We hiked this trail in March and chose it as an alternative to the bad weather that was up in the mountains. As you know, it’s always nice weather in the south of the island, so I came up with this trail. It starts at a beautiful church where you can easily park your car underneath. You stretch through the local streets to the trail start and begin descending along the beautiful Vereda dos Zimbreiros trail. I strongly recommend hiking this trail in exactly this direction and descending into Paul do Mar via Vereda dos Zimbreiros. It’s much more pleasant to descend than the trail that’s better for climbing up instead.

Going down is always easier, so you can enjoy the scenery along the way. Halfway down the descent, there’s a viewpoint marked on the map that’s definitely worth a stop, and I recommend making a quick detour there. It’s just a small side trail and takes 2 extra minutes. After the descent, which isn’t challenging at all (the path zigzags a lot, making the descent less steep), my favorite slightly biker style Bar de Pedra o Poleiro awaits you. I recommend stopping there for something good.

Refreshed, you can set off on the rest of the hike, which is still quite long. So far you’ve completed the easier part, about 1/3 of the trail.
You’ll walk along the coast and very soon head left between local dwellings, passing directly through them to a banana plantation. The trail leads right through this plantation, and you’ll hike among the banana trees until you reach the main road leading to Paul do Mar.

Then the real adventurous climbing begins. There’s no need to rush anywhere, and it pays to stop often, look back, and admire the views of the ocean and the shrinking houses below you. Along the path, which isn’t visible at all from below and you’d never guess there was one there in spring, you’ll climb all the way to the top of the rocky massif towering above Paul do Mar.

You’ll have all the hills behind you. You’ll connect to Levada Faja and smoothly transition from it to Levada Nova, which will take you back almost to your car. The hike can be shortened a bit, and it’s possible to turn back to the car a few hundred meters earlier. You’ll definitely find that on the map. If you get hungry after the climb above Paul do Mar, it’s possible to descend to the right from Levada Faja, and after a few hundred meters you’ll come across several refreshment options. Not all of them may be open, but we succeeded at Bar e Mini Mercado Raposeira.

PS: Three children aged 13 to 17 hiked this trail with us and managed it without any problems.