit.

You'll see both spellings. Areeiro on the road signs and the forest service boards, Arieiro on most maps and tour listings. Same mountain.

Parking is charged by the hour

The top car park has 70 spaces and charges €4 an hour, with the first 15 minutes free. The car park further down is €2 an hour. Residents pay the same as visitors. The tariff was announced by the regional government in August 2024.

For sunrise that's the cheap part of the morning. Get there before the sky lightens: there are 70 spaces at the top and the sunrise crowd is bigger than that.

Sunrise, and the cloud

The point of coming at dawn is the cloud layer below the summit, which turns the ridge into islands. When the cloud sits above instead, you get grey.

The reading at the top of this page is the live observation from the summit station, next to Funchal's. Compare the two before you leave, and remember the wind up here makes it feel colder than the number.

Our sunrise trips take the driving off you in the dark. With a car you don't need one.

The walk to Pico Ruivo

PR 1 leaves the car park and runs 6.1 km along the ridge to Pico Ruivo, the highest point of the island. Check the status panel below first: the forest service has the route only partly open, and the section beyond the Pedra Rija viewpoint is the part that closes.

It is not a flat ridge walk. You start at 1,857 m, drop to 1,491 m and climb again to 1,862 m, through tunnels and up steps cut into the rock.

The fee is €10.50 for the full route, or €4.50 as far as the Pedra Rija viewpoint. Children aged 12 or under and Madeira residents go free. Everyone books online on the SIMplifica portal.

When to come

Early or late. The summit is at its emptiest before sunrise and after five, and the light is better at both ends.

Take a jacket whatever the forecast in Funchal says. It is a different climate up here, and the two numbers at the top of this page usually show it.

Tours that stop here, and for how long

The trips we've published with a stop here, the longest first. The time is what the operator books for the stop, so on a walking trip it is the walk itself rather than time standing about.

21 more published trips have timed stops of 45 minutes or less. 2 other trips pass without stopping. Prices and ratings as of 21 September 2026. Ratings combine Viator and Tripadvisor. All 4x4 jeep tours of east Madeira → · All east Madeira day tours from Funchal → · All sunrise tours and guided hikes at Pico do Arieiro → · All Madeira tours that pick up outside Funchal →

Marked routes that start here

Status from the IFCN table of classified routes, re-read at every build and again in your browser. All routes with today’s status.