Part of our complete guide: Madeira’s hiking trails: the PR routes explained
- Length
- 1.5 km
- There and back
- 3 km
- Walking time
- 1:30 h
- Difficulty
- easy
- Altitude
- 870–880 m
- Start
- Ribeiro Frio (E.R. 103)
- End
- Balcões
- Fee
- €4.50 per person (as of 2026-08), booked via SIMplifica
PR 11 — The route
Open this route interactively on OpenStreetMap
What it is like
From Ribeiro Frio on the ER 103 the path follows the Levada da Serra do Faial through laurel forest. It is wide, well surfaced and effectively level — ten metres of height change over a kilometre and a half. There are no tunnels, no exposed sections, and railings for much of the way.
At the end is the Balcões platform. In clear conditions Pico do Arieiro, Pico das Torres and Pico Ruivo line up in front of you.
This guide shows no elevation profile for this route. Over ten metres of height change, a diagram computed from a 25-metre grid would carry no information at all — only the scatter of the model.
Who it suits
This is the walk for anyone unsure whether hiking on Madeira is going to work for them: families with small children, anyone with a head for heights problem, a morning with a deadline on it. Officially easy, and for once that means genuinely easy.
The platform itself gets crowded when several groups arrive at once. Early in the morning you often have it to yourself.
Ribeiro Frio around it
The place consists essentially of a trout farm, two restaurants and the trailhead. PR 10 Levada do Furado starts from the same point in the other direction — a considerably longer and harder walk, and a separate route with its own reservation.
Getting there
Ribeiro Frio sits on the ER 103 between Funchal and Faial, easy to reach and one of the few walks on the island that works by public bus. Parking is at the roadside and there is not much of it.
The route ends where it starts.
Ribeiro Frio is at about 860 m on the northern side of the weather divide. It is regularly cool and damp here while Funchal is in sunshine — the current picture is beside this text.
Booking
Even this short route requires a fee and a reservation through SIMplifica, in 30-minute slots. Process under booking trails.
Common questions
How long does it actually take? Twenty minutes each way at a stroll. The official 1:30 is generous.
Is it pushchair-friendly? With an off-road pushchair on dry days, yes. After rain the ground is soft.
Is it worth it under cloud? The view is the entire point. Under a closed ceiling you still have the laurel forest, which is lovely in itself — but the drive is hard to justify for it.
