Overview

Our Madeira self-guided walking holiday is a flexible way to explore the island’s famous walking trails at your own pace.

Madeira is renowned for its network of walking trails – a hikers’ paradise of criss-crossing waymarked paths. The trails owe their existence to Madeira’s famous levadas water channels: when the first settlers arrived in the 15th century, they immediately began constructing an irrigation system to transport fresh water from the mountains to the settlements on the coast. As the population grew, so did the irrigation network: today there are over 2100km of levadas – remarkable when you consider the island is only 56km long and 21km wide.

The walks we’ve suggested here are some of our favourites and will allow you to explore the whole island. However, we’ll normally begin the planning process for your Madeira walking holiday with a telephone chat, so we can get a feel for the type of walks you prefer before we put together a suggested day-by-day itinerary.

We’ll include the return taxis transfers you’ll need to get to-and-from your walks, and we’ll usually base you in one of our favourite quintas in Funchal. The capital is home to many of the best restaurants and café bars on the island, but we can personalise your holiday if you’d prefer the peace of a more rural location.

Itinerary

You’ll begin your holiday with a direct flight to Madeira. Our driver will collect you from your flight, for the twenty-minute transfer to your accommodation in Funchal.
For your first full day on the island, you’ll be transferred to the start point for the Levada dos Tornos trail, which takes you through Choupana and Curral dos Romeiros to the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens.
Your second walk follows the Levada do Norte, Madeira’s oldest and longest water channel, from Estreito de Camara da Lobos to the famous miradouro at Cabo Girao.
You'll head north to walk the Ribeiro Bonito - Levada do Rei trail on the slopes of the Assumadouros mountains. You’ll also have the option to walk the Faja da Rocha do Navio trail in Santana.
Our driver will take you southwest to walk the Sao Lourenco – Prainha – Pico da Piedade trail. Ponta de Sao Lourenco is a beautiful, desolate finger of desert terrain protruding out of the eastern end of the island. Next, you’ll walk the trail from Pico do Facho down into Machico, where where Joao Goncalves Zarco and Trisao Vaz Teixiera first landed when they (re)discovered the island on 1st July 1419.
You’ll walk the island’s most popular trail: the Rabacal Levada do Risco trail to the beautiful 25 Fontes lagoon.
Your final walk will take you across Madeira’s two highest peaks - Pico do Arieiro (1818m) and Pico Ruivo (1861m), with its stunning panoramic view across the island’s central mountains.
You'll be transferred to the airport for your flight home.

From £1600 per person

We can create a tailor-made holiday to suit your budget.

INCLUDED: direct return flights from the UK, acommodation in twin/double en-suite rooms on a B&B basis, return airport transfers, return transfers for your self-guided walks, guidebooks for your walks and an island map.

Accommodation

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