Madeira levada hiking from Funchal

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Madeira has so many water channels that the hard part is choosing one. Every guide lists a different favourite, the names repeat across the island, and a walk that looks like a stroll on a map can turn out to be five hours with tunnels. Madeira levada hiking is simplest when you sort the walks by three things: how far the start is from Funchal, how long the walk takes, and whether it is a classified trail with a fee.

That sorting leaves a short list. The Levada dos Tornos starts 8 minutes above the city and needs no booking. Ribeiro Frio, 25 minutes away, has the easiest classified levada walk and one of the longest. Rabaçal, on the western plateau, has two waterfalls on two trails. Queimadas, above Santana, has the Caldeirão Verde. Fanal, the furthest, has the Levada dos Cedros through old laurel forest.

What a levada is

Visitors often picture a levada as a trail. It is a water channel, and the path beside it exists because people had to walk it to maintain the flow.

The channels through the forest are typically 80 to 150 cm wide, built in stone or, more recently, in concrete. They carry water from the wet north and the mountains to hydropower stations and to the towns of the south. The forest they cross plays a leading role in the island's water balance: the Laurisilva catches the moisture, and the levadas carry it away.

Some are old. The Levada do Caldeirão Verde was built in the 18th century to water the farmland of Faial. The Levada do Furado, walked today as PR10, was acquired by the state under a contract of 1822, signed between the first Conde Carvalhal and the Junta da Real Fazenda, to water the fields of Porto da Cruz. Others are modern: the Levada dos Tornos was officially inaugurated in 1966, built to bring drinking water to Funchal and to produce electricity, and much of its length runs in tunnels.

That history shapes the walking. A levada keeps an almost even gradient, because water needs one, so the path is usually close to level. It follows the contour of the hillside, so it winds in and out of every valley. And where the channel goes through rock, so does the walker.

The Levada dos Tornos, the walk from Funchal

The mistake most visitors from Funchal make is to drive an hour for a levada when one runs right above the city. The Levada dos Tornos is 5.2 km from the centre by road, about 8 minutes.

The madeira levada hiking trail people walk from the city follows two walkable sections of the Tornos: Curral dos Romeiros, above Monte, to Camacha, and Camacha to Santo da Serra. The best-known stretch is the one between Palheiro and Monte: 4 km, given 3 to 4 hours including lunch, ending in the village of Monte at the top station of the cable car. The map shows the levada in walking order from Camacha, past the path near Palheiro, to the point above Monte.

It is not one of the classified PR trails, so there is no SIMplifica booking and no fee. That also means no official time and no difficulty rating: the 4 km and the 3 to 4 hours are the usual estimate for the Palheiro to Monte stretch.

Getting there is easy. Horários do Funchal runs a route named Curral dos Romeiros, and a bus stop called Levada dos Tornos stands near Palheiro. Ending at Monte has an advantage: the cable car goes down to the seafront, €16 one way, with the last boarding at 17:45, so you walk one way and ride back.

Camacha, at the eastern end, is a parish of Santa Cruz; its parish church, built in honour of São Lourenço, dates from 1997. A drinking fountain stands on the levada near the village.

1. 1
   Camacha Camacha, the eastern end32.6794° N, 16.8449° W · Open in Google Maps
2. 2
   Levada dos Tornos below Camacha the levada below Camacha32.6758° N, 16.8436° W · Open in Google Maps
3. 3
   Levada dos Tornos path near Palheiro the path near Palheiro, where the 4 km walk to Monte begins32.6668° N, 16.8598° W · Open in Google Maps
4. 4
   Levada dos Tornos above Monte (Caminho da Levada dos Tornos) above Monte, near the top of the cable car32.6827° N, 16.9128° W · Open in Google Maps

The waterfall walks: Rabaçal and Queimadas

The common mistake is to expect a waterfall on every levada. Most have none; two areas have the famous ones.

