MadeiraLevadas Find a walk
WalksItinerariesHistoryNetworkThe ForestHow They WorkField Guide Glossary

South — Funchal / Câmara de Lobos

Levada dos Piornais

Also known as Piornais levada

10.4 km Length out-and-back
3 h Duration typical
Moderate Grade moderate
76 m Ascent climb
high Exposure vertigo

The Levada dos Piornais carries roughly five centuries of water history across the urban fringe between Funchal and Câmara de Lobos. The standard return walk starts in Piornais and follows the channel towards the Ribeira dos Socorridos, shifting between homes, banana plots, sea views and increasingly rugged valley walls. Low tunnels and narrow, unprotected ledges make it more serious than its modest ascent suggests; turning near the valley bridge avoids the rougher continuation.

Highlights

  • One of Madeira's oldest functioning levadas
  • A rare urban-to-rural water walk
  • Sea views, banana plots and the Socorridos valley
  • Short hand-cut tunnels

Water on the route

  • Levada dos Piornais
Tunnels: Several short, low rock-cut tunnels; bring a headtorch.. Bring a head-torch — some levada tunnels are long, low and pitch black.

Walks like this

PR4 South — Funchal Ecological Park

Levada do Barreiro

PR4 descends through the Funchal Ecological Park from Poço da Neve to Casa do Barreiro. The unusual start beside the 1813 ice store gives way to high-altitude vegetation, the Santa Luzia valley and increasingly broad views over Funchal. The classified trail is easy under normal conditions, but access can be diverted when maintenance or weather affects the lower section.

  • Family-friendly
5.2 kmLength2.17 hTimeeasyGrade
View walk
South — Câmara de Lobos / Ribeira Brava

Levada do Norte

One of Madeira's largest and most historically important levadas, the Levada do Norte was built 1947–1952 (inaugurated 1 June 1952) to carry water from the wet north across the watershed to the dry south. It is a classic dual-purpose scheme: water first drops through the Serra de Água hydroelectric station, then irrigates the south (about 502 litres/second outside the rainy season). Its main canal runs about 51 km. Walkers tackle it in sections: a popular easy stretch links Quinta Grande to Ribeira Brava (~8.9 km, ~3 h) on an almost flat path, while the section from Estreito de Câmara de Lobos threads the terraced vineyards that produce the island's finest Madeira wine, with views toward Cabo Girão, Europe's highest sea cliff at 580 m. Expect tunnel passages, endemic flora and occasional exposed, vertigo-inducing edges.

  • Has tunnels
8.9 kmLength3 hTimeeasyGrade
View walk
South — Funchal / Monte to Camacha / Santa Cruz

Levada dos Tornos

At around 106 km including its intakes and branches, the Levada dos Tornos is the longest levada in the Madeira archipelago — about 16 km of it in tunnels, its longest a 5,100 m bore linking Fajã da Nogueira to the Ribeira de Santa Luzia. Inaugurated in 1966 as part of the post-1947 modernization programme, it is a dual-purpose scheme: it collects the discharge water from the Fajã da Nogueira hydroelectric plant and conveys it to the south, where at Fundoa the flow splits between public water supply (historically Funchal) and irrigation across Santa Cruz and beyond. The favourite outing runs from Monte to Camacha, climbing gently before levelling out and passing the long-running Jasmin Tea House — a welcome stop for tea and cake. A ~200 m tunnel between Camacha and the tea house needs a torch.

  • Has tunnels
  • Waterfall on the route
14.4 kmLength5 hTimemoderateGrade
View walk