Go hiking along the mountain levadas
There are superb hikes from Santo da Serra along the levadas – Madeira’s vast aqueduct network – which take in forested mountains and flowering valleys. The longest is a nine-kilometre route that idles down the steep slopes to Gaula, where it eventually meets the ocean. You can also hike to Portela, a three to four-hour walk that lines up the mountain of Pico Do Suna. From the watchtower at its summit, there are swooning views of the north coast.