At Rabaçal, on the Paul da Serra plateau, two trails share a start. PR6.1, the Levada do Risco, is 1.5 km each way, easy, and ends at the Risco waterfall, about 100 m high. PR6, the Levada das 25 Fontes, is 4.3 km each way, moderate, about 3 hours, and ends at a pool fed by many springs. Both begin at the Rabaçal house below the ER105, reached from the car park by a shuttle van or on foot down the road. No regular bus goes to Rabaçal.

At Queimadas, above Santana, PR9 follows the Levada do Caldeirão Verde for 8.7 km to a madeira levada waterfall of about 100 m, falling into a lagoon on the left of the channel. It is a full day, about 6 hours 30 minutes there and back, with four tunnels. The trail continues 2,200 m beyond it to the Caldeirão do Inferno.

The two are different days. Rabaçal gives a shorter walk, or two short walks, on a plateau at about 1,000 to 1,300 m. Queimadas gives one long walk through forest and rock, on the rainy north side.

Each has its own guide, with the route map, the start and the transport: the Risco and the 25 Fontes and the Caldeirão Verde.

Ribeiro Frio: the easiest and one of the longest

People who want one easy levada often drive past the best candidate. Ribeiro Frio, 16.9 km from Funchal and about 25 minutes by road, is the start of two classified trails of very different sizes.

PR11, the Vereda dos Balcões, follows the Levada da Serra do Faial for 1.5 km to the Balcões viewpoint, 3 km there and back, rated easy and given 1 hour 30 minutes. It stays between 870 m and 880 m, so there is no climb to speak of. It is the shortest of the madeira levada hikes with a fee, and the one to choose for children, for a first levada, or for a half day with something else after it.

PR10, the Levada do Furado, runs from the ER103 at Ribeiro Frio to the ER102 at Portela: 11 km, moderate, about 5 hours, dropping from 880 m to 645 m. It is one way, through the Laurisilva, on one of the island's oldest levadas, so plan how to get back from Portela before you start.

Ribeiro Frio itself is a forest park run by the IFCN, with a trout farm that has bred rainbow trout for inland fishing since 1960. The birds to look for are the bis-bis, the Madeira firecrest, which is the smallest bird on the island, the chaffinch and the trocaz, the endemic laurel pigeon.

Line 103 from Funchal to Santana runs via Ribeiro Frio, which makes it one of the few classified levada starts on a regular bus route.

Choosing by effort

The usual mistake is to pick by photograph and discover the time on the trail. Sorted by effort, the choice becomes simple.

Easy, under two hours: PR11 to the Balcões viewpoint, 1:30, and PR6.1 to the Risco, about 2 hours. Both are short, nearly level and rated easy, and both suit families, a first levada or a half day. The Risco also makes the easiest madeira levada hiking waterfall walk on the island, at the cost of a longer drive, about 44 minutes each way.

Half a day: PR6 to the 25 Fontes, about 3 hours, and PR14, the Levada dos Cedros, about 3 hours one way. The Tornos between Palheiro and Monte sits here too, 4 km in 3 to 4 hours, but with a lunch stop and the cable car at the end it fills more of the day.

A full day: PR9 to the Caldeirão Verde, about 6 hours 30 minutes there and back, and PR10, the Levada do Furado, about 5 hours one way to Portela. Both need an early start, food and water, and a plan for the return: PR9 is there and back on the same path, PR10 ends somewhere else.

Classified trails are rated by the regional authorities: easy or moderate on the levadas listed here. Moderate on a levada usually means distance rather than steepness, since the gradient follows the water. The numbers in the table are walking time; add the drive, the parking and the stops.

The walk from Funchal to Monte takes about four hours but is often combined with the cable car return.

The west: Rabaçal and Fanal

Walkers who stay on the south coast often think the west is too far for a day. It is a long drive, but the plateau holds three classified levada walks within a few kilometres.

Paul da Serra is the island's only plateau, at about 1,500 m. Rabaçal sits at its edge, 40.5 km and about 44 minutes from Funchal, and it is the start for the madeira levada hike waterfall walkers plan most often: the Risco on PR6.1 and the 25 Fontes on PR6. A visit to both, with the shuttle down to the trailhead, takes most of a day.

