Day Trips
7–9 hours
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Nature Meetings
Nature Meetings
4
Canyoning & Rappelling ToursScuba & SnorkellingWalking ToursDolphin & Whale WatchingHorseback Riding Tours
8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
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8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Tuesday
8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Wednesday
8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday
8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Friday
8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday
8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
8:30 AM - 6:00 PM
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About
Walking in Madeira with Nature Meetings.Nature Meetings offers daily guided walking on the various "levadas" (water channels) and "veredas" (mountain paths) from easy short walks to the more challenging treks, some through UNESCO World Heritage Laurisilva forests.Madeira with Nature Meetings be it: walking, flowers, outstanding vistas, jeep excursions, dolphin and whale watching on boat trips in our warm Atlantic waters and consequent bird watching. For the more adventurous we can also organize canyoning.
Funchal, Portugal
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Improve this listingTours and Tickets by Nature Meetings
Day Trips
7–9 hours
Free cancellation
Not sure? You can cancel this reservation up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.
from
$47
per adult
Full-day Tours
7–9 hours
Free cancellation
Not sure? You can cancel this reservation up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.
from
$47
per adult
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.0
153 reviews
Excellent
87
Very good
31
Average
17
Poor
7
Terrible
11
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t w
Greve, Denmark7 contributions
Jul 2022 • Couples
Went on the Rabacal tour with 25 fountains. The tour it self was ok. Just a lot of People on the trails, but thats not NMs fault. BUT this is...NM send out a message that our tour 930 was cancelled, and we were rebooked for 830. So we get up an hour earlier, just to find us self picked up at 920. WHY you change it? When the guide presentated the plan for the tour, he already stated that we would be back at 4pm but the program says 530pm, why is that? Was it really nescarry to give so short lunchbreak then (25 min). And on the way back we stopped at a bar, to have a drink and some sun, the guide said. But to stop at a bar in the midle of a road is not cosy at all. Why not find a bar in a fishing village, or so. Overall...quite disappointing
Written July 14, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your feedback and suggestions to alter the programme.
With regard to scheduling, the pickup time was adjusted for logistical reasons, and rather than 09h30 pickup was scheduled for 09h00 - 09h15 - we try our best to work to the schedule but traffic or if other guests are late we sometimes are late.
The stop at the 25 fountains, some guests want to stay for a shorter time, some want to stay longer and although we try to please everyone, it can be challenging.
The stops are done “en route” usually at local coffee stops who kindly allow guests to use facilities which manny of the walks do not offer.
We will certainly take into consideration your suggestions and advise we also offer private tours, at 10- 15x the price of the group tour booked.
Best
Andrew
Written July 16, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Sarah F
13 contributions
Apr 2022
A well organised trip with an excellent driver and knowledgeable and fun guide. Don’t be fooled by the name of the trip; you don’t see 25 waterfalls just one 25ft waterfall from two different vantage points. If there is cloud covering the mountain you will be in mist all day with no views - I’m sure if the weather were fine the views would be stunning and dramatic. The day is long and you need a certain level of fitness for the steep ascents and descents.
Written April 23, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mikehadley2017
Guernsey, UK2 contributions
Oct 2017
Sherpa holidays did not in anyway highlight the danger of doing the walks along the Levadas. One of the walks had been closed for a long time as a permanent fence had been constructed across the path. As we were only walking for five days one day was therefore lost. Some of the accommodation was only satisfactory. We were offered a 10 % discount of a future holiday which we will not be taking.
Written January 18, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rianne v
1 contribution
May 2024 • Couples
We did the PR1.2 with nature meetings, we were picked up a little later than the agreed time. Our guide seemed like a nice man, no idea what his name was because he didn't introduce himself.
When we arrived at the starting point we received some instructions, if we wanted to enjoy the view or take pictures we had to stand still to avoid accidents, we thought it was a good tip.
However, when the hike started there was no time for that, our guide was in a hurry; he told some things along the way, but only to the front three people.... as soon as more people joined he said; come on let's go!
A girl had difficulty with the pace and fell further behind, the guide did not notice this and paid no attention to it at all!
We were given 10 minutes at the first break and without any announcement we saw the guide walking again and everyone quickly following behind...
In short; it is a beautiful trip but we had very little time to enjoy it; pity!
When we arrived at the starting point we received some instructions, if we wanted to enjoy the view or take pictures we had to stand still to avoid accidents, we thought it was a good tip.
