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Levada dos Tornos

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We’ll be visiting Funchal for 1½ days this March from a cruise ship and are excited to explore the area.

Our plan so far is to visit Monte Palace Tropical Garden, then do the Monte Toboggan Ride. After that, we were thinking about walking a short section of Levada dos Tornos, since we heard it’s fairly close to Monte.

A few questions for those who know the area:

  • What’s the best way to reach Levada dos Tornos from Monte using public transportation?
  • Are there other levada walks that would be easier or better for a short visit from a cruise ship?

Some levadas we’ve seen mentioned that might work without a car include:

  • Levada dos Tornos
  • Levada do Bom Sucesso
  • Levada dos Balcões near Miradouro dos Balcões

If you’ve done any of these, which one did you like best and what’s the easiest way to get there using public transportation from Funchal or Monte?

I’d also love some local recommendations:

  • Your favorite restaurant in Funchal
  • The best place to get a pastel de nata
  • Your favorite thing to do in Funchal

We’ll be staying on the cruise ship, so we’re just planning activities while we’re in port.

Thanks in advance for any tips! 😊

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30535 posts

I haven't been to any of the levadas you mentioned. Google Maps will give you bus routes on Madeira. I cannot vouch for their accuracy. Be very careful about directions to Levada dos Tornos, because it is apparently quite a long levada, part of which is way north of Funchal.

There have been some small books published on good levada walks. My book is many decades old. Amazon has multiple options (link below), most with few or no reviews. There are some truly dreadful, useless travel-related books available on Amazon, so I'd try to do some Googling to find reviews on other platforms before making a purchase. I see Rough Guides has a mini-guide to Madeira and the Azores. That would be a reliable information source, but I don't know how much coverage you'll find of levada walks. If you had more time, I'd recommend waiting till you get to Funchal to pick something up, but that might not be the best option in this case.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=madeira+hiking+%26+levada+trails+guide+2026&crid=19YDCULR1N3IB&sprefix=madeira+levada%2Caps%2C128&ref=nbsbssp13n-expert-pd-ops-ranker1_14

In addition to buses, there are two other ways of reaching or at least getting near a levada where you want to walk: a taxi or a walking tour. I'm sure Google will find you at least one company offering levada walks. Such a company, I assume, would provide van transportation from Funchal to a point near the target levada. I don't know how active the levada-walking business is in March, but Madeira's weather doesn't vary much from month to month, so I don't think March is low season.

If arranging a levada walking opportunity turns out to be too complex, I can recommend a couple of out-and-back rides I took by public bus on my long-ago trips to Madeira. You'll see interesting scenery along the way. The first is to Curral das Freiras. The second is all the way north to Santana via (I think) Ribeira Fria and Faial. I don't claim those are the two best bus rides on the island, because I have definitely not been everywhere. But they are very nice.

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