Abroad · On foot · May and June 2019
Madeira, island of levadas
Three days on the island of flowers: Funchal, the levadas of Rabaçal and 25 Fontes, the pride of Madeira on Pico do Arieiro, and an unplanned return via Porto.
- Duration
- 3 days on the island · late May 2019
- Hike
- Rabaçal and the 25 Fontes
- Highlight
- Pride of Madeira on Pico do Arieiro
- Bonus
- An unplanned night in Porto
29–30 May
Funchal, just the two of us
A little break, just the two of us. A stopover in Lisbon, then Funchal, where a single day is enough to make you want to stay a month. Flowers everywhere, the wicker toboggan ride down the lanes, and in the evening the city lit up from a rooftop.
31 May
Rabaçal and the 25 Fontes
A tropical walk, and a superb day. Madeira has a touch of the Valais about it, with its levadas, irrigation channels that recall our bisses, and its countless hiking options.
Ridges, broom in flower, a cow napping in the sun, then the damp forest along the water, to the waterfalls and the pool of 25 Fontes. Waterfalls, broom and climbs: what more could you ask?
1 June
Pico do Arieiro and the north
At Pico do Arieiro, the pride of Madeira raises its blue spikes among the yellow broom, and the mist plays with the peaks. Then the northern cliffs, the traditional thatched houses and valleys of deep green.
One last drink in Funchal. Madeira, love at first sight and a trekking paradise: we will be back.
3 June
An unplanned night in Porto
The journey home does not go to plan: a 7 a.m. flight, a diversion to Lisbon, two hours on the tarmac, then Porto, and no flight before the next day. There are worse places to extend a holiday: Porto is a little gem, and we enjoy it until late in the evening, by the Douro.