However, when the hike started there was no time for that, our guide was in a hurry; he told some things along the way, but only to the front three people.... as soon as more people joined he said; come on let's go!
A girl had difficulty with the pace and fell further behind, the guide did not notice this and paid no attention to it at all!
We were given 10 minutes at the first break and without any announcement we saw the guide walking again and everyone quickly following behind...
In short; it is a beautiful trip but we had very little time to enjoy it; pity!
Written May 22, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thanks for your review.
Group walks have the challenge of varying speed of a group.
We also offer private tours
Written August 19, 2024
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Tim M
7 contributions
This was an absolutely amazing experience but be prepared this is not an easy walk. Waterproof hiking boots highly recommended. Don't go if you experience vertigo or are afraid of heights. Be prepared for low caves you need to crouch through. I would say this is a must do activity in Madeira but just know what your getting into.
Written August 19, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Many thanks fr the feedback and great that you enjoyed the walk and suggest it as "must do".
We are updating the various walks´ descriptions, as walks are divided into "levada" (water channel) walks and "veredas" (mountain hike) ... some are easier than others.
We look forward to welcome you back
.
Nature Meetings team
Written October 5, 2018
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
TonyLochNess
Inverness, UK82 contributions
May 2012 • Couples
As an operator of private tours and previously an operator of small bus day tours, I suppose taking a day tour anywhere else is sure to be judged against what we do and did. Our 26 seat bus tour was the first official five star tour in Scotland so our standards are very high indeed.
Our tour with Nature Meetings was the east island tour on 13th May. The company excelled initially as they had problems locating passengers at another hotel and so were running 30 minutes late - they sent a car to meet us to explain the problem and the driver waited with us until the bus arrived. THAT is first class attention to detail. Well done.
I must also say that the bus driver was excellent and cannot be faulted in any way at all. The bus was modern, clean, tidy and the air conditioning worked well. Good trip from that aspect.
So our problems with the tour come down to the guide and the tour content. However, I must emphasise that the guide as a person was friendly and helpful at all times, but I feel his initial training was insufficient and he fell down on a large number of basic principles of which he might not even be aware. If comparing this tour with other bus tours I am sure it was not too bad and the guide made every effort to fill everyone with alcohol whenever possible so many were quite "jolly" towards the end.
The tour started well enough with commentary in English and German providing the history of the islands and the natural history of the plants and trees which are found here today.
Things started to go wrong at Santa Cruz where there was no explanation of what we were going to be doing or seeing or how long it would take. This is the principle that was lost.
Some of the group did not want to see the market and the impression was given that the stop would be about 20 minutes. One passenger got so fed up having waited by the bus for an hour, that the guide had to rescue him from a nearby bus stop where he was waiting for a bus back to Funchal. I actually asked the guide how long we were going to be there and was told, "just come with me, I'll be with you."
We were taken to an interesting market where the guide spent far, far too much time explaining about the fruit and veg on sale. I don't mean five minutes, we were standing beside a very ordinary fruit and veg stall for over twenty minutes. We wandered off down the market and were actually summoned back to taste raw sweet potato and Anona (?). Such detailed information should be voluntary. Being called back when we were happier exploring on our own was a big mistake. Keeping the group standing at one veg stall for at least 20 minutes was a nonsense. It should have been 3 minutes then free time with the offer of more time with the guide for those who wanted it.
In the fish section Wendy went outside. Again an inordinate amount of time spent describing the fish. I could have done the whole thing in five minutes, but we were standing around for, again, 15 minutes. I drifted outside and Wendy and I enjoyed the sea wall, flowers, palms and waves crashing on the beach, but having no indication of what time to be at the bus, nor where it was, nor knowing where we were going after the market, we were concerned about wandering off any further.
"What we are doing", he should have said, "is taking a short walk around a market and I'll give you some information at a couple of the stalls. You can then stay with me for more detailed information or wander around and enjoy the town. Be outside the church in X minutes if you'd like some information about it and, if not we need to be back at the bus at Y O'clock. All clear? It is #.##am now. We leave at #.##am. Now follow me, you'll love the market."
Eventually after what must have been 40 minutes we were taken to the church square where we were told we had 20 minutes to ourselves before another guided section in the church. This was quite interesting but I felt we were imposing upon the confirmation services which were taken place. Then, finally, back to the bus.
