Free Levada Walks in Madeira: What Still Costs Nothing in 2026

Yes, you can still walk levadas in Madeira for nothing. Since 1 January 2026 the classified trails run by the forestry institute cost €4.50 per person and need a booked start time, but four classified routes are run by local councils and sit outside that system, and plenty of levadas were never classified at all. This is a guide to both, and to what you give up when there is no booking.

In short

• The €4.50 fee and the 30-minute booking windows apply only to classified PR trails managed by the IFCN and sold on SIMplifica.
• Four classified routes are free because a council runs them: PR 3, PR 3.1 and PR 4 above Funchal, and PR 23 in Caniço.
• Good free levadas off the network include the Levada Nova above Ponta do Sol, the Levada dos Tornos above Funchal and the Levada da Ribeira da Janela in the north-west.
• Free means unmanaged. No status page, no guaranteed repairs, and nobody closing it when it is dangerous.
• If a walk you love costs €4.50, pay it. The money goes back into the paths.

How the fee works, in one paragraph

Madeira’s forestry and conservation institute, the IFCN, manages most of the island’s “Percursos Pedestres Classificados”: classified walking routes, each with a PR number. Since January 2026, walking one of those means booking a 30-minute start window on the government’s SIMplifica portal and paying €4.50 per person (the full Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo ridge costs €10.50). Residents and children aged 12 and under walk free but still book. You only get a refund or a new date if the IFCN closes or restricts the trail. Classified routes run by someone else, and every walk that is not classified, sit outside the system.

So the useful question is not “which levadas are free” but “which walks are not IFCN trails”.

Free walks on the official network

These have PR numbers, waymarking and a line on the IFCN status table, but a council manages them and there is nothing to book.

PR 3 and PR 3.1: the free way down from Pico do Areeiro

This pair makes a long descent from the mountains to the edge of Funchal, and together they are one of the best free days on the island.

• PR 3 Vereda do Burro starts just below the Pico do Areeiro summit and drops about 7 km (6.7 km on the IFCN table, 7.2 km on Visit Madeira) to Ribeira das Cales, past the old Poço da Neve ice house and through heather and then forest.
• PR 3.1 Caminho Real do Monte carries on from Ribeira das Cales down to Monte on an old royal road, cobbled for long stretches. The two official sources disagree on its length (4.2 km or 5.5 km); allow about two hours.

From Monte, the cable car takes you down to the seafront. It runs until 17:45 and a single costs €16 in 2026, so do not dawdle on the last stretch. It is all downhill, which is the catch: your knees will notice, and your car (if you brought one) is at the top. Get a taxi or the morning bus up to the Areeiro and walk home.

PR 4 Levada do Barreiro

A high levada from Poço da Neve, on the road up to the Areeiro, down to the Casa do Barreiro. On the IFCN table updated 14 September 2026 it is only partly passable, with a map of the open section, and Visit Madeira marks it as restricted. Read the map before you go, and do not walk past a closure sign. See the trail.

PR 23 Levada da Azenha, Caniço

A short, flat channel in Caniço, between Funchal and the airport, from the Azenha to the Caminho Velho do Castelo. It is 1.3 km and about half an hour, easy enough for small children, and at low altitude, so it works when the mountains are in cloud. The Caniço parish council looks after it. It is not a mountain experience, but it is a real levada and a good use of an arrival afternoon. See the trail.

Free levadas off the network, by where you are staying

None of these is classified, so none needs a booking. They are also not on the IFCN’s status table, which means you are responsible for finding out whether they are in a fit state. Distances vary with where you join and leave, so treat them as there-and-back walks and turn round when you have had enough.

Staying in Funchal: Levada dos Tornos

The longest levada on the island, about 106 km from its source in the north, finished in 1966. On the south side it contours along the hills above the city from the Monte area east towards Camacha, and people walk it in sections. It is mostly level, through a mix of laurel, eucalyptus and the backs of gardens, and a short taxi ride gets you to it. It is the free walk to keep for weather that would make the high trails miserable.

Staying in the south-west: Levada Nova above Ponta do Sol

The free walk we would pick first. Above Ponta do Sol, the usual loop starts by the church at Lombada, goes out on the lower Levada do Moinho and comes back higher up on the Levada Nova, past terraces and small farms and, at one point, right behind a waterfall under a rock overhang. Expect about 8 km in all, some narrow edges with a drop where the railings are broken or missing, and wet rock near the fall. After rain, grip matters. It is on the sunny side of the island, so it often works when the north is grey.

A naming warning: the classified PR 7 Levada do Moinho is a different channel in the far north-west, and it is closed. The Levada do Moinho on the Ponta do Sol loop shares the name but is not classified.

Staying in the north-west: Levada da Ribeira da Janela

Not to be confused with PR 15 Vereda da Ribeira da Janela, the classified descent to the village. This levada heads up the deep Ribeira da Janela valley from the Lamaceiros forestry post above Porto Moniz. It is long if you do the lot, so decide your turning point before you start, and carry a torch in case the path goes underground. A swim at the Porto Moniz pools is a short drive down the hill.

Staying in the east: Vereda do Larano

Not a levada but a cliff path, between Porto da Cruz and Machico on the north-east coast, over the Boca do Risco pass. The sea is below you for much of the way, and on a clear day the coastline runs out in both directions. It is exposed and windy, and it has had closures, so ask locally before going. It is linear: plan the bus or taxi back before you set off.

If you are in Porto da Cruz with energy to spare, the steep unofficial path up the Penha d’Águia, the huge rock behind the beach, is the other free option. Loose near the top and not one for wet days.

The free walks side by side

What free costs you instead

The €4.50 is not only a toll. On IFCN trails it pays for someone to inspect the path, clear rockfall, repair railings and close the route when it is unsafe, and the status table tells you, the night before, whether the walk is open.

Off the network you get none of that:

• No status check. If a landslip took out the path in last week’s rain, you find out when you reach it.
• No guaranteed repairs. Railings may be missing or rusted through. Drops are the same as anywhere else on the island.
• No crowd control. Usually that means fewer people. On the Levada Nova on a sunny Sunday it can mean more.
• Less help. Mobile signal is patchy in the valleys, and fewer people pass by.

None of this makes the free walks a bad idea. It means you go in dry weather, you tell someone where you are going, and you turn round at the first stretch that looks wrong. Our page on staying safe covers the basics.

When paying €4.50 is the better deal

If you have only a few days, spend them on the walks that are hard to replace, and pay. The Vereda dos Balcões costs €4.50 for an hour and a half and one of the best views on the island. The Caldeirão Verde is a full day for the same price. Do two trails in one day and the system charges €9 for both. Against a hire car and a coffee at the trailhead, it is the smallest cost of the day.

Use the free walks for the other days: the arrival afternoon, the grey morning, the walk home from the mountains to Monte.

The Tropi Guide app shows every trail offline with your position, including the free ones, and flags classified trails that close.