I walked the levada from Palheiro to Monte on 30/12/22 with a friend. For the most part, it was a pleasant stroll with some nice views towards the south and Funchal. A visit to the Jasmine Tea House is worth it. The owner was very pleasant and his teas and cakes were excellent. The last mile or so of the levada was more exciting/frightening (depending on the individual) as it closely follows the edge of a cliff. A warning for vertigo sufferers, the path is badly eroded for about 2 metres which meant we had to walk along the concrete edge of the levada which is no more than 15 cm wide. The decent from the levada to the cable car is a bit of a challenge for inexperienced walkers as part of it has been damaged by tree/rock falls meaning a few detours on slippery surfaces was necessary. My inexperienced friend did not enjoy that bit of the walk at all although he loved the rest of it.

We did this walk from Babosas, under the cable car, to the Jasmine tea house. Under normal circumstances this would have been an easy walk for me but unfortunately my knee flared up a week before my holiday & I found the start of the walk quite hard going. Once we reached the levada the going was much easier & for the most part is a lovely walk with not too many people on it. Just a shame there was some rubbish here & there along the trail.

The lack of signage does make this quite a challenge. There are parts where the path is badly eroded and very narrow, but it is mostly easy walking. We got very lost and ended up walking through a long, dark tunnel which opened out onto a very dangerous path with huge holes and a waterfall, decided to turn back and found a scrubby unsigned path down to the packhorse bridge. If you get to the tunnel please do think carefully, it is not for the faint-hearted and you will need a torch and a hat. It would have been very easy to get injured and completely lost, and there is no phone signal up there. We were lucky that we had arranged for a fabulous local taxi driver to pick us up, his wife happens to be a mountain guide and advised him correctly of where we would be. All well in the end but don’t think that this is just a stroll in the sunshine.

Are you looking for a comfortable walk by a levada? You could go up to Monte on the 20/21 buses from near the new Savoy apartments - main roundabout/circle near the bus station - and walk eastwards towards Curral dos Romeiros/Camacha, which involves a long descent & climb OR catch the number 29 from the bus station and arrive at Curral dos Romeiros the easy way! The levada is clearly marked from either of the last 2 stops/terminus. The first half of the walk east is easy, flat and reasonably interesting. After 75 to 90 minutes you pass the Jasmin Tea House which provides a very pleasant break. Then, choose to walk back OR catch a bus back (Nick, the proprietor has all the bus times posted) OR continue on for another 75 to 90 minutes to Camacha: one tunnel to be negotiated with your torch & waterproofs, before rising up into the town or continue further, more tunnels, and take any one of several opportunities to rise up into the streets. Very pleasant.

Walked from the Largo Fonte bus stop (20/21) over past Monte Palace Gardens and down the steep slope to the terminal for the Botanic Garden Teleferico. Then down some more and up again to Curral dos Remeiros. Quite steep slopes and probably slippery after rain. The right fork for Levada do Bom Successo was marked as "at your own risk" so we took the left fork. At Curral the start of the Levada dosTornos was very muddy but improved after a few hundred yards. We stopped at the Jasmine Tea House and caught the bus after refreshment. A few bits of mud and a couple of clambers but fairly easy between Curral and Jasmine. Nowhere to stop and rest or picnic en route though. Have walked this before and little changed but never been past Jasmine. Despite 3 cruise ships being in we met probably less than 30 people walking in either direction.