From this point the commentary on the bus dried up. Then the Levada walk which was very good and interesting, but I must admit I was somewhat surprised when the guide took fruit, herbs and vegetables from people's gardens and then picked some irises to give to the ladies. A nice gesture, but they were far prettier growing in the wild and while they might bring good luck in Madeira, this particular flower is mainly used for funerals in Britain.
Next a stop where we were all kept on the bus while he brought a jug of sangria onto the bus. A nice gesture, but we didn't want to be in the bus! It was also spilled on my white shirt sadly.
Lunch at a hotel I shall review separately, but I will say now that the soup was utterly tasteless, the fish was cold and almost un-eatable, the vegetables ordinary and the rice was … well rice. The dessert was nice.
The winery at the hotel was really just a Blandys sales outlet and we spent most of the time just wandering the grounds of the hotel which were superb. The views here were brilliant, too. If we'd have been given a return time to the coach we'd have been delighted to just look at the view and gardens.
The hotel management, however, needs to take a hard look at its quality control on the food coming out of the kitchen. I don't believe the restaurant manager could have bothered to taste that soup nor checked the temperature of the food leaving the kitchen.
Again no fixed time to get back to the bus so an inordinate amount of wasted time standing around when we could have continued to enjoy photographing or looking at the flowers or just sitting admiring the view.
The final main stop was another market, but this one was grubby and poor quality. The "gypsy" market on one side of the road sold all the very cheapest and tackiest products and the main market was really nothing special. All the most ordinary of items.
Again no time set to be back at the coach and no indication that just around the corner there was a park and somewhere nice to wander and enjoy the plants or sit and relax etc. Giving return times or meet-up times is simple and absolutely essential. A basic principle on a tour being completely forgotten.
After a full walk around of both parts of the market we joined the others with the guide as he then began his own guided personal tour of the market giving out cider and other booze, introducing stall holders and even, at one point, buying a banana and slicing bits off it for each of the party with one of his passenger's penknives. What was THAT all about? After some thirty minutes of this nonsense and having already seen the market on our own (I think we must have been here over an hour) I asked when we were going back to the coach which, coincidentally was right then.
The public toilets at this market put the rest of beautiful Madeira to shame, by the way.
I don't see the point in this stop at all. 95% of the produce would not be out of the ordinary in Scotland, Germany or anywhere else in Europe. It would also have been displayed more hygienically without the sales assistants having cigarettes hanging out of their mouths.
On the way back to the bus we saw the area we could have been enjoying.
I am sure quality visitors to Madeira don't really want to be standing in the heat at vegetable stalls drinking bad, but potent scrumpy cider for over an hour or buying cheap football scarves and far eastern made T-shirts.
The other stop where we saw the traditional houses was fine as were the two incredible viewpoints on the return trip. The trip itself was devoid of commentary after Santa Cruz, though.
This guide needs "guide school". I can't blame him, I can only blame the management (which seems to be a bit of theme for this holiday). Someone needs to spend time with this charming bilingual guide to help him learn how to deal with a group of seasoned travellers and hold their attention without alcohol every few minutes.
Giving people options of following him or not in markets is an essential. Keeping his explanations in markets concise and to the point. Learning which fruits and vegetables are unusual and majoring on those. Heights of places we were visiting weren't given. He had no "stories" to help bring the island to life. There must have been daring or dastardly deeds done to someone somewhere, to recount to us, and tales of conquerors and defenders to present to and amaze the visitors. Escaped slaves going to some small islands was the only story mentioned and it took seconds to recount yet showing us a sweet potato took many minutes!
If this guide worked for my tour company I would have him out with each of my senior guides and I would put someone on board to film him so that his solo performance could be properly assessed without him knowing.
I hate giving a fellow tour operator only three stars, but training is a vital element in tour management and this pleasant and friendly individual has been let down in training and supervision. Tour guiding is not something anyone can do, it needs quality training and follow up development.
I wish Nature Meetings well, but they need to improve the training of this guide. Perhaps their other guides are superior and we were just a tad unlucky. I'm being generous with 3 stars.
We did have two further tours booked with Nature Meetings, but decided to cancel them in the fear that we would be spending our time in more markets!
Final word, don't sack the guide, develop his potential in a structured manner then he'll be better at what he does, more satisfied with his profession and earning you higher ratings.
Our tour with Nature Meetings was the east island tour on 13th May. The company excelled initially as they had problems locating passengers at another hotel and so were running 30 minutes late - they sent a car to meet us to explain the problem and the driver waited with us until the bus arrived. THAT is first class attention to detail. Well done.
