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The IFCN's official status, read every day. Green only when the IFCN writes « aberto » with no reserve.

● Partially closed« PARCIALMENTE TRANSITÁVEL » — IFCN

A levada on a balcony above Funchal, graded easy: 6.7 km, about 2:10, from Poço da Neve to Casa do Barreiro in the Parque Ecológico do Funchal, between 1,650 and 975 m. It starts on the ER 202, the Pico do Areeiro road, at Poço da Neve: this igloo-shaped building, part of the city's heritage, was used from 1813 to keep the snow and hail that fell on the mountains and supply Funchal with ice. Along the channel, the island's typical high-altitude vegetation — tree heath and uveira da serra, the Madeira blueberry — then a privileged view over the Ribeira de Santa Luzia valley and the city, with the Barreiro viewpoint as the high point. From Casa do Barreiro you can carry on to the village of Monte. Managed by the Câmara Municipal do Funchal, no booking and no fee; in 2026 the route is only partially passable, and a signposted alternative leads from the park's interpretation centre to Ribeira das Cales. Official length: 6.7 km; the route's trace measures 4.9 km on the map. A classified trail managed by the Câmara Municipal do Funchal, so outside the booking-and-fee regime: free access. Safety advice applies everywhere: never walk alone, tell someone your plan, finish before dark, carry spare water and food, and give up in heavy rain, wind or hail.

Highlights

  • Poço da Neve (1813)
  • View over Funchal
  • Tree heath and Madeira blueberry
  • Partially passable
Difficulty
Easy
Length
6.7 km
Elevation gain
675 m
Duration
2:10
Price
Free (managed by the Câmara Municipal do Funchal)
Municipality
Funchal
🎟️ Book on SIMplifica🗺️ See the route on the map📍 Start🏁 End

Track for guidance only.

Places within 2 km of the route

  • 🔭 Viewpoint

    Miradouro do Pico do Areeiro

    The island's third-highest peak, at 1,818 m, and the most visited thanks to its road and facilities: from up here, the whole Maciço Montanhoso, Ponta de São Lourenço, Curral das Freiras and, on clear days, Porto Santo, with the Atlantic as a backdrop. The sunrise spectacle, weather permitting, draws ever more onlookers and photographers — the best hour, provided you wrap up. It is the start of the Vereda do Areeiro (PR 1) to Pico das Torres (1,851 m) and Pico Ruivo (1,862 m), fully reopened on 1 May 2026. Access: car park charged at €4.00 per hour; a shuttle is run by Horários do Funchal (timetables on their site). The lookout itself is free.

    Lookout free · car park €4.00/hour
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  • 🏛️ Culture

    Santuário de Nossa Senhora da Paz

    At Terreiro da Luta, in the parish of Monte: the island's largest monument, born of a vow. In 1917, during the First World War, German submarines shelled Funchal twice. Madeirans promised to raise a statue to Our Lady of Monte if peace returned. Ten years later the shrine was inaugurated on 14 August, the day of Nossa Senhora do Monte, to plans by the architect Emanuel Ribeiro, with a five-metre marble statue. Around its base runs a rosary made from the chains of the ships sunk in the attacks.

    🗺️ See it on the map
  • 🌿 Nature

    Parque Florestal do Montado do Pereiro

    In the Poiso forest perimeter, in the parish of Camacha (Santa Cruz), a park dedicated to leisure for the whole family: great biodiversity of native and exotic species, big old trees, young plantations of Madeira cedars, folhados and massarocos, chestnuts and beeches. Picnic areas with tables, fountains and fireplaces, a campsite, football pitches and mini-golf; parking, paid toilets, public-transport access. Open weekdays 9:00–17:00, weekends until 18:00 in winter and 19:00 in summer.

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  • 🔭 Viewpoint

    Miradouro do Terreiro da Luta

    Above Monte — a parish created in 1565, perched at the top of the slopes that close Funchal's amphitheatre — the Terreiro da Luta gives an open view over the colourful mosaic of the city and, beyond, its bay. The place is also worth it for its monument: the Nossa Senhora da Paz sanctuary, a five-metre marble statue by the architect Emanuel Ribeiro, raised to fulfil the promise made by Madeirans during the shelling of Funchal by German submarines in 1917. A place of memory as much as a viewpoint; no fee shown.

    🗺️ See it on the map