Levada dos Tornos

The Levada dos Tornos is relatively modern - its official inauguration was in 1966 - and was instituted not only as a water supply but also as part of an expansion in the production of hydroelectricity. Significant parts of it are in tunnel, but the sections from Curral dos Romeiros to Camacha and from Camacha to Santo da Serra are reasonably accessible and picturesque, particularly in the spring and summer when the flowers are all blooming in abundance.

Part of the levada is conveniently reached from Funchal and once boasted two tea rooms where travelers could stop for a civilized break and refreshments. One closed during the pandemic, but the Jasmine Tea House is still there for tea and cake!

The section from Curral dos Romeiros is often an adjunct to the walk from Monte. If you're arriving by this route, the signposts are a bit misleading. When confronted with this junction:

the levada is accessed by the level road (with the "no through road" sign), though the signpost points almost directly at the wall between the two roads, leaving many walkers confused!

Keep walking along the road and you'll eventually come to a marked staircase giving access to the levada.

If you're walking in the other direction, you may find yourself coming down this alternative access - in which case you simply need to go up the hill a short distance to find the route to Monte.

From Curral dos Romeiros, the levada makes a sweeping horseshoe around the contours of the valley. If you don't need to start your walk in Curral dos Romeiros, you can skip this initial section - see the transport information below.

After looping around the valley, you'll encounter a set of steps, but just carry on along the levada. Shortly, you'll reach the former Choupana Hills resort that was damaged in the fires of 2016. There are security warnings, but you have perfect right to follow the path through the resort. The first public road the levada crosses is the Caminho do Meio. You can use this to access the Levada da Serra do Faial. Beyond the road, the levada meanders along.

If you don't want to go all the way to Camacha (or beyond) the tea house is a little after this point on the approaches to Palheiro Ferreiro.

The levada crosses the Rua Campo Primeiro de Maio at point B on the map above, just below the sports stadium, emerging beside the building shown on the left. At this point, you have a number of options.

One, obviously, is to cross the road and continue to follow the levada. Another is to head downhill towards point A where you'll find the Palheiro Gardens.

If you go uphill, you'll join the main road at Point C where you can walk down the hill a short way for buses back to Funchal (point E, or onwards to Camacha). If you cross the road here and head up past the builders' merchants warehouse (Casa Santo António), the road leads to a path you can follow up to the Levada da Serra do Faial (at Point D on the map).

If you choose to continue, you'll be confronted by a long tunnel section - around 300m. The tunnel is walkable, but it's cramped and in places the walkway is very narrow. It's also very damp - a lot of water penetrates the ceiling and drips down, meaning parts of the path are not only slippy but sufficiently submerged to cover your instep. You'll need a torch - ideally one that leaves your hands free - suitable clothing and footwear and preferably some sort of head protection.

Once you're out of the tunnel, the views start to open out.

As you approach Nogueira, there is an increasing diversity of flora along the levada.


Around Camacha: © OpenStreetMap contributors

There will shortly be another tunnel, but this time one that is not passable and a diversion of around 1.2km by road is required. The point at which you will need to leave the Levada is not terribly well marked - the sign on the left is all you'll see - but you'll need to take the steps up to the road at this point.

If you're coming in the other direction there is no sign at all - look out for the street name next to the letterboxes.

It's actually worth going beyond the exit to take a look at where the levada enters the tunnel.

There's also an arrangement of sluices beside the levadeiro house which also feed water into the Levada do Pico do Arvoredo which continues to the right.

The Levada do Pico do Arvoredo is a bit of a backwater that clearly sees rather less pedestrian traffic, but it's probably worth a brief excursion if you're not pressed for time.

Its route does extend back to Camacha, though I haven't followed it.

Once you get back to the steps up to the road, the directions are rather better signposted in the direction of Camacha than they are in the opposite direction.

Note that if you don't want the long haul back into Camacha at the end of the journey, there are also buses from the Estrada Engenheiro Abel de Freitas to Funchal.

At the point (C), where you have to leave the road again, there's a barely-readable concrete signpost pointing towards the levada. The path is somewhat overgrown but clearly distinguishable.

Where the path rejoins the levada there's a makeshift bridge across which you'll need to turn left and an almost unreadable sign - watch out for it and turn right if you're coming in the opposite direction.

If you're coming from Camacha and miss the turning, you'll soon find you can't go any further and will have to turn back.

A little further along the route to Camacha, there's a further short deviation of around 50m where you need to go down some steps on to the road and back up some steps where the levada goes through the front of some roadside property.

Immediately after this short detour, there's another walkable tunnel. This one is rather shorter (about 100m) and drier and less claustrophobic.

The route is now approaching Camacha, although the levada continues beyond that point.

This section of the levada features a large cast-iron pipe whose supports are something of a trip hazard as they intrude onto the path.

There's a large direction sign at the exit from the levada at Camacha.

The path upwards is rather overgrown and passes immediately adjacent to a house before ascending some steps at the end of a cul-de-sac. From here it's a significant uphill pull to Camacha itself.

Halfway up the hill the cul-de-sac joins the main road. You need to keep climbing to get to the town, though if you followed the road down a short way you'd find the access to the Levada to Caniço - though this currently appears to be closed for major repairs.

Getting there

If you're walking from Monte, see the page on Monte for transport information.

If you're planning to travel by car, it may be best to start from Camacha: you may be able to park in Camacha Shopping from where you can walk either into the village or down to Point B, otherwise there is also parking around the town hall.

Public transport is otherwise the best option for this route, particularly if you don't want to double back to a starting point. The HF 29 bus runs from Funchal (roughly hourly) to Curral dos Romeiros. There are stops where the walk from Monte enters the village: stop 1211 (Curral Romeiros, S5) if you're arriving from Funchal or stop 1158A (Curral Romeiros, D2) to return. Alternatively, skip around 20-30 minutes of walking by, disembarking at stop number 367 (CAM C Romeiros, LEV Serra) if you're arriving from Funchal or embarking at stop 330, opposite (CAM Curral Romeiros D3A - this is marked on the map) if you're heading back to Funchal. There's a staircase immediately adjacent taking you up to the levada.

If you're arriving/departing via the Tea House, HF bus 47 serves stop 423 (Tea House CAM Pretos S) from Funchal and stop 386 (Tea House CAM Pretos D) heading into Funchal. Note that buses on Madeira tend to take a break around tea time (between 2pm and 4pm), so schedule your journeys accordingly.

If you call in at Palheiro Gardens, HF bus 37 serves stop 411C (QTA Palheiro Blandy S) from Funchal and stop 376C (QTA Palheiro Blandy D) for return journeys.

HF bus 36 stops on ER102 where the levada crosses at stop 417B (Levada dos Tornos) if you're arriving from Funchal and at stop 394A (Antes LEV Tornos-Zona 23) if you're heading to Funchal.

Interurban HF buses 110, 111 and 114 (among others) run close to the Nogueira access point (B on the Around Camacha map). Interurban HF bus 129 (among others) run into Camacha village (where the road that goes down to the levada is adjacent to the Centro de Saúde).