I must also say that the bus driver was excellent and cannot be faulted in any way at all. The bus was modern, clean, tidy and the air conditioning worked well. Good trip from that aspect.
So our problems with the tour come down to the guide and the tour content. However, I must emphasise that the guide as a person was friendly and helpful at all times, but I feel his initial training was insufficient and he fell down on a large number of basic principles of which he might not even be aware. If comparing this tour with other bus tours I am sure it was not too bad and the guide made every effort to fill everyone with alcohol whenever possible so many were quite "jolly" towards the end.
The tour started well enough with commentary in English and German providing the history of the islands and the natural history of the plants and trees which are found here today.
Things started to go wrong at Santa Cruz where there was no explanation of what we were going to be doing or seeing or how long it would take. This is the principle that was lost.
Some of the group did not want to see the market and the impression was given that the stop would be about 20 minutes. One passenger got so fed up having waited by the bus for an hour, that the guide had to rescue him from a nearby bus stop where he was waiting for a bus back to Funchal. I actually asked the guide how long we were going to be there and was told, "just come with me, I'll be with you."
We were taken to an interesting market where the guide spent far, far too much time explaining about the fruit and veg on sale. I don't mean five minutes, we were standing beside a very ordinary fruit and veg stall for over twenty minutes. We wandered off down the market and were actually summoned back to taste raw sweet potato and Anona (?). Such detailed information should be voluntary. Being called back when we were happier exploring on our own was a big mistake. Keeping the group standing at one veg stall for at least 20 minutes was a nonsense. It should have been 3 minutes then free time with the offer of more time with the guide for those who wanted it.
In the fish section Wendy went outside. Again an inordinate amount of time spent describing the fish. I could have done the whole thing in five minutes, but we were standing around for, again, 15 minutes. I drifted outside and Wendy and I enjoyed the sea wall, flowers, palms and waves crashing on the beach, but having no indication of what time to be at the bus, nor where it was, nor knowing where we were going after the market, we were concerned about wandering off any further.
"What we are doing", he should have said, "is taking a short walk around a market and I'll give you some information at a couple of the stalls. You can then stay with me for more detailed information or wander around and enjoy the town. Be outside the church in X minutes if you'd like some information about it and, if not we need to be back at the bus at Y O'clock. All clear? It is #.##am now. We leave at #.##am. Now follow me, you'll love the market."
Eventually after what must have been 40 minutes we were taken to the church square where we were told we had 20 minutes to ourselves before another guided section in the church. This was quite interesting but I felt we were imposing upon the confirmation services which were taken place. Then, finally, back to the bus.
From this point the commentary on the bus dried up. Then the Levada walk which was very good and interesting, but I must admit I was somewhat surprised when the guide took fruit, herbs and vegetables from people's gardens and then picked some irises to give to the ladies. A nice gesture, but they were far prettier growing in the wild and while they might bring good luck in Madeira, this particular flower is mainly used for funerals in Britain.
Next a stop where we were all kept on the bus while he brought a jug of sangria onto the bus. A nice gesture, but we didn't want to be in the bus! It was also spilled on my white shirt sadly.
Lunch at a hotel I shall review separately, but I will say now that the soup was utterly tasteless, the fish was cold and almost un-eatable, the vegetables ordinary and the rice was … well rice. The dessert was nice.
The winery at the hotel was really just a Blandys sales outlet and we spent most of the time just wandering the grounds of the hotel which were superb. The views here were brilliant, too. If we'd have been given a return time to the coach we'd have been delighted to just look at the view and gardens.
The hotel management, however, needs to take a hard look at its quality control on the food coming out of the kitchen. I don't believe the restaurant manager could have bothered to taste that soup nor checked the temperature of the food leaving the kitchen.
Again no fixed time to get back to the bus so an inordinate amount of wasted time standing around when we could have continued to enjoy photographing or looking at the flowers or just sitting admiring the view.
The final main stop was another market, but this one was grubby and poor quality. The "gypsy" market on one side of the road sold all the very cheapest and tackiest products and the main market was really nothing special. All the most ordinary of items.
Again no time set to be back at the coach and no indication that just around the corner there was a park and somewhere nice to wander and enjoy the plants or sit and relax etc. Giving return times or meet-up times is simple and absolutely essential. A basic principle on a tour being completely forgotten.
