Madeira has many footpaths and hiking trails for all types and fitness levels.

A lot of these footpaths are by the levadas of Madeira, the man-made water channels that take water from the wetter northern part of the island to the drier southern part. There are around 2,000 kilometres of these levadas on the island.

However, the two best walks that I did weren’t along levadas.

The first was along the north coast from Vereda do Larano to Boca do Risco and then along the coast westwards to Cabo de Larano and on to Porto da Cruz. The views looking boths way are truly beautiful. There’s even a rum distillery at Porto da Cruz to help you relax after the walk. With this walk there are few people coming the other way.

The other walk is possibly the best on the island, from Pico do Arieiro, the third highest peak on the island at 1818 metres, to the highest peak, Pico Ruivo at 1,862 metres. For this walk you definitely need sturdy shoes, a torch for the tunnels, and some water and food.

After the Ninho da Manta viewpoint with its spectacular views of the surrounding valleys, the first tunnel called the Tunel do Pico do Gato soon approaches. This is the first of the four tunnels on the route I’m describing. There will be plenty of people coming the other way by this time and so you have to really watch where you’re putting your feet. Three more tunnels enable hikers to bypass the steep climb to Pico das Torres. It’s just after the last of these tunnels that the path gets steeper and it’s a stiff climb to the mountain refuge below Pico Ruivo. From here there’s only another 100 metres of ascent to the top from which there are superb views all around, although the clouds can soon close in, so take those photos of the landscape while you can.