PR19 Caminho Real do Paul do Mar — Attraction in Calheta

One of my top 3 walks on Madeira. Could be done as a round-trip. Please read below.

start from Jardim do Mar - walk on top of the rocks, along the coastline - Paul do Mar - PR 19 uphill - Prazeres - PR 20 downhill. Important info: The whole thing should take up to 4 hours with short breaks for drinking. The walk from Jardim do Mar to Paul do Mar is not a path / route / trail, you just walk on the rocks along the cliff wall. You should walk there only during low tide and good weather conditions (falling rocks warning). PR 19 is made of quasi-stairs (made from small rocks), which are extremely durable, but they also sometimes become almost flat and diagonal. Good anti-slip shoes recommended. Also, you're doing a 500m of height within a 1h walk so you have to be at least 'healthy' (being 'fit' or 'athletic' is not mandatory). PR 20 is officially closed as of 09/11/2020. You walk at your own risk. It seems like there was a small rock avalanche so some parts are covered with gravel and sand. The most difficult part is at ~270m height. You should use your hands (or even hiking sticks) there to not slide downhil. The whole trip is well...

GREAT! For everyone who likes a physical challenge in a spectacular place! The walk is quite hard but super pretty (nice looking path and great view). We started up in Prazeres (walk starts at the green bin!) and went downhill in 40mins to Paul do Mar. We had a short look in the village, which looks really pretty (multiple bars down there if you fancy a drink or food), and then went back up again in 55mins. We started early (9AM) so that the path was still in the shade, which really helped (bit cooler) and we also recommend for other hikers. Since we were done so early we took the car and drove off to PR6 (hiked PR6, 6.2 and 6.3) which is a ~35min drive. We decided not to go for PR20 since there was not much beach left to walk over from Paul do mar to Jardim do Mar to hike PR20 only uphill (recommended online by other walkers) and we did not fancy another steep going down and climb up (which was also discouraged online by other hikers). All together...

In my opinion, this trail is the best of the entire Madeira island. What I particularly like about it is it's diversity. To start off, you walk down a paved but beautiful path through a canyon with several waterfalls. With an optional stop in one of the snack bars at the small port, you then balance your way over to Jardim do Mar on stones right next to the water. Make sure to stop there for a cooling swim. But don't wait too long, because otherwise the tide is up too high. After the rocky part, you'll arrive in the beautiful village Jardim do Mar for another snack opportunity. We stopped at Joe's Snackbar and had refreshing juices before the last climb - 550m back up. All in all, this trail is amazing and should be on everyone's...