Vereda dos Zimbreiros Viewpoint

Most of what happens here happens on the way up. The path from Paul do Mar is paved for most of its length and takes about an hour on foot, with outsized agaves standing along it, and the view at the top pays for the climb. Quiet comes with the place: 34 ratings on the map, and one visitor who arrived at 11 in mid-summer found it far from busy. The paving runs out before the top, and the last stretch turns steep and unmade — that section decides how hard the walk feels, in either direction.

• Footwear: the last section up to the viewpoint is unpaved and steep — boots grip best, and trainers with a good sole have done the job.
• The descent is the harder direction: that same steep stretch is where care is needed on the way back down.
• Toilets and drinking water are both within roughly 220 m of the viewpoint.
• With children: the place suits them, though the final unpaved climb wants a hand held.
• An information point stands about 280 m from the viewpoint.

Two ways in. Drivers stop at the car park about 190 m from the viewpoint, off the ER223 in Fajã da Ovelha, and cover the rest on foot. Walkers come up from Paul do Mar on a paved trail that takes around an hour. The paving stops short of the top, and the final stretch is steep and unmade — the part that needs care, above all on the way back down.

Better: late morning — at 11 in mid-summer the viewpoint was not busy.

Avoid: starting up from Paul do Mar in footwear you would not trust on loose ground, since the last stretch is unpaved and steep.

The place is little known, and quiet is what it offers; the hour on foot from Paul do Mar keeps the numbers down.