After a full walk around of both parts of the market we joined the others with the guide as he then began his own guided personal tour of the market giving out cider and other booze, introducing stall holders and even, at one point, buying a banana and slicing bits off it for each of the party with one of his passenger's penknives. What was THAT all about? After some thirty minutes of this nonsense and having already seen the market on our own (I think we must have been here over an hour) I asked when we were going back to the coach which, coincidentally was right then.
The public toilets at this market put the rest of beautiful Madeira to shame, by the way.
I don't see the point in this stop at all. 95% of the produce would not be out of the ordinary in Scotland, Germany or anywhere else in Europe. It would also have been displayed more hygienically without the sales assistants having cigarettes hanging out of their mouths.
On the way back to the bus we saw the area we could have been enjoying.
I am sure quality visitors to Madeira don't really want to be standing in the heat at vegetable stalls drinking bad, but potent scrumpy cider for over an hour or buying cheap football scarves and far eastern made T-shirts.
The other stop where we saw the traditional houses was fine as were the two incredible viewpoints on the return trip. The trip itself was devoid of commentary after Santa Cruz, though.
This guide needs "guide school". I can't blame him, I can only blame the management (which seems to be a bit of theme for this holiday). Someone needs to spend time with this charming bilingual guide to help him learn how to deal with a group of seasoned travellers and hold their attention without alcohol every few minutes.
Giving people options of following him or not in markets is an essential. Keeping his explanations in markets concise and to the point. Learning which fruits and vegetables are unusual and majoring on those. Heights of places we were visiting weren't given. He had no "stories" to help bring the island to life. There must have been daring or dastardly deeds done to someone somewhere, to recount to us, and tales of conquerors and defenders to present to and amaze the visitors. Escaped slaves going to some small islands was the only story mentioned and it took seconds to recount yet showing us a sweet potato took many minutes!
If this guide worked for my tour company I would have him out with each of my senior guides and I would put someone on board to film him so that his solo performance could be properly assessed without him knowing.
I hate giving a fellow tour operator only three stars, but training is a vital element in tour management and this pleasant and friendly individual has been let down in training and supervision. Tour guiding is not something anyone can do, it needs quality training and follow up development.
I wish Nature Meetings well, but they need to improve the training of this guide. Perhaps their other guides are superior and we were just a tad unlucky. I'm being generous with 3 stars.
We did have two further tours booked with Nature Meetings, but decided to cancel them in the fear that we would be spending our time in more markets!
Final word, don't sack the guide, develop his potential in a structured manner then he'll be better at what he does, more satisfied with his profession and earning you higher ratings.
Written May 14, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Many thanks for your review and professional perspective of our "Land & Culture - North and East" tour.
Great that you appreciated the day manager´s decision to come and let you know that the pick-ups were running late (some hotel breakfasts are hard to part with) and that you enjoyed Santa Cruz, the market and church as well as the levada walk and outstanding view points. The guide might not have told you,but we do have permission from the owners to " fruit, herbs and vegetables from people's gardens and then picked some irises to give to the ladies." As you rightly noted, "a nice gesture", which according to local culture "bring good luck in Madeira", independently if " this particular flower is mainly used for funerals in Britain."
We do appreciate your constructive feedback about giving our guests the information of "what we are doing" and the option to meet back at the the bus at a certain time, as well as informing of alternative views at Santo da Serra, which we will be following up with client feed back to identify if it is preferred for the guide to visit the gardens and park rather than the market, again giving guests the option of meeting back at the bus.
We will follow up the situation with the restaurant and please accept our apologise. The relationship to Blandy´s Madeira wine was that the property used to belong to Madeira Wine, where the main brand is Blandy´s Madeira Wine.
We are sorry you cancelled your other tours, which as you no doubt read from the on line descriptions, do not include markets.
We hope you enjoyed your stay in Madeira at rest assured we will take your positive feedback into improving our tours .... and who knows, earn the first "5 star tour in Madeira".
Written May 17, 2012
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
danielalanmartin
Barnstaple, UK136 contributions
Jan 2018 • Family
If your afraid of heights than stop reading this, this walk isnt for you!!! Dont think that you will cuff it and give it a go anyway trust me you will regret it and hate your life 'you have been warned!'
I took my wife here and we had an amazing day out. I have been all over the world and i cannot compare this to anywhere ive been before.
So lets begin.
