AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Tucked into the green north coast of São Miguel in the Azores, the Cidreira Waterfall (Salto da Cidreira, also shown as Waterval Cidreira on maps) is the quiet reward at the end of a short levada walk through Europe's oldest tea-growing landscape. A fern-and-moss gorge, a trickling cascade and the sound of running water feel a world away from the busy tea factory the path begins at.↗↗↗
The falls are the turnaround point of the Trilho do Caminho de Água da Gorreana (TM05), an easy 1.7 km round trip of around 40 minutes that follows the irrigation channel carrying water from the Ribeira da Gorreana. It is one of the simplest and least crowded waterfalls to reach on the island, and a lovely pairing with a visit to the neighbouring Gorreana Tea Factory.↗↗↗
A walk built around water
The Cidreira Waterfall is less a drive-up sight than the destination of a gentle forest-and-field stroll. The TM05 trail starts beside the Fábrica de Chá da Gorreana and runs alongside a levada, the open water channel that once carried the stream's flow through the tea fields for processing and small-scale hydroelectric power. For much of the way you walk between low, manicured hedges of Camellia sinensis, the tea shrubs that make this north coast of São Miguel unusual anywhere in Europe.
