Mt Pico — Local services in Madalena

The absolute key factor to consider for this hike is the weather. We were lucky to catch a beautiful, sunny day, a time window, as the following three days were filled with rain, and the trail was either closed or not enjoyable. If you're planning the hike, flexibility might be essential. The booking system, however, enforces making a decision many weeks ahead, so it's hard to say what to do if you booked a rainy day. Please drop a note if you know.

As for difficulty, you really don’t need a guide unless you've never experienced an ascent and descent of 1000 meters before. For anyone with average fitness, the ascent is straightforward and very manageable. The descent is a bit more challenging; good shoes are surely recommended. Trekking poles can help too. We didn't use any, but they would definitely have made parts of the descent easier. We were a family of four, with two teenagers, and managed the hike without issues.

The only negative experience was at the very start, where our son's shoes were scrutinized intensely. Although they were worn, they were certainly better than some others we saw on the trail. Also, in older reviews I read, people went with extremely worn-out shoes. In real life, it felt a bit excessive — almost like kids in kindergarten being inspected, or horses and their feet. Even my one-year-old Gore-Tex shoes were questioned for a few seconds. One staff member (the 'bad' policeman) was extremely strict, while the other (the 'good' one) has by coincidence stock of shoes for rent for €20 pair, which left us with a bit of a bad taste but yes, if the only alternative was to cancel completely, we paid 'happily' and with the feeling of relief...

To my personal taste, it is over-regulated. I prefer more personal freedom and the responsibility that comes with it. And if I accept it makes sense to perform these checks there should be more justice as we met people with much much worse footware on the trail. The only thing though I REALLY criticize is that nowhere in the permit process it is mentioned that you might be DENIED entry based on your footwear. This lack of transparency can really throw your plans off and maybe even be interpreted as a small 'secondary income' by someone. It is controversial — I acknowledge my 18 years old son's shoes were not perfect, our and his responsibility for not double-checking, and their website mentioned the shoes. In my opinion, though, it should be in big letters or a checkbox explicitly and transparently mentioning the risk of NOT BEING PERMITTED TO ENTER at all!

What we appreciated was the limited number of daily visitors. It was challenging to pass a slower large guided tour, but it happened only twice to us; the rest of the time we went at our own pace, greeting couples or small groups up and down, which was very nice.

All in all, I understand it is not easy to organize an event where demand surely outnumbers supply, so after all, I still think it is organized well and not a reason to lower 5 stars to 4. Once we got past the most rocky part, the bureaucracy, the hike was absolutely amazing. The views were stunning, and the final scramble to the summit, leaving our backpacks in the crater and using hands for the last stretch, felt adventurous and fun. I've climbed peaks around the world, but this one stands out for its unreal combination of THE OCEAN, clouds, and rugged volcanic landscape. Truly one of the most memorable views...

If you are on Pico island you kind of need to hike the mointain — however, it‘s not super cool. Neither is the hike itself very nice, nor will the view be special most of the time (because there is a very high chance of thick clouds blocking the view). Anyway, it‘s a good exercise. Neither is it super tough, if you are somewhat fit in general, nor is it just a walk in the park. We took 2h45m up with a good pace and 3h15m down. The way down can indeed be tricky as it can get quite slippery if it‘s foggy or rainy. So make sure to start early in the morning, as there is a higher chance to have some nice sunny hours early on. In terms of equipment: good gloves are definitely recommended, as the rocks are quite sharp and you are climbing on all fours at parts. Sticks can be useful on the way down, but can be easily avoided. Same goes for guides: you definitely dont need any, if you are fit and went a bit hiking before.

Last thing: you need to register and pay to start the hike. It can book out, so make sure you pre-book at least 2-3 days before. They sell tickets for the main mountain or incl. the last peak — we booked the peak ticket and were wondering how they are going to control it… well, I guess they are still wondering the same ;) Just buy the cheaper ticket and you...

I travelled to this island because it seemed like a cool idea to hike from sea level to the highest point of Portugal. So said so done. I started my hike at 4am at Madalena Porto and returned 15h and 45km later. It was one of the coolest things I ever did. My summery:

The accent from mountain house to the very top of Pico is definitely not as hard as some people claim. For the average-beach-tourist it's probably a challenge but fit people can easily accent and descent within 5-6 hours. Make sure to pick a day with decent weather. Otherwise the view will be underwhelming and the hike itself becomes really annoying due the clouds (no vision, wet gear/clothes). I did the hike in winter and still don't know why some people recommend gloves. Walking sticks are definitely unnecessary. The track is no problem for people with fear of heights. The last 5minutes to the tip of the mountain require some "hiking" but nothing too serious. Even tho my roommate accented Pico with the most worn out sneakers I ever witnessed, solid shoe work is recommendable.

For people who are capable of, I really recommend to walk from sea level, much more adventurous than driving the first few thousand meters...