Levadas & Footpaths of Madeira

Levadas are watercourses with adjacent footpaths, which penetrate virtually every part of the mountainous terrain of Madeira. These watercourses and their adjoining maintenance paths extend for an incredible 2150km. Their flow is stately and serene, and their banks are lovingly planted with agapanthus lilies and hydrangeas. Although their construction began so long ago it was not until the 1980s that levada walking became the popular activity for visitors that it is today.

This is part of the cultural heritage of the island of Madeira and the living expression of how human intervention was possible without creating disruptions in the functioning of ecosystems.
Through the levadas and footpaths you'll find places of indescribable beauty.


Let yourself be carried away through these channels between our Laurissilva Forest - World Heritage of Humanity since 1999, see up close the fauna and flora species, some endemic!



Here's some levadas & footpaths and their estimated time and distance: