Guide
Vereda dos Balcões: Madeira's Easiest Big-View Walk
A flat, 3km round trip from Ribeiro Frio that ends at one of Madeira's best mountain viewpoints — no fitness required, no scrambling, just a levada path through laurisilva forest.
If you only do one hike on Madeira and you're not much of a hiker, this is the one people mean when they say that. Vereda dos Balcões starts right on the main road through Ribeiro Frio and gets you to a proper mountain viewpoint — Pico Ruivo and Pico das Torres laid out in front of you — without a single steep bit along the way.
It's 1.5km out and 1.5km back, following the Levada da Serra do Faial the whole way, and most people are done in about 90 minutes including a stop at the viewpoint. The path is wide, shaded by laurisilva forest — the kind of ancient, moss-heavy woodland Madeira is known for — and flat enough that it works for kids, grandparents, or anyone who just wants a short walk rather than a workout.
'Balcões' means balconies, and that's exactly what the end point is: a railed platform looking straight across the valley at two of Madeira's highest peaks, usually with cloud drifting through the gap between them. It photographs better than almost anything else you'll do in under two hours here.
One practical thing worth knowing before you drive up: since January 2026, PR11 is one of the classified trails that requires a free time-slot booking through Madeira's SIMplifica portal, same as the island's other PR-numbered routes — it's a quick online booking, not a queue on the day, but it does need doing in advance rather than turning up. If a short, guaranteed win of a walk is what you're after between beach days, this is it — ask us on WhatsApp if you'd rather have it arranged as a guided outing instead of self-guided.
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