To get there can be a bit of a problem since its towards Santana on the North side of the Island. Though its clearly marked and the roads are great its the road from Santana village centre to the starting point thats the drama. I will explain: the road is tight and uphill so if there is oncoming traffic one of you will need to reverse at some stage or drive really slowly past each other! There is parking but its on a slope and can be full depending on the time of the day and season.
The walk starts out with a wide pathway that after 10 mins disappears to only a couple of foot which hugs the mountain/cliff all the way to the end. this pathway or shall i say Levada has a water canal that follows the walkway throughout the mountain range and believe it or not there is fish in it! They will be hiding the best they can but you can see movement when there is a bit of sun 'they come out'.
The walk itself is flat 'thankgod!' but you will be mentally drained since you will be focusing on each step you take because you are walking next to a 100Meter or even more vertical drop at times!
Make sure you bring a flashlight or your phone has enough battery because you will need to use it when you go inside the various tunnels that can be quite tight and low!
When you get to the waterfall you must jump in....you will feel reborn its just stunning 'yes its cold but you will know what i mean when you get there' I recommend bring a pack lunch and eat it while you enjoy the view and sound of the water falling down its a constant roar.
Few words of caution:
Dont do this walk if your injured! You willl either finish it in the dark which is super dangerous! Or someone will have to come and get you, and i can tell you now that there wont be many volunteers! Just turn round and cut your day short if you get injured, you will thank yourself for it later honest.
Dont rush on the pathway. Take your time and whatever you do dont run. If you fall its simple.... you will die!
Wait at wider areas when there is oncoming traffic 'people coming in the opposite direction' this is not the place to barge or get barged at by some random tourist.
Tell someone where your going and what time you should be back, this is a good safety net in case anything goes wrong.
Enjoy!
I took my wife here and we had an amazing day out. I have been all over the world and i cannot compare this to anywhere ive been before.
So lets begin.
To get there can be a bit of a problem since its towards Santana on the North side of the Island. Though its clearly marked and the roads are great its the road from Santana village centre to the starting point thats the drama. I will explain: the road is tight and uphill so if there is oncoming traffic one of you will need to reverse at some stage or drive really slowly past each other! There is parking but its on a slope and can be full depending on the time of the day and season.
The walk starts out with a wide pathway that after 10 mins disappears to only a couple of foot which hugs the mountain/cliff all the way to the end. this pathway or shall i say Levada has a water canal that follows the walkway throughout the mountain range and believe it or not there is fish in it! They will be hiding the best they can but you can see movement when there is a bit of sun 'they come out'.
The walk itself is flat 'thankgod!' but you will be mentally drained since you will be focusing on each step you take because you are walking next to a 100Meter or even more vertical drop at times!
Make sure you bring a flashlight or your phone has enough battery because you will need to use it when you go inside the various tunnels that can be quite tight and low!
When you get to the waterfall you must jump in....you will feel reborn its just stunning 'yes its cold but you will know what i mean when you get there' I recommend bring a pack lunch and eat it while you enjoy the view and sound of the water falling down its a constant roar.
Few words of caution:
Dont do this walk if your injured! You willl either finish it in the dark which is super dangerous! Or someone will have to come and get you, and i can tell you now that there wont be many volunteers! Just turn round and cut your day short if you get injured, you will thank yourself for it later honest.
Dont rush on the pathway. Take your time and whatever you do dont run. If you fall its simple.... you will die!
Wait at wider areas when there is oncoming traffic 'people coming in the opposite direction' this is not the place to barge or get barged at by some random tourist.
Tell someone where your going and what time you should be back, this is a good safety net in case anything goes wrong.
Enjoy!
Written January 17, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Casa_Baskey
Campbell River, Canada133 contributions
Dec 2011 • Couples
We were fortunate enough to do 2 full day walking tours with guides from Nature Meetings. One walk was with Guide Mario and the other was with Guide Sandra. Both guides were patient, knowledgeable, and provided the best walks of all the walks we did in Madeira. We also did other walks with 2 other companies (M.J. tours and MB tours) and they didn't even rank a close second to Nature Meetings. Nature Meetings truly sets a high standard in Levada Walking with their excellent guides.
We booked all of our walks through Madeira Happy Tours according to our tight schedule, time frame in Madeira and we were thrilled to have experienced Nature Meetings. I cannot praise their guides enough.
Excellent customer service and they really to provide the time to meet with Nature!
