Our tour starts with a visit to the parish of Camacha, where football was played for the first time in Portugal. Then we go up to Pico do Areeiro, the 3rd highest peak of the island, (1818 m) with a splendid view over the central mountainous massif. We then descend towards the Ribeiro Frio Forest Park, where we can visit the trout nurseries and observe some of the endemic species of the Laurissilva forest, such as the laurel tree (Laurus novocanariensis).

We continue our journey to Santana, in the north of the island, passing through the parish of Faial. In Santana, the only town in the north of the island, the highlight is its famous “thatched houses”. On the return trip, we go down towards the parish of Porto da Cruz, situated by the sea and where we may visit a sugar cane rum factory. We continue to the Miradouro da Ponta do Rosto in Ponta de São Lourenço, at the eastern end of the island, with sweeping views of the cliffs of the north coast. We return to Funchal, passing before the Pico do Facho viewpoint, with views over the Machico valley.

The Rabaçal Forestry Station in the region of Paul da Serra is the starting point for our walk which gives access to Levada do Risco with a length of about 11 km. First, we follow the Levada do Risco up to the waterfall with the same name and then we descend to continue our walk along the Levada Nova do Rabaçal, which takes us to the 25 Fontes lake, which gets its name due to the various waterfalls there.

The path goes through the indigenous and endemic flora of Madeira island, especially the high altitude vegetation and we can observe indescribable views over the valley. The return to the south coast of the island is done through the Cavaleiro tunnel (about 800 metres long).

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