Things to do in the Laurissilva forest

Laurissilva is not scenery for a walk, it is the reason the walk exists: a laurel forest that has covered Madeira's north slope since the Tertiary period, roughly 15,000 hectares, close to a fifth of the island, and the largest surviving stand of this forest type anywhere, listed as UNESCO World Heritage since 1999.

The canopy is dense evergreen laurel, dripping with moss and epiphytes, holding a permanent damp cool even when Funchal, 25-40 minutes south by car, sits at 24-26°C in summer.

Access points include the trailheads at Rabaçal and the Queimadas park near Santana, both used to reach levadas that cut through the reserve rather than to see the forest for itself.