Distance: 8km

Duration: 2 hours (excluding beer stop and river dip)

Difficulty: Easy (can be hard going on the knees on the descent and hard going on the lungs on the ascent)

Desirability: An incredible 'inverted' hike.  Perpetual stunning views, very easy to navigate. Really get that 'in the mountains' feeling

Description: A rewarding hike, starting up high (1,095m) at Eira Do Serrado.  You can get a bus from Funchal but we got a Bolt for about 15 euros.  The walk down to the valley is steep with lots of twists and turns but its impossible to get lost, just follow the trail.  After stopping in the village we headed on down to Pico dos Chefes - a beautiful natural pool popular with the locals in the Summer.  We had it to ourselves during our visit in February.  

What we wore

Hiking boots, three-quarter length hiking trousers, technical t-shirts, sun cream.  We had a long-sleeved layer with us too that we needed at points, and stuck on our down jackets when the wind picked up during our pit stop in the village. We needed ALL our clothes when we returned to Eira Do Serrado as the infamous Madeiran cloud had rolled in by late afternoon, forcing the temperature down significantly. 

What we ate

Oh we really spoiled ourselves on this one.  There's a cafe at the start of the trail so it was two coffees and a pastel de nata to share, would've been rude not to.  Then in the village we stopped at a restaurant called Sabores Do Curral to try the local delicacy, chestnut soup, along with a 'sem alcool' beer.  The soup comes with meat in it which, as part-time vegans we were really not expecting.  Mountain beers just hit different.

Lunch at Pico dos Chefes was our usual bagels & hummus with spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes.  At the end of the hike, back up at Eira Do Serrado, we had another coffee to warm up and snacked on homemade energy bars and a banana. 

How we felt

Blown away by the views and over the moon to be in the mountains.  Did feel a bit like cheating getting driven to the top compared to what we are used to in Scotland. We loved the views for the full duration of the walk and chilling at the pools was a nice addition.  We thought the climb back up would be harder and take longer than it did.  We were glad we got up to Eira Do Serrado early in the morning to catch the views as they were non-existent by 4pm. 

Check out our Instagram for some footage of this walk and all the other places we've visited!