Pico do Castelo

• Outdoors
• From 4
• Children free
• Just turn up

Porto Santo's drive-up viewpoint over the whole island and its nine-kilometre beach, planted with pine, with picnic tables and an old cannon at the top.

The pine and cypress planting makes this the one properly shaded place on a dry, bare island, which is the argument for coming here at midday instead of the beach. Families with small children drive up; the Vereda do Pico Castelo from Moledo is 3.2 km in the short version or 4.6 km in the long one, on an unsurfaced forest track that is stepped in places and steep in others - no pushchair, and hot. The pirate-refuge story and the cannon hold a child's attention longer than the view does.

Worth knowing: Pico do Facho, the island's 517-metre summit, has no road and is another hour and a half to two hours on foot from here - treat it as a separate outing for teenagers.

Opening hours

The operator publishes no opening hours. Phone before you drive.

Prices

Free. Porto Santo's paths are not on the Madeira classified-trail list, so no fee and no booking.

Season

Exposed and dry: above the pine belt there is little shade, and the walk is unpleasant in the middle of a summer day.

Getting there

Prices and opening times change without notice, and on this island they change often. Everything here carries the date it was checked in our research notes; if a place has moved or closed, tell us and we will fix it.