PR16 Levada Fajã do Rodrigues: the north-coast tunnel levada

We did PR16 the first time on a Saturday in February when PR9 was closed for maintenance and somebody in the Banana House kitchen said the words “shorter tunnels, fewer people, same forest.” All three turned out to be true. PR16 Levada Fajã do Rodrigues is the north-coast levada nobody puts on the list, and it’s been our quiet pick for two years now. Tunnels you can actually photograph, a valley wall that drips moss from April through October, and a São Vicente lunch ten minutes from the trailhead.

The trail in three sentences

PR16 Levada Fajã do Rodrigues runs from Ginjas above São Vicente, west along the levada to the Ribeira do Inferno valley. Around 3.9 km each way, 7.8 km return, 3.5 hours moving time, three tunnels carved through the volcanic ridge. Difficulty is moderate. The levada path stays flat (max altitude 630m, min 600m, so you’re contouring not climbing) but the surface is wet, the tunnels are unlit, and one section narrows to a single foot with the valley dropping away to your left.

For where this sits in the wider Madeira hiking lineup, PR16 is the levada you do when you want PR9 energy without the 13 km day.

Where it starts: Ginjas, above São Vicente

The trailhead sits at Ginjas, a hamlet above São Vicente on the north coast. You drive up the ER-228 from São Vicente town, climb six switchbacks through banana terraces and laurel, and park at the signed lay-by next to a small water-management building. There’s room for around fifteen cars and no attendant. We’ve never seen it full, even in August.

Drive times we actually clock:

• From Banana House in Ponta do Sol: 45 minutes through the Encumeada pass on the ER-228, or 40 minutes via the VR1 and the São Vicente tunnel. We take the tunnel in winter and the pass in summer when the cloud sea sits below the road.
• From Funchal: 50 minutes via the VR1 and the São Vicente tunnel. The tunnel itself is 3 km and saves you 25 minutes of switchback driving.
• From Porto Moniz: 30 minutes east along the ER-101 coastal road. Best drive on the island, top three at minimum.

The hamlet itself has one café (Bar Ginjas) that opens around 8.30am most mornings. Coffee, a bolo do caco with garlic butter, and the owner pointing at the trailhead with the universal hand gesture for “that way, you can’t miss it.” We get there at 8am, drink a coffee, start walking by 9.

For the wider São Vicente context (caves, food, where to swim afterwards), see our Madeira things-to-do guide.

The tunnels

PR16 has three tunnels. None are as long as the worst PR9 tunnel, but they earn the headlamp.

The first sits 800 metres in, around 50 metres long, mostly straight. Phone torch survives this one. The second is the photogenic one: 80 metres, a slight curve, a window cut into the ridge halfway through that throws a shaft of light across the levada water. Every group stops here, and on a sunny day the light beam through the steam off the levada is the photo of the hike. The third is the long one at the turnaround, around 120 metres with a bend that kills the entrance light by the halfway point.

What to bring:

• A real headlamp. 200 lumens, rechargeable, on your head. The basket of spares by the Banana House door covers this. Borrow one.
• A rain shell or a buff. The tunnel ceilings drip year-round. In November the drips are basically a shower.
• Shoes with grip. The tunnel floors collect algae and the levada path outside the tunnels has wet stone for the last 1.5 km.

Unlike PR9, none of the PR16 tunnels flood in winter. The volcanic ridge is high enough above the valley that water runs off the sides rather than ponding inside. We’ve walked it after three days of November rain and the tunnel floors were wet, not flooded.

The narrow section is between tunnels two and three. The path drops to maybe 50 cm wide for 60 metres with the valley falling away to your left. There’s a low wire on the cliff side. Vertigo-prone hikers do better holding the inner wall. We’ve seen guests freeze here and walk back. No shame. The view from the turnaround is the same view from the narrow section, just five minutes earlier.

What you walk through

The levada cuts through the Ribeira do Inferno valley wall, which means you spend most of the hike with the valley on your left and a mossy basalt wall on your right. The wall drips. The ferns crowd the channel. Every 200 metres there’s a small cascade tumbling off the ridge above and feeding the levada.

The vegetation shifts as you walk. The first kilometre is exotic forest: eucalyptus, the occasional fig, the imported pines the foresters planted in the 1960s. Past tunnel one, the indigenous laurissilva takes over. Til, vinhático, laurel, the bay that smells like the kitchen at home. By the time you reach tunnel three, you’re inside the UNESCO laurel forest proper.

The Ribeira do Inferno itself is the valley you’re walking into. From the turnaround viewpoint past tunnel three, the valley opens to the north and you can see all the way down to the Atlantic at Seixal on a clear day. On a cloud day, you watch the cloud sit halfway up the valley and curl over the levada channel like steam off a pot.

