Walking in Madeira

[DustyLee123]

I like walking and cycling, and I’ve heard about walking the Levadas in Madeira.
When would be the best time to do this as I don’t like being too hot or in baking sunshine ?
How is it best to organise this, with a group or just going yourself ?
And how far would you expect to walk per day ?
thanks

I’ve been twice, once in August and once in May. In August it never got uncomfortably hot. When we went in May, it was shorts and t shirt weather for the afternoons and we were there during the flower festival in Funchal which was super. We did have some heavy rain in May, but the walks were prettier than in August. On the flip side, the dolphin and whale watching was better in August.
We stayed in Funchal and used it as a base for everything else. There are some walks unaccessible by public transport, so you’d need to book coach tours for those. You might find this useful https://www.patisjourneywithin.com/hikes-in-madeira-you-can-do-without-the-car/

Thanks

We went in April and used an app similar to Uber but much more personable and responsive! There were four of us so it worked out much cheaper than organised hikes and we could schedule rides and also arrange to be picked up hours later at an end point, using WhatsApp to make arrangements. It was honestly so helpful and really competitively priced too. Im aware I sound like an ad but it was such a good way to travel round the island

It was perfect weather for us in April - around low twenties in the day and a bit chillier in the evenings

It's too hot over the summer but April, May and September are good. This site has more information https://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/madeira/travel-guide/walking-holidays

Thanks all.

Hi
Did you do the hiking trip in Madeira? How was it?

We are going over Xmas and I'd like to arrange a local guide for some day walking... any advice welcome!

No, not got there yet. Let me know how you go.

I liked Madeira. Try Mallorca for walking if you haven’t already, great bus services, fab signposting lovely walking.