Madeira: Levadas, Peaks and the Coast

1. Day 1: Arrive in Madeira and the north coast

   Madeira Airport to Santana

   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Santana
   Day 1 details

   We meet you at Madeira Airport (FNC) in Santa Cruz and drive about 45 minutes past Machico and over to the green, steep north coast, where you spend your first three nights near Santana. This side of the island is quieter than Funchal and sits right below the trailheads for the high peaks and the laurel forest, so the next two mornings start with short drives instead of long ones. In the late afternoon your guide walks you around Santana's traditional thatched A-frame houses, painted white with red doors and blue trim. Over a welcome dinner you meet the group and hear how the week works: the summit sunrise goes on the clearest morning, and we check the webcams and forecast each evening.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Madeira Airport (FNC)
   • Short walk among the traditional houses of Santana
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Time to settle in before dinner

   

2. Day 2: Levada do Caldeirão Verde

   Queimadas Forest Park and back

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Santana
   Day 2 details

   After an early breakfast we drive about 20 minutes up to Queimadas Forest Park, aiming to be walking by 8.30, ahead of the day-tour groups. The trail follows the Levada do Caldeirão Verde, one of the irrigation channels cut along Madeira's mountainsides to carry water, for about 6.5 km through laurel forest, the Laurisilva that UNESCO lists as World Heritage. The path is mostly level but narrow in places, with railings along some of the steeper drops and several tunnels, so bring a headtorch. It ends in the Caldeirão Verde, a green cauldron of cliffs where a tall waterfall drops into a pool. We picnic there, then walk back the same way and are at the hotel by mid-afternoon, with the rest of the day free.

   Included

   • Guided walk on the Levada do Caldeirão Verde (PR9) from Queimadas Forest Park
   • Picnic lunch at the waterfall
   • Trail fees

   Easier option: Walk the first hour of the levada and back, then spend the afternoon at the hotel.

   Free time: Late afternoon free

   Activity: About 13 km there and back, around 5 hours with stops, on a mostly level but narrow path with tunnels and some drops. If the summit forecast is better today, this walk swaps with day 3; it is just as good in cloud.

   

3. Day 3: Sunrise on Pico do Arieiro and Pico Ruivo

   Pico do Arieiro, Achada do Teixeira and Pico Ruivo

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Santana
   Day 3 details

   On the clearer of days 2 and 3, chosen from the webcams and cloud forecast the night before, we leave in the dark and drive about 50 minutes up to Pico do Arieiro, at 1,818 m Madeira's third highest peak. When the cloud sits below the summit, the sun comes up over it. We arrive 45 minutes to an hour before sunrise, use the larger lower car park and stand on the viewpoint with hot drinks and a packed breakfast. Then your guide walks you out along the ridge path as far as it is open that season, to the views of the jagged peaks. Afterwards we drive round to Achada do Teixeira and walk about 2.8 km up to Pico Ruivo, at 1,862 m the island's highest point. You are back by early afternoon, with the afternoon free.

   Included

   • Pico do Arieiro at sunrise
   • Guided walk on the open section of the ridge path from Pico do Arieiro
   • Guided walk from Achada do Teixeira to Pico Ruivo (PR1.2) and back
   • Packed summit breakfast
   • Trail fees

   Easier option: Watch the sunrise and walk the first stretch from Arieiro, then wait at Achada do Teixeira while the group climbs Pico Ruivo.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: About 6 to 8 km in all, with stone steps and around 300 m of climbing to Pico Ruivo. It is cold at the top before sunrise in any season: bring a warm layer, hat and gloves.

   

4. Day 4: Ponta de São Lourenço and on to Funchal

   North coast to Ponta de São Lourenço, Caniçal and Funchal

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Funchal
   Day 4 details

   We check out early and drive about 40 minutes to the end of the road beyond Caniçal, to walk Ponta de São Lourenço while the light is low and before the trail fills up. This narrow peninsula at Madeira's eastern tip looks nothing like the rest of the island: bare volcanic rock in red, ochre and black, low windblown plants, and the Atlantic on both sides. The path runs about 4 km out to the Casa do Sardinha, a small ranger house with picnic tables, with a steep optional climb to a final viewpoint over the islets. There is no shade on the way, which is why we start early. Lunch is grilled fish in the old whaling village of Caniçal, then it is about 35 minutes to your Funchal hotel and a free afternoon.

   Included

   • Guided walk on Ponta de São Lourenço (PR8)
   • Sit-down lunch in Caniçal
   • Transfer to your Funchal hotel
   • Trail fees

   Easier option: Walk to the first two viewpoints, about 1 km from the car park, and wait there for the group.

   More active option: Climb the steep final hill beyond the Casa do Sardinha for the view of the lighthouse islet.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Funchal

   Activity: About 8 km there and back with the final climb, 3 to 4 hours, with rough steps and no shade. Wind is common; bring sun cover and a windproof layer.

