No personal data soldNo third-party tracking beyond analytics

Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 1, 2026

1. Who We Are

🇵🇹 Before You Hike (2026 Update)

SIMplifica booking is now mandatory for all classified PR trails in Madeira. You must book online before arrival and show a QR code at the trail entry.

  • Standard trails: €4.50 per person
  • PR1 (Pico do Arieiro → Pico Ruivo): €10.50 per person (from April 2026)
  • Book at: simplifica.madeira.gov.pt

Check trail status before you go: IFCN official trail status · IPMA weather

📌 PR1 spent part of early 2026 partially closed for rockfall repairs. It has since reopened. Always verify current status with IFCN, conditions change. Guided tours that include your trail fee are a convenient option, see recommended tours below ↓

Madeira Hiking Tours ("we", "our", "us") is a hiking and outdoor activities guide operating at madeira-trail-guide.com, run by Sofia Almeida in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. We provide editorial comparisons of levada walks, hiking tours, adventure sports, and 4×4 excursions.

2. What Data We Collect

We collect almost nothing. Madeira Hiking Tours is a content site, no user accounts, comments, or newsletters. Specifically:

  • Analytics (Google Analytics): GA4 with IP anonymisation enabled, aggregated, anonymised page view data. We cannot identify individual visitors. Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy.
  • Cookies: GA4 sets first-party cookies (_ga, _ga_*) for analytics. No personal information stored. Disable in browser settings, the site works fine without them.
  • Email: If you contact us at sofia@madeira-trail-guide.com, we receive your email address and message. Used only to reply, never added to any mailing list.

We do NOT: sell or share personal data, run retargeting ads, collect payment information (all bookings happen on Viator), or use social media tracking widgets.

3. Affiliate Disclosure

Madeira Hiking Tours participates in the Viator affiliate partnership (PID: P00303273, MCID: 42383). When you click a Viator link and book, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost. Prices are identical to booking directly.

Recommendations are independent of affiliate relationships. We recommend tours based on quality and value, not commission rates. If a tour isn't worth booking, we say so.

4. Your Rights

Under GDPR: you have the right to know what data we hold (almost certainly nothing beyond anonymised analytics). If you've emailed us and want correspondence deleted, reply and ask, deleted within 30 days. Opt out of Google Analytics via Google's opt-out add-on.

5. Contact

Questions? Email sofia@madeira-trail-guide.com with "Privacy" in the subject. I read every message.

How We Protect Your Data

This site uses Google Analytics 4 with anonymized IP addresses and GoatCounter, a privacy-first analytics tool that doesn't set tracking cookies and doesn't collect personal data beyond a daily visitor count and the referring page. GoatCounter runs on a self-hosted server in Frankfurt, so your visit data stays within the EU. We use these tools to understand which trail guides are actually being read so we can write better content for future hikers.

Affiliate Links and Cookies

Every Viator link includes a publisher tracking parameter (PID P00303273 and MCID 42383). When you click through and book within 30 days, Viator sets its own cookies to attribute the booking and pays us a commission at no extra cost to you. We don't see your name, what you booked, or any personal information beyond the commission amount. Your booking data lives entirely with Viator.

Your Rights Under GDPR

If you're in the EU, you have the right to request a copy of any data we hold, ask us to delete it, or restrict its processing. We don't collect personal data beyond a cookieless visitor count, so there's effectively nothing to export, but if you've emailed us, we'll honour any deletion request within 30 days. The data controller is Sofia Almeida, reachable through the contact form above.