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Walking in Madeira with HF Holidays By Gillian Thornton from Silver Travel Advisor
Madeira has a reputation for appealing to Silver Travellers like us, especially in the winter months when temperatures can happily hover in the low 20s. With a mild climate, spectacular scenery, and gleaming white villas, it has an upbeat air that’s guaranteed to put a spring in anyone’s step. Many holidaymakers don’t stray far from the cultural sites and shopping of Funchal, or even the hotel poolside - and why not - but Madeira also attracts a more active kind of Silver Traveller, as I found on a wintersun walking break with Silver Travel Advisor partner HF Holidays. Their seven-night holiday at the 4-star Hotel Galosol in Caniço de Baixo runs from late December to the end of March and again through September and early October. Just 15 minutes’ drive from the airport and 20-minutes from Funchal by fast local bus, the Galosol ticked all my boxes for location, facilities and meals. All rooms have balconies and for a supplement, you can look directly across the water to an island nature reserve, particularly beautiful at sunrise. There’s a large gym and tranquil indoor pool, an 6
outdoor pool, and a wellbeing spa nestled in a cliff. HF guests eat in the main hotel dining room from a copious buffet spread at breakfast and dinner. With a choice of two graded walks each day, the routes largely follow Madeira’s famous lavadas, at which point, let’s separate fact from fiction. These man-made water channels – named after the word to ‘carry’ – bring rainwater from the high peaks and moorland to the drier lower slopes, mostly in the summer months. Tourist photos often depict narrow paths with vertiginous drops, and these do exist, but there are levada trails to suit all abilities. Lined with concrete, the gulleys generally follow the contours of the slopes with only a gradual incline, so any steep sections of the routes are usually between one levada and another, or detours to viewpoints. And whilst the paths themselves can be narrow, they are often fringed with trees, or simply a gentle slope. Any steep drops are guarded with a rail and are generally only for short sections. And of course HF – and other tour operators – do not subject clients to any unnecessary risks.
As with other HF itineraries, we were offered a choice of walks, the Easier and Harder options being outlined each night at a pre-dinner briefing. Often the difference was more on gradient than length and several of us chose to mix and match. Our youngest walker probably just made Silver status, a business consultant taking his annual winter hill walk break away from the family. Our oldest was everything I hope I will be at 85 - vibrant, sprightly and up for anything. But walking on the levada trails is not age dependent. Levada trails are not for walkers with any kind of mobility or vertigo issues. Our routes covered roughly 12-18 km per day and were all linear, covering different areas of the island and contrasting terrain. An ability issue with one of our group during our first walk was dealt with sensitively and sympathetically by our leaders, who worked hard to find a solution without disrupting the rest of the group, but the situation should not have arisen. So be honest with yourself about your fitness before you book. And be aware that some levadas pass through unlit tunnels, so a torch - even on a smart phone - is essential.
