Levada Walk Packing List: What to Bring in Madeira

For a levada walk in Madeira you need shoes that grip on wet stone, a waterproof, a warm layer, water, food, and on many trails a proper torch for the tunnels. Add cash for shuttles and parking, and a screenshot of your trail booking. Everything else depends on which trail, what month, and how high you are going.

In short

• Feet first: grippy trail shoes for easy dry walks, waterproof boots for wet, muddy or tunnel trails.
• A headlamp on any trail with tunnels. A phone torch is not enough for the long ones.
• A waterproof and a warm layer every time, even when Funchal is hot.
• More water than the distance suggests, and food. Most trails sell nothing.
• Cash, and your SIMplifica ticket saved offline.

The three things that go wrong on a levada

Nearly every packing mistake on a levada is one of three: people get wet, they end up in the dark, or they get cold at altitude. Pack against those and the rest is detail.

Wet

The north side of the island and the laurel forest stay damp when the coast is dry. Paths run beside moving water, tunnels drip, and stone steps grow moss. Levada dos Cedros is muddy and sometimes flooded, and waterproof footwear there is not optional.

• Footwear with a grippy sole. This matters more than anything else in the bag.
• A packable waterproof. A jacket, or a poncho that also covers your rucksack.
• Spare socks in a plastic bag. Dry socks after a flooded tunnel make the walk back much shorter.
• A dry bag or zip bags for phone, wallet and car keys.

Dark

Many levadas go through tunnels cut through the ridges, and none of them is lit.

• A headlamp, with fresh batteries. You want both hands free: one for the wall, one for balance.
• Spare batteries or a charged power bank on long tunnel trails.

Trails where the torch is essential:

On Levada do Rei the tunnels are small and a torch is useful rather than essential. Take one anyway: it weighs nothing.

Cold

Madeira’s trailheads run from sea level to over 1,800 metres. Pico do Areeiro is at 1,818 m, Pico Ruivo at 1,862 m. At that height a winter dawn can be close to freezing while people swim in Funchal, and there can be frost on the steps of PR 1 early in the day. Fog at Fanal and on the Paul da Serra plateau cuts visibility to a few metres and soaks through anything thin.

• A warm mid layer: fleece or light insulated jacket. Even in August on PR 1.
• A hat and light gloves for the high trails from November to April, and for sunrise starts at any time of year.
• No cotton next to the skin. It holds sweat and chills you the moment you stop.

Clothes and shoes

• Layers up top: a base layer that wicks, a mid layer, a waterproof. Peel off on the climb, put back on at the top.
• Legs: light walking trousers or shorts. Trousers are kinder where plants crowd the path, and warmer on the mountain.
• Feet: on a short, dry, well-kept levada like Balcões, trail shoes with a deep tread are enough. For the wet north, the mountains, anything with tunnels or mud, and any week with rain in the forecast, go for waterproof boots.

Leave at the hotel:

• Anything with an open toe. The levada wall is often the only thing between you and a drop, and it is wet. You will still see sandals on Caldeirão Verde. Do not be one of them.
• Denim. It gets heavy with rain and never dries on the trail.
• The big trekking pack. On a one-person path it knocks walkers and walls. A day pack is plenty.
• Your favourite pale clothes. Red volcanic mud does not wash out.

The day pack

A 20 to 30 litre pack is right for almost every levada.

• Water. At least a litre each for a half day. More in summer and on exposed trails.
• Food. Snacks for short walks, a proper lunch for anything over four hours. Most trails have nothing after the car park.
• Sun cream, sunglasses and a hat. The UV is strong even through thin cloud, and trails above the tree line have no shade.
• A small first-aid kit: plasters, blister dressings, painkillers, any personal medication.
• Phone, charged, with the trail downloaded for offline use.
• A power bank. Torches, maps and cold weather drain batteries fast.
• Walking poles if you use them. On long descents they save knees.
• A whistle. Tiny, and the standard way to signal for help.
• A bag for rubbish. There are no bins on the trails.

Money and paperwork

The admin is the part people forget.

• Your trail ticket. In 2026 every classified trail run by the IFCN needs a slot booked on SIMplifica: €4.50 per person, €10.50 for the full PR 1, free for under-13s. Screenshot the tickets from the email, because signal at trailheads is unreliable and you may be asked to show them on the path.
• Cash for the Rabaçal shuttle. For 25 Fontes and Risco, the Calheta council shuttle from the ER 105 car park down to the forestry house costs €5 one way or €8 return on the council’s 25 Fontes page (an older council page says €3 and €5). No timetable is published, so if you start early, expect to walk.
• Parking money. Queimadas, the start of Caldeirão Verde, charges €2 an hour.
• Coins for the loo. Some forest-park toilets charge a small fee; the ones at Chão dos Louros do.
• A taxi number, saved in your phone, for linear walks that end far from the car.

Extra kit for particular trails

Month by month

For the wider picture of the weather across the year, see Madeira weather and what to pack. If you arrive without something, Funchal has sports and outdoor shops for boots, headlamps, poles and waterproofs; check opening hours before a Sunday shopping trip.

The checklist

• Grippy trail shoes or waterproof boots
• Waterproof jacket or poncho
• Warm mid layer
• Hat (sun or warm, depending)
• Headlamp and spare batteries
• Water, at least 1 litre each
• Snacks or lunch
• Sun cream and sunglasses
• First-aid kit
• Charged phone with offline trail, and a power bank
• Poles (for long descents)
• Whistle
• Cash in coins and small notes
• SIMplifica tickets, screenshotted
• Taxi number for linear walks
• Rubbish bag
• Spare socks

The Tropi Guide app keeps each trail and its notes offline, with your position on the map, so you can see where you are even with no signal at all.