With Nature Meetings you do not feel "rushed" on your walk, they take the time it takes in order that you can enjoy and fully experience the walk.
Thank you Nature Meetings! and a very special thank you to Mario and Sandra.
A separate review on Rabacal, Risco, 25 Fountains can be found on a separate review, if interested in reading more about that particular Levada Walk.
We booked all of our walks through Madeira Happy Tours according to our tight schedule, time frame in Madeira and we were thrilled to have experienced Nature Meetings. I cannot praise their guides enough.
Excellent customer service and they really to provide the time to meet with Nature!
With Nature Meetings you do not feel "rushed" on your walk, they take the time it takes in order that you can enjoy and fully experience the walk.
Thank you Nature Meetings! and a very special thank you to Mario and Sandra.
A separate review on Rabacal, Risco, 25 Fountains can be found on a separate review, if interested in reading more about that particular Levada Walk.
Written January 5, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your review and I have passed this on to Mario and Sandra.
We hope you will visit Madeira again soon and try some of our other walks and tours as well as our new offers which will be released soon.
Join our facebook/naturemeetings page, follow us on twitter and visit our site for our latest offers!
Many thanks
Andrew
Written January 18, 2012
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Howard W
Scotland, UK14 contributions
Dec 2015 • Couples
Collected from our hotel in a mini bus, we went on 3 Levader walks over our week.
It's a great way to get some easy exercise while learning about the island from a local expert guide. Most walks finish near a cafe where you get at least 30 mins to buy a refreshment, before being taken back to your accommodation.
It's a great way to get some easy exercise while learning about the island from a local expert guide. Most walks finish near a cafe where you get at least 30 mins to buy a refreshment, before being taken back to your accommodation.
Written December 31, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your review - it is great that you enjoyed the half-day walks and you managed to get some exercise over the Christmas period and appreciated our guides expertise as well as the coffee stop. Your feedback is very important to the Nature Meetings team. We look forward to welcome you back gain soon and if you took some photos, please do share them.
Written January 6, 2016
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
yorkshirecat56
Sheffield, UK599 contributions
Jun 2014 • Solo
I spent a fabulous day with Nature Meetings in June, following the Rabaçal, Risco Waterfall and 25 Fontes (springs) levada walk, despite feeling slightly anxious about the warning in their publicity of "Tunnels and vertigo" . My 10 fellow walkers were young to middle-aged German, French, Portuguese and Spanish and our tour guide was the very capable Antonio who slipped between languages with ease.
We drove up steep, windy paths with sheer drops to the side and through long tunnels to our starting point high above the clouds. Our walk would take us downwards, following the levadas as they wound their way around the mountainside to the reservoirs below.
Before we set off, Antonio distributed the flashlights as our walk included an 800 m long tunnel. Initially we followed a fairly easy, wide path through the mountains as Antonio chatted about the wildlife and the plants: how they had adapted to life on a mountainous island. Dandelions grew tall as trees –a gardener’s nightmare! - as did lily of the valley and heathers.
There is not a huge variety of birdlife in the mountains but we would see buzzards and kestrels, and also chaffinches that had adapted their colouring to their environment. We would also hear, but would be unlikely to see, the tiny Firecrest with its bright orange “Mohican” headfeathers. I felt truly blessed when a chaffinch posed for me on a levada wall, illustrating perfectly how he blended into his background. Then a few minutes later a Firecrest settled briefly on a nearby branch… but vanished the moment I raised my camera.
As the walk progressed, the pathway narrowed to single file and we found ourselves leaping up to balance on the levada walls to allow approaching walkers to squeeze past. Somehow the sheer drops felt less fearsome as they were covered with plenty of branches and bushes and a light railing provided a hand rail. However, it was crucial to concentrate on where you were walking as tree roots carpeted some of the paths, waiting to trip the unwary.
As we rounded a bend, water was cascading down the mountain from every ledge.
Although several of us wanted to stop to take photos Antonio urged us onwards as he wanted us to experience the final waterfalls before they became “like Piccadilly Circus”! He was right. When we arrived, it was relatively peaceful and we were able to clamber about on the rocks trying to find the optimal position for photographs – tricky as we were shooting into the sun. The pathways were rapidly filling up as we left and, after a brief stop for our picnic, we were pleased to continue along a mostly peaceful route that took us away from the “traffic”.
