Start of Vereda do Larano

Cars stand on the verge, an information board sits 55 m off, and the path runs east from there along the cliffs above the ocean. The trail is what the stop is for: lightly walked, the sea straight below, forest in some stretches and bare open ground in others. A waterfall lands directly on the path, so you walk through falling water on a dry day as readily as a wet one. The walking itself is straightforward. The effort goes into reaching the start.

• Parking: Roadside spaces only, and they are hard to find. The curve just before the Baco de Risco trail start is the place to aim for.
• No toilets, no water: Nothing at the trailhead. The nearest public toilets are down in Porto da Cruz.
• Waterproofs: A waterfall lands on the path, so a rain shell is worth carrying whatever the forecast says.
• Sun: The route trades forest for open, barren ground with no cover at all. Carry water and cover up.

The road runs to the trailhead itself: the car stops on the verge and the path starts there. Aim for the pull-in at the curve just before the Baco de Risco start and take whatever is free, and if nothing is, there is more space along the road below it. The alternative is to come up on foot from Porto da Cruz, from the promenade road at Praia da Maiata — about an hour of steep climbing that leaves you tired before Vereda do Larano has begun.

Better: early in the day.

Avoid: a late start.

The trail is at its quietest early, and walkers heading back later meet more people coming the other way. Roadside spaces thin out on the same schedule, though not as fast as you might fear: one group arriving around 2:30pm in April still found a few free. The open stretches give no shade either, which is a further argument for the first hours.