Madeira s highest Peaks

A huge disappointment! The first taxi bus was 40 minutes late. The guide wanted to catch up in these 40 minutes during the walk because he had to be at the endpoint on time. Result: soaring over the beautiful mountain peaks of Madeira. Occasionally stop quickly for a photo and run on again. I have spoken to guide Alex several times. Asked if the pace could be lowered. But Alex couldn't tolerate contradiction. Not a single break, there was no time for it. The guide gave no information about the surroundings. Upon arrival destination: The taxi for the outbound journey could not pick us up due to defects. Taxi 2 was on its way, but also had trouble. More than an hour later we get on bus number 3. Within 5, we are out with bad luck with this. There was no food, no drink. No solution was offered other than waiting for another new bus, with at least an hour's delay. I ended up ordering a taxi myself. Your guide has informed this organization. According to them, everything went according to plan. So know what to expect!

I think it’s safe to say this tour exceeded all our expectations! After realising we weren’t able to get PR1 tickets ourselves as they were sold out we decided to book this tour as it said they sorted the tickets (which they did!) We were picked up in Funchal and driven to the start point. Our guide Thiago was friendly and informative but not overbearing and got the balance spot on! The views were incredible along the way despite it being a bit cloudy at both peaks and we saw so much along the way. Couldn’t have enjoyed it more!

We booked a hike but it was cancelled due some car problems. They offered us a another hike a couple days later: "split walk" to The Peaks (Pico do Arieiro – Pico Ruivo). Communication was poor. They did not answer to WA messages nor send us the confirmation e-mail as they promiced. So we waited 2 days and were not sure if the hike was really booked for us. The Peaks and the views were great, but the guide did not walk with the group. The only information he gave us was where to start a hike and where is the toilet. So the guide did not bring anything extra to this hike and we could have just done this same hike all by our selves. At Pico do Arieiro few young girls went to the wrong path and rest of the group waited them quite a while in the bus. This would not happened, if the guide would have walked with the group instead of just sitting and waiting for us at the starting point. Thank you for the car driver, he did his job well.

The advertised route is closed. Has been closed for months. Will remain closed for months. So upon booking you get the choice between two significantly shorter and less interesting hikes instead.

I booked a hiking tour to Pico do Arieiro on 25 September, and I have to say it was one of the most disappointing travel experiences I’ve ever had. This was meant to be a highlight of our trip and, being our last day in Madeira, we would have much preferred to spend the time on another activity had we known how unpleasant the experience would be. From the start, the guide was unfriendly and dismissive. When I asked his name at the beginning, he ignored me and jokingly said “Speedy Gonzales.” Throughout the hike he appeared disinterested, rushed us constantly, and made little effort to create a positive or inclusive experience. (He appeared to hate his job) The pace was not adjusted for the group, despite this being advertised as suitable for all fitness levels. Several people struggled to keep up. In fact 7 of the 13 in the group was 2mins late to meet back ant the bottom of the first peak and he left us behind. When we caught up to him he shouted us and complained to the other guests. It was so unpleasant and rushed - and my friend injured her ankle while hurrying down so ended up taking longer because of him rushing us. We had no real chance to enjoy the views or take in the surroundings, which defeats the whole purpose of a hike in such a beautiful location. At the second peak, we were given just 45 minutes for the climb and return, despite the large crowds and narrow paths. When my friend hesitated due to safety, the guide raised his voice and told her we should stay behind because he would leave without us. This was unnecessarily aggressive and made us feel extremely unwelcome. What made the situation worse was the clear difference in how we were treated compared to others. We were the only non-white participants on the bus, and the guide and driver were warm, friendly, and chatty with everyone else, yet consistently rude, dismissive, and unwilling to engage with us. At the end of the tour, they didn’t even offer a basic goodbye – instead, we were hurried out of the vehicle, which left us with the impression of discriminatory behaviour. It is disheartening and frankly unacceptable that, in an industry built on hospitality and cultural exchange, such unprofessional and discriminatory behaviour still occurs. This experience has left us with a very negative impression of your company and of Madeira, which is incredibly sad given how beautiful this island is. I hope you take this feedback seriously, both in addressing the conduct of this particular guide and driver (as he was extremely aggressive with us when we were last left in the vehicle - as they dropped us -3 females - off last) and in reviewing how you ensure respectful, inclusive experiences for all your guests.

Having booked this hike for months, we were rather disappointed to find that the ‘stairway to heaven’ walk was actually closed last year??!!! What were we paying for??? It turns out that a ‘full’ day tour was actually half a day. The bizarre route up the mountain, off scale, was incredibly difficult, so much so that we abandoned the rest of the walk. The guide was not in the least bit interested. Advice to those booking this trip - don’t!!! £75 for a mini bus is extortionate. Find your own way and pay €3 to do the proper walk.

I booked a hike from Pico Ariero to Pico Ruivo as offered on the Get my Guide site. This was advertised as a moderate hike which having read reviews of I was capable of doing. Cancellation is 24 hours prior to the hike so I was disappointed to receive an email that did not give us to time to cancel telling me the hike route was changed due to fires the previous year. The hike should not still be being offered if it cannot be completed. The change meant we did not see The Stairway to Heaven and the guide appeared to have added on an hours very hard (his words and the other hikers) mountainous climb with no view up to the start of Pico Ruivo. We stopped in a lay-by to be taken to a boulder led bush lined trail. I confess to find it very challenging and fell a few minutes behind the group, the guide did not check on me at all and strode ahead at the front with no input into the hike or group. Once the first part was completed I was upset that I had not been given a chance to change to a different hike and by the lack of any communication from the guide. They should have given me notice with enough time I could change the hike and they should not be offering hikes that no longer are possible. Everyone on my trip had booked to see Pico Arieiro. Very disappointing with a guide that has no interest in the people he is leading and a company that is not honest in what they are offering.

The PR1 route remains closed, so we were offered an alternative to access Pico Ruivo from the north and then walk back to Teixeira. This walk ended up being considerably shorter than we were expecting, obviously if the route is closed, it is closed and there's nothing the tour company can do. Although I did expect the amount of time of the walk to be comparible. The guide added very little to the experience (it felt like the very bare minimum), he didn't seem to like people very much- perhaps he is fed up of people turning up in jeans and tracksuits with inappropriate shoes and not equipped for any kind of mountain conditions? We had booked this well in advance to celebrate a birthday and really wanted to complete a long challenging walk which we didn't get, so we have had a mediocre day. Mountain microclimate being what they are also mean we didn't get good views, again can't be helped and I've tried to be objective in the score. Perhaps the conditions today and the group of people made the guide decide it was best for the group to do a short walk? There was also an issue with the minibus which appeared to be overheating so we had to stop twice whilst this was addressed on the way out, the bus did get us back without foing into limp mode again but there was quite a lot of nasty fumes coming into the vehicle. All in all, pretty average and not what we wanted from the day.

Great walk with knowledgeable and really pleasant guide (Bruno). Due to recent fires some areas closed. Walk through the forest at the end to fill the time not really necessary. More time spent at summit would have been beneficial.

+3

Challenging at times but a very enjoyable and rewarding experience and the views are to die for! The tour guide was also very helpful :)