Fanal, in the municipality of Porto Moniz, is further, 47.4 km and about 76 minutes by road. It lies in the Laurisilva, in a perfect state of conservation, and fog is frequent there because of the altitude. PR14, the Levada dos Cedros, starts at Fanal on the ER209 and ends at Curral Falso on the same road: 7.2 km, moderate, about 3 hours. PR13, the Vereda do Fanal, reaches Fanal from the plateau at Assobiadores, 10.8 km in about 4 hours, but it is a path rather than a levada. Near Fanal, a viewpoint looks out over Paul da Serra and Rabaçal in every direction.

A forest fire burned part of the Fanal area in 2012. The west is best with a car, since no regular bus goes to Rabaçal or Fanal, and it is worth combining the two on one day only if you start early.

The Laurisilva, the forest the levadas cross

Most walkers come for the water and remember the forest. On nearly every classic levada the setting is the Laurisilva, the laurel forest.

It covers about 15,000 ha, some 20% of the island, and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, number 934, under criteria (ix) and (x). It is the largest surviving area of laurel forest, a type now found only in the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands; it is a relic of a forest type that covered much of southern Europe 15 to 40 million years ago. About 90% of it is believed to be primary forest, never felled, and some of its trees may be more than 800 years old.

On the north coast it grows between about 300 m and 1,300 m, mostly on the north-facing slopes; on the south side it survives in places between 700 m and 1,200 m. The dominant trees are endemic laurels: barbusano, the laurel Laurus novocanariensis, til and vinhático. The trocaz, the Madeiran long-toed pigeon, is among its endemic species, and the EU Habitats Directive obliges Portugal to protect 39 rare and threatened species there. Goats and sheep that damaged the forest have been removed.

A madeira levada walk lush forest photographs promise is found on PR9, PR10, PR11, PR6 and PR14; the Tornos above Funchal runs lower and closer to the city. The property lies within the Madeira Natural Park, 27,000 ha in all; the UNESCO listing has the full description.

The Laurisilva forest survives between 700 m and 1,200 m and protects 39 rare species under EU directives.

Rain, fog and the seasons

The mistake is to plan a north-side levada by the weather in Funchal. The forest is green because it is wet, and the rain falls where the levadas start.

The station at Queimadas, the start of PR9, averaged 2,314.6 mm of rain a year over 1941-1970. November was the wettest month there, with 391.0 mm, and July the driest, with 47.1 mm; June had 61.1 mm and August 69.5 mm. Machico, on the dry eastern coast, averages about 710 mm a year. The difference is the island in two numbers: the levadas collect water where it falls and carry it to where it does not.

That makes madeira levada hiking summer the easy season. June to August bring the least rain at Queimadas and the warmest days, with average highs of 16.9 °C in June, 19.1 °C in July and 19.7 °C in August. From October the rain returns, and November to January are the wettest months, with highs of about 12 to 15 °C.

Fog is a separate matter. At Fanal it is frequent because of the altitude, in any month, and on the plateau it can close in quickly. For the views, go early; for the atmosphere of the forest in mist, Fanal delivers it often.

Whatever the month, check the IFCN's notices before you go. Classified trails close for works, and the official trail pages show a banner when a section is shut.

Frequent fog at Fanal due to altitude creates atmospheric conditions best experienced early in the day.

Tunnels, drops and what to take

People treat a level path as a safe one. On a levada the danger is not the gradient but the edge.

The channel is 80 to 150 cm wide, and the path beside it is often narrower. On one side is the water, on the other, in places, the slope falling away. A madeira levada walk forest path is also usually wet: moss, mud and water on the stones, and drips from the rock in the tunnels. Keep to the path, walk in single file on the narrow stretches, and turn back rather than squeeze past a group at an edge.

Tunnels are part of several walks. PR9 has four, and the Levada dos Tornos runs in tunnels for much of its length. A torch helps even in the short ones, and a head torch leaves both hands free.

What to take: shoes with grip, a waterproof and a warm layer for the north side and the plateau, water and food for the full length, and sun protection for the open stretches. On the long walks, turn at a set hour rather than at a set place, because the way back is the same distance.

