The laurisilva is the oldest living thing on Madeira, and the reason much of the island looks the way it does. It is a relict: a survivor of a forest type that once spread across southern Europe and North Africa millions of years ago, then vanished almost everywhere as the climate cooled. Madeira’s mild, humid mountains let it hold on, and the island now carries the largest surviving stretch of this forest anywhere on Earth.

This guide covers what the laurisilva actually is, why it earned World Heritage protection, and where you can walk in it.

What the laurisilva is

Laurisilva means “laurel forest”, and the name is literal. It is a dense, evergreen, subtropical woodland built around laurel-family trees, the kind that thrive in constant mild damp rather than in heat or in cold.

On Madeira it covers roughly 15,000 hectares, mostly draped across the steep, cloud-catching northern slopes and the central highlands, broadly between 300 and 1,300 metres. The canopy is a tangle of laurel, til, vinhático and barbusano trees, their trunks and branches furred with moss, lichen and ferns. The light is green and filtered, the air is wet, and the ground is soft. It is a forest that feels genuinely ancient, because in a real sense it is.

Why it matters

Two things make the laurisilva more than a pretty wood, and together they earned it UNESCO World Heritage status in 1999.

It is irreplaceable. This is the world’s largest relict laurel forest, a living remnant of an ecosystem that the Ice Ages erased from the European mainland. It cannot be recreated; it can only be lost or kept.

It is full of life found nowhere else. The forest is the home of the trocaz pigeon, a large pigeon endemic to Madeira, alongside the tiny Madeira firecrest and a long list of endemic plants, mosses, ferns and invertebrates that evolved in this one place.

It also does practical work. The canopy combs moisture straight out of the cloud that drifts in off the Atlantic, a slow drip that feeds the springs and the levadas, the irrigation channels that carry water across the whole island. The laurisilva is, in effect, part of Madeira’s water supply.

Where to walk in it

The easiest way to experience the laurisilva is on foot, and many of Madeira’s best levada walks run straight through it on level, shaded paths.

• Ribeiro Frio, in the central highlands, is the gentlest introduction. A short, near-level path leads to the Balcões viewpoint, and longer levada trails thread the forest from the same spot.
• The Caldeirão Verde walk, from Queimadas above Santana, is a longer route deep into the northern laurisilva, ending at a waterfall. See the Levada do Caldeirão Verde guide.
• The 25 Fontes trail in the west also passes through laurel forest on its way to the springs; see the 25 Fontes levada walk.
• Fanal, on the Paul da Serra plateau in the west, is the most atmospheric corner of all: a stand of ancient, gnarled til trees in open pasture, often wrapped in drifting mist.

Walking here is quiet and cool, with birdsong, dripping ferns and the sense of moving through a landscape that has barely changed in a very long time.

Frequently asked questions

Is the laurisilva worth visiting?

Yes, and you will likely walk through it whether you plan to or not, because so many of Madeira’s levada trails cross it. It is the island’s defining natural feature and a genuine rarity: the largest surviving forest of its kind anywhere. Even one short walk through it is worthwhile.

Where is the best place to see the laurel forest?

For an easy first taste, Ribeiro Frio in the central mountains, with its short walk to the Balcões viewpoint. For a longer immersion, the Caldeirão Verde walk on the north coast. For the most striking single image, the misty ancient trees of Fanal on the western plateau.

How is the laurisilva different from an ordinary forest?

It is a relict: a living survivor of a subtropical forest that covered much of the region millions of years ago and then disappeared almost everywhere else. It is evergreen, constantly humid, and unusually rich in species found only on Madeira. Most of all, it is genuinely old as an ecosystem, not a replanted wood.

Can I see the laurisilva without a long hike?

Easily. Ribeiro Frio is reached by road, and the path to the Balcões viewpoint is short and near-level, taking about half an hour return. Fanal can be reached by car as well. You do not need to commit to a long levada walk to stand inside the forest.