PR11 Vereda dos Balcões and PR10 Levada do Furado both go from the same point in Ribeiro Frio. With Dos Balcões being just a short return walk to a miradouro (viewpoint), don’t forget that it is a separate walk and you will have to pay 2 entry fees – there were people checking.

We catch an early morning bus (#56 at 8:10 from the cable car station and taking about 1½ hours) to try and beat the crowds to the popular Dos Balcões. The bus zig-zags up through Monte, cresting at the Ecological Park before dropping into the forested central highlands of Ribeiro Frio Natural Park. It’s not just the stream that’s cold (ribeiro frio means ‘cold stream’) – the mountain air has a chill to it, so it’s jackets on.

PR11 Vereda dos Balcões

The easy walk out to the miradouro is a pleasant one and follows a levada through the woods. There’s a poncha bar with a view (it’s never too early for a poncha, but it is too early for the bar to be open) and some impressive fern fronds that will impress any kiwi koru fans.

At the end of the trail, you round a rocky outcrop and have your eyeballs drowned in panorama. We spend ages just drinking in the view of Madeira’s verdant mountains. Our plan to beat the crowds has worked and at most there are only half-a-dozen others sharing the platform at any time (folks tend to arrive, take selfies and then leave pretty sharpish).

Back at Ribeiro Frio, we refuel with some freshly baked pasteis de nata and coffee before starting the next trail. By now there are a couple of large coaches, several minibuses and plenty of rental cars, and there is a line of people heading for Dos Balcões.

PR10 Levada do Furado

This walk turns from a pleasant stroll through UNESCO-protected Laurissilva (laurel) forest into a thrilling trek that traverses rocky bluffs and offers stunning views. There are waterfalls and weirs, rock passages and ruinous drops. In places, where the path has turned to boggy puddles, we find ourselves tiptoeing along sheer drops on just a brick’s width of wall.

At about the halfway point, there is a peaceful pool fed by a curtain waterfall. Ford the rocks at the pool’s edge or follow the levada carved halfway down the falls … maybe wait for drier times for that one. It’s here that we notice nearly everyone else on the trail has been turning around – no doubt to return to their cars parked in Ribeiro Frio.

Which is a crying shame because after this point there is a large bluff with a rock passage and a dramatic drop offering the best views on the walk. The path through the rock in several places is actually loose slabs across the levada itself, and you can hear the echo of ripples beneath.

The steep descent to Portela is unremarkable after such an amazing traverse but is well rewarded by a miradouro with a stunning view down to the northeast coast and the 600m sugarloaf outcrop Penha d’Águia. Be aware the bus back to Funchal leaves from down the steps below the switchback, opposite the restaurant, and not from the viewpoint.