Madeira as a mountainous island was first developed with roads which cut and contoured mountains and valleys. In the last 12 years new roads have been built reducing distances by tunnels and overpasses. These are very important for local people to easily access any part of Madeira but for tourists, the old roads are the ones which show the best landscapes of Madeira and its history.

If you are a tourist pay attention to signs when entering the old roads as some are getting dangerous due to rock and land falls. Specially in raining and windy days it is not advisable to take these roads.