The Best Hikes in Portugal

Levadas

On Madeira a levada is an irrigation channel, and the footpath runs along its edge. The loop of Levada Nova and Levada do Moinho near Ponta do Sol uses two channels stacked one above the other and starts at Igreja da Lombada. The path goes behind waterfalls and through a tunnel, and the upper channel has long narrow ledges without railings above deep drops. The loop is 9 to 10 km and takes two to three hours.

Ridge and cliff paths

Madeira's other two routes are walked one way. Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo follows volcanic ridges with railings on most exposed sections and wet rock tunnels, and ends at Achada do Teixeira, where a taxi back costs about €20 per person. A timed ticket is booked online in advance. Vereda do Larano is cut into the cliffs of the northeast coast between Porto da Cruz and Machico; the stretch to the Boca do Risco pass is 5 km, some of it without railings.

The Azores

The three Azorean trails are short forest loops on wet ground. Mistérios Negros on Terceira crosses old lava flows overgrown with dense forest, where walkers scramble over rocks and roots. On São Miguel, Salto do Prego is a waterfall with a swimming pool at its base, about 45 minutes from the village of Faial da Terra, and Janela do Inferno leads through old aqueducts and dark tunnels to a mossy wall where water spills from a hole into a pond.