Levada

The walking channels of Madeira, the levadas are a centuries-old network of narrow irrigation canals that carry water from the rainy north of the island to the drier, sunnier south, and whose maintenance paths have become one of the world's most distinctive hiking systems.

The activity is levada walking. Footpaths run beside the channels for hundreds of kilometres, following near-level contours across steep mountainsides, through laurel forest and into hand-cut rock tunnels, so many routes are gentle, near-flat strolls suited to most walkers and families. Others cling to sheer drops or lead to high peaks such as Pico Ruivo and are rated strenuous and exposed, sometimes requiring a torch for long tunnels and a firm head for heights. This graded range makes the network as friendly to casual ramblers as to serious hikers.

What gives them character is their engineering and setting: hand-cut by labourers since the fifteenth century to water sugar cane and vineyards, the levadas thread ancient UNESCO-listed laurisilva forest, past waterfalls, ferns and sudden viewpoints over the Atlantic far below.

Practical detail: Madeira is a Portuguese island off north-west Africa, reached by air, with Funchal as the usual base and many walks accessed by hire car or guided transfer. The levadas can be walked year-round thanks to the mild subtropical climate, but spring and early autumn offer the most reliable weather; the high peaks can be cold, wet and cloud-bound, and the narrow paths turn slick after rain, so check forecasts and pack layers.