5 days · Rental car · For walkers
Levadas & Peaks: A Hiker's Five Days
The island's greatest walks, from the high ridge to the laurel forest.
Madeira is a walker's island, and this route with a rental car strings together its finest trails: the dawn ridge from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo, the waterfalls of Rabaçal, the otherworldly Fanal, and the wild Ponta de São Lourenço. Bring layers and proper boots.
5 days · 14 stops
The high ridge at dawn
- 06:30
Pico do Arieiro → Pico Ruivo (PR1)
Activity · Pico do Arieiro
Madeira's signature hike along the spine of the island. Start before sunrise to beat cloud. Tunnels — bring a headtorch. ~7 km each way, strenuous.
- 14:00
Late lunch in Santana
Food & drink · Santana
Refuel on the north coast after the descent.
Rest the legs
Note
An easy afternoon — you've earned it.
Waterfalls of Rabaçal
- 09:00
Levada das 25 Fontes & Risco waterfall
Activity · Rabaçal
Park at the top and walk (or take the shuttle) down into the valley. ~9 km, moderate. The 25 springs gather in an emerald pool.
- 13:00
Picnic on the trail
Food & drink · Rabaçal
No services in the valley — pack lunch and water.
- 18:30
Sunset at Paul da Serra
Activity · Paul da Serra
Madeira's high moorland plateau — vast skies on the drive back.
The enchanted forest
- 09:30
Fanal — ancient til trees in the mist
Activity · Fanal
Centuries-old laurel trees on a misty plateau; best when fog rolls through. UNESCO Laurisilva.
- 13:00
Porto Moniz natural pools
Activity · Porto Moniz
Swim in volcanic rock pools fed by the Atlantic on the island's northwest tip.
- 14:30
Seafood at Porto Moniz
Food & drink · Porto Moniz
Right above the pools.
The wild east
- 09:00
Ponta de São Lourenço (PR8)
Activity · Caniçal
A treeless, ochre-and-red peninsula of sea cliffs at the island's eastern tip. ~8 km return, exposed — sun and wind.
- 13:30
Swim at Prainha
Activity · Caniçal
Madeira's only natural black-sand beach, on the way back.
- 19:00
Dinner in Machico
Food & drink · Machico
The island's first capital, with a relaxed seafront.
Laurel forest finale
- 09:00
Levada do Caldeirão Verde
Activity · Queimadas, Santana
A spectacular levada through the heart of the laurel forest to a 100 m waterfall. ~13 km return, tunnels — headtorch.
- 19:30
Farewell espetada
Food & drink · Funchal
End where it began, over beef skewers and a Madeira wine.
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