Herb Walk on Levada do Rei: Santana's Forest Medicine
The Levada do Rei in São Jorge, Santana municipality, is a 10 km walk through laurissilva forest where a Lido Tours guide stops regularly to identify medicinal plants: wild pennyroyal mint, Madeira laurel, til. You leave knowing which plants the island's farmers used for centuries, and how to tell them from their toxic lookalikes. €48 per person, Sundays, transport from Funchal included.
Why the Levada do Rei walk is different from every other levada
Most levada walks on Madeira give you the same thing: a channel of water to follow, laurel trees overhead, maybe a waterfall at the end if you picked the right one. The Levada do Rei, which winds through the São Jorge valley in the Santana municipality on Madeira's north coast, does all of that. What makes the Lido Tours guided version of this walk distinct is that you come back knowing things. The names of the plants you walked past. What the island's farmers used them for across generations. Which ones heal and which ones will make you regret mistaking them for something edible.
This is not a specialist botanical tour with clipboards and Latin flashcards. It is a 10 km guided walk through UNESCO-listed laurissilva forest where a qualified guide stops regularly and actually teaches. Lido Tours is direct about this in the walk description: you will experience the profusion of herbs and medicinal plants that fill these valleys and learn about the healing properties of ancient remedies that shaped how people lived on this island for centuries. That is an accurate description of what actually happens on the path.
What the experience looks like, step by step
Pickup is from Funchal, included in the €48 price. The walk starts near the Water Treatment Station at Quebradas, São Jorge, inside the Santana municipality. The levada runs at around 550 metres above sea level and the elevation change over 10 km is minimal. Lido Tours rates this as easy, and that holds: people who do not regularly hike complete it without trouble. But your attention is fully occupied.
The guide stops at multiple points to identify what is growing. Poejo, a wild pennyroyal mint that grows along the levada edges and smells like the inside of someone's grandmother's kitchen: used for centuries in digestive teas. The Madeira laurel, Laurus novocanariensis, whose dried leaves go into anti-inflammatory infusions that local medicine never fully let go of. Til, or Ocotea foetens, which despite its unappealing Latin name was once used as a topical painkiller by farmers who had no pharmacist within reach. The guide also covers the toxic lookalikes. In a forest this diverse, that detail is not academic.
The walk ends at Ribeiro Bonito, a stretch of laurissilva where the canopy closes overhead and the light comes in green and filtered. Eat lunch here. Sit for longer than you think you need to. This forest type once covered the entire Mediterranean basin before the ice ages reduced it to a handful of Atlantic islands. Knowing that while standing inside it changes what you see. Our guide to the Santana Biosphere and the laurissilva microclimate covers the science in full if you want it before you go.
What to bring and practical logistics
Transport from Funchal is included. Bring your own food and water for the full day: lunch is not provided. Boots with grip are necessary because the levada path stays damp year-round regardless of season. Pack a light layer for the morning, even in summer, because shade at 550 metres is cooler than you expect coming from Funchal. A headlamp is useful but not mandatory for the tunnels cut into the basalt along the route.
- Price: €48 per person
- Includes: transport from Funchal, qualified guide, insurance
- Not included: food and drink
- Duration: full day, early morning departure, late afternoon return
- Distance: 10 km, easy difficulty
- Maximum group: 16 people
- Departures: Sundays
March through May is the best time to book. Flowering peaks in spring and the guide has the most to show. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Building a day or two around the walk
The route passes through Santana municipality but not the village itself. If you want to combine this with more of what the area offers, the 24 hours in Santana guide maps out the rest of the day without rushing it.
Staying overnight rather than returning to Funchal is worth the effort. The Aldeamento Turístico Casas de Campo do Pomar puts you inside the north coast landscape rather than just near it, and it is a short drive from where the walk begins. Waking up already in Santana rather than commuting from Funchal on a Sunday morning is a better way to start the day.
Santana rewards the extra time. After the walk, the village itself has more going on than its famous painted thatched houses suggest. The guide to walking Santana and its architecture is a good companion for an afternoon wander. If you still have energy left and the tide cooperates, Santana's north coast beaches are a short drive away and worth the detour before the light goes.
How to book
Book online at lido-tours.com/walks/hidden-corners or contact Lido Tours directly: phone +351 291 635 505 or +351 916 609 726, email [email protected]. Price is €48 per person including transport from Funchal, a qualified guide, and insurance. Food and drink are not included. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
