Miradouro da Santinha

The road If the path is grey, the ridge is in cloud. That is the reason to look before you leave Funchal. The high car parks run about 10 to 15 degrees colder than the city, so a jacket is not optional once you are above the tree line. A bright seafront does not clear the mountain. It often means the opposite: sun below, grey above. The picture is the place it faces. It is not the summit if the summit has no road, and it is not the car park if the camera sits on the ridge. Snack bars and toilets, where they exist, are at the car park, not halfway along the path. Non-residents 12 and over pay €4.50 on Simplifica for the high paths that charge. A clear frame is still not a promise the path is open. Wind can close a walk that looks sunny. Turn around if the path disappears, and do not treat a viewpoint road as a place to stop in the lane. Leave earlier than the picture suggests if you also want the walk, not only the view from the car. The drive up from Funchal is the slow part, and a grey frame at breakfast can still clear, or it can sit all day. Look again at the last village before the steep road. That second look is worth more than hope. If you go up and the path disappears, the turnaround is the success, not the summit. Low gear on the way down. The brakes fade if you ride them. Fuel and the jacket are sorted in Funchal, not at the top. A clear afternoon after a grey morning is common. So is the reverse. The picture is how you tell them apart without driving it twice. Look once before you leave Funchal and once more when you still have a choice. The island changes between the city and the place in the picture. A jacket in the car costs nothing. A car left in a narrow lane costs the village its road. If the picture and the sky over Funchal disagree, believe the picture. Ten minutes later is a fair second look. An hour later can be a different coast.