Tag 8: Hiking along the Levada do Moinho & Levada Nova

July 23, 2025

Today's Highlights:

• Levada do Moinho & Levada Nova
• (No) Sunset at Farol da Ponta Pargo

The early bird... and so on....

Yes, this will not be a sleep-in vacation! We knew that at the latest since the first day in Madeira and the parking situation.

Because: if you are not out early here, you simply won't get a parking spot! It is extremely limited, especially in the small villages or at the trailheads for the levada hikes - as we noticed this morning.

We are up at 7 am, and by 8 am we are parked in the small parking lot in Ponta do Sol (a handful of parking spaces and a few along the narrow road) by the church Igreja da Lombarda, in front of a small Poncha stand (still closed) and a public restroom. We are the third car to park here this morning.

Next to us, tourists armed with hiking poles and shoes are starting their journey.

Today marks the first levada hike on our agenda. It is a combination of two levada hikes:

Levada do Moinho & Levada Nova, totaling about 9 km in length.

We decide to hike Levada do Moinho first, which always runs along the mountain beside the small watercourse and leads up to Levada Nova after about 4.5 km via steep steps, which we will then follow back towards the village.

After a short distance, we reach the highlight of the levada hike:

several small waterfalls and one main waterfall, under which you walk through. Cool! We are alone with 3 other tourists who are hiking behind us.

Our first levada tunnel follows! By now, I regret not investing 6 € in a Decathlon headlamp...

The daughter bought exactly such a headlamp for her Madeira week, and it is really amazing! My phone light is just a makeshift solution – but there's no other way at this point. The son found an old headlamp at home, but it doesn't illuminate the area nearly as well as the new Decathlon lamp. So I walk in the daughter's slipstream to recognize where I am stepping. Luckily, the tunnel has no further obstacles and the end is in sight. Made it!

Gradually, the first hikers come towards us, and we are even overtaken by a trail runner - yes - he is 'jogging' on the levada!

While the Levada do Moinho had handrails/cables, the Levada Nova has sections without any safety towards the abyss. For me, with a fear of heights, this is a real challenge. Although the paths at those points are wide enough or you run exclusively on the levada since there is no path next to it, I still miss the safety cable painfully...

Especially when many tourists come towards us towards the end. Sometimes there is hardly any space to dodge, so you either have to climb onto the levada and hold on to the mountain or squeeze past each other closely. Fortunately, most oncoming tourists step onto the levada to make way, allowing me to slip by without having to climb 😅😅

After about 3 hours, we reach the end of Levada Nova around 11 am, which is located above the church (starting point Levada Moinho) in the village. Now we have to walk the nearly 800m down to the church. Banana plants grow everywhere in the village, and lizards crawl around on the stones.

Of course, many cats and dogs roam freely here - unfortunately (sadly) all strays. We noticed this yesterday in Calheta. Many have injuries, are emaciated, females are mostly pregnant and are mostly shy of humans 😭

For me, this is really hard to bear... I have struggled with animal suffering in Greece and Spain 😰

Although it was only +26 degrees, we worked up a good sweat. Now the pool is calling us - provided we can make it safely through these incredibly narrow and steep streets out of the village! Not good for my nerves...

The parking situation is really crazy now! Everything is parked up! There are even cars in places I wouldn't have thought they could fit. The entire neighborhood around the two levada entrances is packed with cars! If I were a local here, I would be in crisis...

A long honking line of cars is already waiting in front of the few parking spaces at the church for people like us to move out immediately.

Actually, my daughter wanted to go to the restroom but had to wait a while in line. A very impatient couple honks at us from the front of the street and demands that we clear the parking lot for them. Behind them, there are at least 20 cars in tow. There's no way forward or back, the cars are bumper to bumper. We could auction off our parking spot to the highest bidder.

The husband sees no reason to rush from the lady in the car, but the daughter really needs to go to the bathroom and this is taking too long - so we comply with the couple's request and back out - to a symphony of honks from behind - the drivers don't see why they haven't moved an inch forward for 10 minutes. Goodness, how annoying!

Okay, by now I know: we MUST be at the planned starting parking lot by 8 am at the latest every day, otherwise, we simply won't get a parking space anymore...😱

Our landlord Élvio already told us this. He said 8 am is good, 7:30 is better, and 8:30 is often too late....

We'll have to sleep in and recover at home...

We spend the afternoon lazily by the pool and enjoy the view.

After dinner, we decide to drive to the west to a lighthouse where you can see a great sunset.

However, we didn't account for the Madeira weather god, because as soon as we leave the tunnel at Ponta do Pargo, it starts to rain! What??? The weather was just beautiful in Calheta! This can't be true.

Nevertheless, we drive to Miradouro da Garganta Funda, where there is also said to be a waterfall. At the parking lot, a chained calf greets us.

Although it doesn’t rain here anymore, it is very windy. Oncoming tourists report that the waterfall has no water flowing, so I skip with my daughter, and we wait above the Miradouro descent, watching a chained cow eat.

The son and husband also quickly return; it is really uncomfortable with the wind, and the dust is blowing into our eyes. Let’s quickly get out of here and back to the lighthouse.

Unfortunately, it is not much better here either. A thick cloud cover has moved in front of the sun at sea, which is no longer visible; it’s very windy and really cold - we only brought thin cardigans.

After a short stop, we leave the lighthouse and drive back to Calheta - where it is still +24 degrees and the most beautiful weather!!!

Calheta seems to be the sunny corner of the island.

I sit on the terrace until late evening and am rewarded around midnight with a fireworks display, as there is a festival with music going on somewhere in the village. How lovely!

For the statistics:

Hiked: 13.2 km

Drove: 68 km

Overnight stay: Villa Cró in Calheta

Weather: sunny and warm, +28 degrees / at the lighthouse in the west windy & cool at +18 degrees