   

5. Day 5: 25 Fontes, Risco and the Fanal forest

   Funchal to Rabaçal and Fanal, and back

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Funchal
   Day 5 details

   An early start for the west. We leave Funchal around 7.30 and drive about an hour and a quarter up to Rabaçal on the edge of the Paul da Serra plateau, to be on the trail before the tour coaches arrive and the narrow path gets busy in both directions. From the forest house below Rabaçal two levadas branch off. The first leads to the Risco waterfall, which pours off a high cliff into the valley. The second continues to 25 Fontes, a green pool where many small springs and streams run down a mossy rock wall. We have a packed lunch on the way and climb back up by early afternoon. Then it is about 30 minutes across the plateau to Fanal, where centuries-old til trees stand in open pasture, often wrapped in drifting mist. We are back in Funchal for the evening.

   Included

   • Guided walk on the Levada do Risco (PR6.1) and the Levada das 25 Fontes (PR6) from Rabaçal
   • Minibus down the Rabaçal road, when it runs
   • Packed lunch
   • Time at Fanal
   • Trail fees

   Easier option: Walk only to the Risco waterfall, about 1.5 km from the forest house and nearly level, and back.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: The longest day: about 10 to 11 km, 4 to 5 hours on foot with a steep set of steps down to 25 Fontes and back up, plus about 3 hours of driving.

   

6. Day 6: Funchal, Monte and Cabo Girão

   Funchal, Monte and the south coast

   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Funchal
   Day 6 details

   A slow day, and the week's built-in weather day. If cloud spoiled the sunrise on day 3, we take a second chance this morning from Funchal, about 40 minutes from Pico do Arieiro. If not, there is no alarm. Mid-morning the cable car lifts you from the Old Town up to Monte, above the city. Monte Palace Tropical Garden fills a steep valley with plants from around the world, ponds and old tile panels, and nearby is the church where Charles I, the last Austrian emperor, is buried. You ride down part of the hill in a wicker toboggan, steered by two drivers in white with straw hats, and our vehicle brings you back. The afternoon is yours, for the Mercado dos Lavradores or the painted doors of Rua de Santa Maria. In late light we drive to Cabo Girão, a sea cliff about 580 m high, with a glass-floored viewing platform.

   Included

   • Second-chance sunrise on Pico do Arieiro, if day 3 was clouded
   • Cable car from Funchal to Monte
   • Monte Palace Tropical Garden
   • Wicker toboggan ride down from Monte
   • Cabo Girão skywalk in the late afternoon

   Optional experiences

   • Whale and dolphin watching from Funchal marina

   Free time: Afternoon free in Funchal

   Activity: Easy walking in the garden and the town.

   

7. Day 7: Balcões, Levada do Furado and Porto da Cruz

   Ribeiro Frio to Portela, then Porto da Cruz

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Funchal
   Day 7 details

   We drive about 40 minutes into the mountains to Ribeiro Frio, a hamlet with a trout farm in the middle of the laurel forest. First a short, level walk of about 1.5 km to the Balcões viewpoint, which looks over a deep valley to Pico do Arieiro and Pico Ruivo, the peaks you climbed earlier in the week. Then we follow the Levada do Furado for about 11 km east to Portela, a gentle, mostly level walk under the trees, with views to the north coast and Penha de Águia, the huge rock above Faial. Our vehicle meets us at Portela and takes us down to Porto da Cruz for lunch and a visit to its sugar cane mill and rum distillery, whose machinery still runs on steam in the spring harvest, with a tasting. Back in Funchal, we finish with a farewell dinner.

   Included

   • Guided walk to the Balcões viewpoint (PR11)
   • Guided walk on the Levada do Furado (PR10) from Ribeiro Frio to Portela
   • Sit-down lunch in Porto da Cruz
   • Rum distillery visit and tasting in Porto da Cruz
   • Farewell dinner
   • Trail fees

   Easier option: Walk to Balcões and back, then meet the group at Portela by vehicle.

   Activity: About 14 km in all, 4 to 5 hours, mostly level and shaded, on a path that is narrow in places.

8. Day 8: Departure

   Funchal to Madeira Airport

   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   Your last morning is free. After breakfast there may be time for a final walk along the Funchal seafront or a coffee in the Old Town, depending on your flight. The Mercado dos Lavradores, Funchal's market hall decorated with tile panels, is a good place to buy passion fruit, custard apples and other island fruit to take with you, and is closed on Sundays. We drive you the 25 minutes or so to Madeira Airport in Santa Cruz, whose runway is partly built out over the sea on tall columns, and you can watch the coast drop away as the plane climbs. If your flight is late in the day, ask your guide about leaving bags at the hotel. Your guide checks your flight time with you the evening before.

   Included

   • Drop-off at Madeira Airport (FNC)

   Free time: Free morning, depending on your flight time

Wildlife and weather: Madeira is mild all year. The mountains are much cooler than the coast and can be wet and clouded in at any time, most often in winter.

• Santana3 nights
• Funchal4 nights