Pico do Areeiro (often wrongly written as Pico do Arieiro), at high, is

Madeira Island Madeira is a Portuguese island, and is the largest and most populous of the Madeira Archipelago. It has an area of , including Ilhéu de Agostinho, Ilhéu de São Lourenço, Ilhéu Mole (northwest). As of 2011, Madeira had a total population of ...

's third highest peak.Madeira Geography
From the top, visitors can look down on the clouds on most days. The air is fresh and clear and the sun is very bright. On a clear day it is possible to see the neighboring island of

Porto Santo Porto Santo Island () is a Portuguese island northeast of Madeira Island in the North Atlantic Ocean; it is the northernmost and easternmost island of the archipelago of Madeira, located in the Atlantic Ocean west of Europe and Africa. The muni ...

, to the northeast. The footpath northwards towards

Pico Ruivo Pico Ruivo is the highest peak on Madeira Island. It can be reached only by foot, usually either from Pico do Arieiro (3rd highest) after a strenuous hike, or from Achada do Teixeira via a shorter, easier trail. There is an additional trail leadin ...

is an important tourist attraction, with a daily average of 1000 tourists trekking on it. The peak has in recent times become popular with cyclists making the ascent from

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of ...

. Many cycling publications and online lists usually claim that the climb from sea level to the summit at Areeiro is one of the toughest in the world with 1810 meters of climbing over a very short distance of 22 kilometres. There is easy road access to the summit, with a large car park, a restaurant and souvenir shop. In 2011, an Air Defence Radar Station of the Portuguese Air Force was built at the top of the mountain near the tourist facilities.

Climate

Pico do Areeiro has a cool

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, surprisingly wet for this type of climate due to the extreme precipitation it gets, a big part of it from

drizzle Drizzle is a light precipitation consisting of liquid water drops smaller than those of rain – generally smaller than in diameter. Drizzle is normally produced by low stratiform clouds and stratocumulus clouds. Precipitation rates from dri ...

and

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

References

External links

Geography of Madeira Mountains of Portugal Tourist attractions in Madeira Arieiro {{madeira-geo-stub