As we neared the end of our walk, the entrance to the dreaded tunnel loomed. 800 metres long! It looked OK at first but I soon discovered it shrank to head height and narrowed to single file. It would also “rain” on us regularly so I packed away my camera, switched on the flashlight and plunged into the black hole behind a delightful French couple with whom I had been conversing in my best Franglaise. Our combined flashlights helped illuminate our passage and Francois took the lead, maintaining a constant commentary which I found extremely comforting. “Attention a gauche – les rochers!....
I felt relieved when we saw the first pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel and exhilarated as we eventually emerged blinking into the bright sunlight. The rest of the pathway provided a pleasant stroll. I asked Antonio about the age range of people who came on his walks. He felt age was fairly irrelevant – it was attitude and fitness that counted. He had people in their 20s who had given up and turned back after a kilometre or so! His youngest walker was about 5. The oldest was a 79 year old woman who had completed all of his walks including the challenging Pilgrims Path to Pico Ruivo, the highest peak on Madeira. I thoroughly recommend Nature Meetings and I look forward to returning to Madeira to enjoy more walks with them.
We drove up steep, windy paths with sheer drops to the side and through long tunnels to our starting point high above the clouds. Our walk would take us downwards, following the levadas as they wound their way around the mountainside to the reservoirs below.
Before we set off, Antonio distributed the flashlights as our walk included an 800 m long tunnel. Initially we followed a fairly easy, wide path through the mountains as Antonio chatted about the wildlife and the plants: how they had adapted to life on a mountainous island. Dandelions grew tall as trees –a gardener’s nightmare! - as did lily of the valley and heathers.
There is not a huge variety of birdlife in the mountains but we would see buzzards and kestrels, and also chaffinches that had adapted their colouring to their environment. We would also hear, but would be unlikely to see, the tiny Firecrest with its bright orange “Mohican” headfeathers. I felt truly blessed when a chaffinch posed for me on a levada wall, illustrating perfectly how he blended into his background. Then a few minutes later a Firecrest settled briefly on a nearby branch… but vanished the moment I raised my camera.
As the walk progressed, the pathway narrowed to single file and we found ourselves leaping up to balance on the levada walls to allow approaching walkers to squeeze past. Somehow the sheer drops felt less fearsome as they were covered with plenty of branches and bushes and a light railing provided a hand rail. However, it was crucial to concentrate on where you were walking as tree roots carpeted some of the paths, waiting to trip the unwary.
As we rounded a bend, water was cascading down the mountain from every ledge.
Although several of us wanted to stop to take photos Antonio urged us onwards as he wanted us to experience the final waterfalls before they became “like Piccadilly Circus”! He was right. When we arrived, it was relatively peaceful and we were able to clamber about on the rocks trying to find the optimal position for photographs – tricky as we were shooting into the sun. The pathways were rapidly filling up as we left and, after a brief stop for our picnic, we were pleased to continue along a mostly peaceful route that took us away from the “traffic”.
As we neared the end of our walk, the entrance to the dreaded tunnel loomed. 800 metres long! It looked OK at first but I soon discovered it shrank to head height and narrowed to single file. It would also “rain” on us regularly so I packed away my camera, switched on the flashlight and plunged into the black hole behind a delightful French couple with whom I had been conversing in my best Franglaise. Our combined flashlights helped illuminate our passage and Francois took the lead, maintaining a constant commentary which I found extremely comforting. “Attention a gauche – les rochers!....
I felt relieved when we saw the first pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel and exhilarated as we eventually emerged blinking into the bright sunlight. The rest of the pathway provided a pleasant stroll. I asked Antonio about the age range of people who came on his walks. He felt age was fairly irrelevant – it was attitude and fitness that counted. He had people in their 20s who had given up and turned back after a kilometre or so! His youngest walker was about 5. The oldest was a 79 year old woman who had completed all of his walks including the challenging Pilgrims Path to Pico Ruivo, the highest peak on Madeira. I thoroughly recommend Nature Meetings and I look forward to returning to Madeira to enjoy more walks with them.
Written July 2, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thank you for your great review which I will pass onto our guide Antonio. It is true that we have a great variety of clients and often the eldest seem the fittest!!
It was fantastic that you enjoyed the walk, our guide and that even the birds came out to be photographed - you must come back to catch the one that eluded your camera.
We look forward to welcome you and your friends on our walks and tours in Madeira in the future.
Best
Andrew
Written July 4, 2014
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
No questions have been asked about this experience
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