There’s no waterfall finale. PR16 isn’t a payoff hike. The payoff is the walk itself.

After the hike: São Vicente food and the volcano caves

You’re back at the car by lunch, sweaty and a little damp. The smart move is the ten-minute drive down to São Vicente town.

Our pick is Restaurante O Virgílio in São Vicente. Wood oven, the prego no bolo (steak in a bolo do caco bun with garlic and a fried egg on top) is the order. €12 with a beer. The dining room is dim, the locals are loud, the football is always on.

The second pick, for a longer lunch with a view, is Solar de São Vicente up the hill toward Ginjas. Stone walls, terrace overlooking the valley, espetada on the laurel skewer and a half-bottle of Madeira to finish.

If you have legs and a few extra hours, the Grutas e Centro do Vulcanismo (volcano caves) are five minutes from the town centre. A guided walk through 700 metres of lava tubes formed when the island erupted 890,000 years ago. €8, lasts an hour, perfect rainy-afternoon backup. We send guests there when the morning weather kills the hiking plan.

When to go

PR16 forgives more than PR1 and more than PR9, but it has good and bad windows.

Best months: April through June, and September through October. The waterfalls feeding the levada run full, the air is clear enough to see down to Seixal from the turnaround, and the temperature inside the tunnels (12 to 14°C year-round) feels civilised instead of arctic.

Workable months: November through March. The tunnels drip harder. The vegetation gets wilder. The valley fills with cloud about half the time and the photos turn moody instead of clear. We hike it more in winter than summer because PR1 is iced out and the south-coast trails are saturated with everyone else’s plan B.

Skip days: strong wind (above 50 km/h, the laurel branches come down across the path) and immediate post-storm windows (the levada itself overflows and the path becomes a stream for the first day). Check the São Vicente webcam at 7am. If the village is socked in white-out cloud, the levada above it is wetter.

For the seasonal big picture, our best time to visit Madeira breakdown covers month-by-month rainfall and trail closures.

The trail is open year-round. PR16 currently costs €4.50 per person over 12, free under 12, booked through the simplifica.madeira.gov.pt portal (or madeira.fun/hiking for the version that accepts international cards). Save the QR to your phone. No booth at Ginjas, but rangers do spot-check during peak hours.

FAQ

How hard is PR16 Levada Fajã do Rodrigues? Moderate. The 7.8 km return distance is manageable for any reasonably fit walker. The path is flat (levada walks don’t climb) but the wet surface, the unlit tunnels, and one narrow exposed section push it past easy. Plan 3.5 hours including a break at the turnaround.

How does PR16 compare to PR9? PR16 is the shorter, quieter sibling. PR9 runs 13 km return with six tunnels and a waterfall finale. PR16 runs 7.8 km with three tunnels and a valley viewpoint. PR16 has fewer crowds, an easier drive from the south coast, and a much better post-hike lunch scene in São Vicente. PR9 has the bigger payoff. If you want the long day out, do PR9. If you want the quiet half-day, do PR16.

Can kids do PR16? From around age 9 with confident adults. The tunnels are shorter than PR9 and the narrow section between tunnels two and three is the only real concern. Families with younger kids do better on PR11 Vereda dos Balcões, which is 90 minutes and viewpoint-only.

Can dogs come on PR16? On a short lead, yes. The tunnels are short enough that most dogs cope. Bring water for them; the levada water isn’t drinkable.

Do I need a torch? Yes. Tunnel three is pitch black in the middle and a phone torch is borderline. A proper 200-lumen headlamp makes the difference between enjoying the hike and rushing the tunnels. Every coliving in Ponta do Sol has a basket of spares by the door. Borrow one before you drive up.

Is PR16 the same as PR18? No, but they pair well. PR18 Levada do Rei is on the other side of the island near São Jorge, similar quiet-levada energy, no tunnels. We send guests who like PR16 to PR18 the following week.

Is there a guide for PR16? Not needed. The trail is marked end to end and the route is out-and-back. If you want company, Alex Boboc at mountain-alex.com runs a free Sunday community hike out of Cogite coworking in Ponta do Sol that puts PR16 in rotation a couple of times a year.

Stay a month and walk the quiet ones

PR16 is what happens when you stay long enough to skip the headline hikes. Most one-week visitors do PR1, PR6, maybe PR8 if they have a clear afternoon, and fly home. They never hear about Fajã do Rodrigues because nobody puts it on a top-five list.

We run Banana House year-round, one-month minimum, from €997 including bills. Seven private rooms in Ponta do Sol, 45 minutes from the Ginjas trailhead, a kitchen that’s usually cooking, a basket of headlamps by the door. Walk PR1 on the clear day. Walk PR9 on a long Saturday. Walk PR16 on the Tuesday afternoon when the south coast is too hot and you want to spend the morning under cool rock.

See you at tunnel two. 🌿