The classified trails need a booking before you set off: €4.50 for visitors over 12, paid on the SIMplifica portal; children 12 and under are exempt. The IFCN's page on trail fees has the rules and the combined rates.

Getting there without a car

Visitors without a car often assume the levadas are out of reach. Some are on a bus route; others need a taxi or a tour for the last stretch.

The Levada dos Tornos is the easiest: Horários do Funchal runs a route named Curral dos Romeiros, above Monte, and a stop called Levada dos Tornos lies near Palheiro. Walk towards Monte and take the cable car down to the seafront at the end.

Ribeiro Frio is on line 103, Funchal to Santana, which runs via Ribeiro Frio; that serves both PR11 and the start of PR10. For PR9, take line 56 or line 103 to Santana, 75 to 90 minutes, then a taxi to Queimadas, reported at about €12. No regular bus goes to Rabaçal or Fanal.

City fares on Horários do Funchal are €2.05 on board, or €1.45 per trip on a pre-paid GIRO card, which costs €0.50; day tickets start at €4.95. Intermunicipal fares, on the lines that leave Funchal, are higher, €2.65 on board. The 2026 fare table has every price.

With a bus, the timetable sets the day. Check the last departure back before you start, and allow for it on the long walks, where the walking time alone can be six hours.

Guided, transfer, or on your own

The common mistake is to pay for a guide when a lift was the problem, or to go alone when the problem was the route.

A transfer takes you to the start and collects you at the end, and you walk on your own. It solves the one-way walks, PR10 and PR14, and the starts without a bus, Rabaçal and Fanal. Several transfers, for PR9 and PR18 among them, leave the trail fee out, so book it on SIMplifica yourself.

A guided walk adds someone who knows the route, sets the pace and turns the group back if the weather changes. It suits a first levada on the long trails, a walker alone, or anyone uneasy about the edges and the tunnels.

On your own with a car, the classic walks are straightforward: the paths are clear, the classified trails are signed and managed by the IFCN, and the figures in the table are enough to plan the day. Without a car, the Tornos and Ribeiro Frio are the natural choices.

Whichever you pick, read what the product includes: pickup, the fee, the length of the walk, and whether it is there and back or one way.

Monte after the Tornos, and the other trails

A Levada dos Tornos walk ends in Monte, and the village is worth the time you have left.

The Monte church, Nossa Senhora do Monte, holds the tomb of Emperor Karl I of Austria, who died in exile in Monte on 1 April 1922. Next to it, the Monte Palace Tropical Garden costs €18 for an adult, with children up to 14 free with an adult. The toboggans, the carros de cesto, run about 2 km down to Livramento in about 10 minutes, at €30 for one, €40 for two and €60 for three; the carreiros have driven them for more than 100 years. The cable car to the seafront costs €16 one way and €22 return, daily from 09:00, with the last boarding at 17:45.

Beyond the levadas, the mountain trails have their own guides. The walk from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo crosses the central peaks, and the Stairway to Heaven is its famous first stretch. The island crossing links trails into several days, and the hiking hub lists every trail with its fee and its start.

Common questions

Which levada is closest to Funchal?

The Levada dos Tornos, about 8 minutes above the city by road. The walk from Palheiro to Monte is 4 km, 3 to 4 hours with lunch, and has no fee.

Which levada walk is the easiest?

PR11, the Vereda dos Balcões at Ribeiro Frio: 1.5 km each way, 1 hour 30 minutes, rated easy. PR6.1 to the Risco is also easy.

Do I pay to walk a levada?

On a classified PR trail, yes: €4.50 for visitors over 12, on the SIMplifica portal. The Levada dos Tornos is not classified and costs nothing.

Which levadas have waterfalls?

PR6.1 ends at the Risco, PR6 at the 25 Fontes, and PR9 at the Caldeirão Verde, about 100 m high.

Can I reach a levada by bus?

Yes. A route runs to Curral dos Romeiros for the Tornos, and line 103 stops at Ribeiro Frio. Rabaçal and Fanal have no regular bus.