6 hours Rabaçal
Levada das 25 Fontes Guided Walk
The island's best-known levada walk through the Rabaçal valley to a waterfall amphitheatre, with transfers and a guide who knows the shortcuts.
from €55
Check availabilityLevada Walks & Hiking
Levadas were built to move water from the wet north to the dry south, and the maintenance paths beside them now make up several hundred kilometres of nearly level walking through laurel forest. Alongside them sit the harder mountain routes — a different proposition entirely.
Where to go
Levada das 25 Fontes
The classic: forest, waterfalls, and crowds unless you start early.
Levada dos Balcões
Short, mostly flat, enormous views. Good with children.
Vereda do Arieiro
Arieiro to Ruivo. Exposed, strenuous, spectacular.
Ponta de São Lourenço
Dry, treeless and utterly unlike the rest of the island.
Book it
Guided options
7 hours Pico do Arieiro
Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Hike
Pre-dawn pickup for the ridge walk towards Pico Ruivo, above a sea of cloud. Demanding, unforgettable, and much easier with transport arranged.
from €70
Check availability 5 hours Caniçal
Ponta de São Lourenço Guided Hike
The dry, wind-carved eastern peninsula — red cliffs, sea on both sides and nothing like the rest of the island.
from €45
Check availabilityGuides on this subject
Nature
Best Levada Walks in Madeira
Eight levadas from twenty minutes to a full day, with honest difficulty ratings.
9 min read
Itineraries
7 Days in Madeira
A full week, split between a south-coast base and a few nights in the north.
10 min read