3 half-day walks in Madeira (2-3 hours)

Last week, I took 3 days off from work. I wanted to spend some time with my kids and take them outdoors to spend sometime offline. In Madeira, at the moment, wearing a mask is compulsory. Restaurants, comercial activity and some walks are still open until 5 pm on weekends and 6 pm on weekdays – the COVID-19 restrictions are adjusted weekly.

We were looking for short walks (2-3 hours, depends on how fast you walk…) and planning to leave early morning and return home by lunchtime.

So I leave you with some photos.

Walk 1 – Ponta de São Lourenço – Caniçal

The route is well defined in its generality, with areas that require “good knees”, especially when going up and down. It has fabulous views over the sea, both to the north and south, and as the day was clear we even saw Porto Santo Island. There is a support bar at the end of the route and access to the sea, at the Cais do Sardinha. There are also boat trips as an alternative to reach Quinta do Lorde, but we decided to walk back to the starting point in Baía d’Abra.

Walk 2- Levada Nova – Caniçal

Also in Caniçal, this levada starts right next to the exit of the old tunnel of Caniçal (estrada regional 109). It follows the course of the levada to the cemetery and offers stunning views of this area. You can go back through the same route or head towards the sea in the centre of this lovely fishing vila. If you’re looking for accomodation in this area, check this blog post.

Walk 3 – Levada do Moinho / Nova – Ponta do Sol

It took us a few minutes to find the start of the levada, but soon we saw the signpost just behind the Chapel of Lombada da Ponta do Sol. Next to the Chapel there is also a historic mill, easy to spot. The Levada do Moinho is very beautiful, and runs through the cutouts of a beautiful valley in Ponta do Sol, almost always on a flat route. Then there is a trail with several steps that we can climb to take us to the levada nova, where you can make the return path, (in the opposite direction). Beware that this trail has some more vertiginous areas, less protected, and goes through a beautiful waterfall and some tunnels. At the end of the trail, we arrive at the regional road that takes us back to the Chapel.