Ribeiro Frio, the walk to the balconies

Ribeiro Frio is a hamlet in the laurel forest on the road from Funchal over the mountains to the north coast. Beside the road is a trout hatchery, where rainbow trout are raised to restock the island's streams, and cafés where walkers stop.

The PR11, Vereda dos Balcões, starts by the road in Ribeiro Frio. It follows the Levada da Serra do Faial, 1.5 km each way, nearly level (870 to 880 m), to a railed viewpoint on a ridge: the Balcões, the balconies. From there you look over valleys of laurel forest, and on clear days Pico do Arieiro, Pico das Torres and Pico Ruivo. The forest along the way is one of the best places for the island's own birds, such as the Madeira laurel pigeon and the Madeira firecrest.

This is the walk many visitors call the Balcony path. It is not the glass-floored skywalk at Cabo Girão, which is on the south coast west of Funchal.

• Book a SIMplifica slot for each walker, €4.50 a person, even for this short walk. Children 12 and under go free but still need a booking, and a missed slot is not refunded.
• Allow about 1 h 30 there and back. The path is nearly flat and suits most walkers, with good shoes.
• The peaks show only on clear days. In cloud you still get the forest and the valley below.
• PR10, Levada do Furado, also starts here: 11 km one way to Portela, about 5 hours. It ends somewhere else, so it needs a pickup at the far end.

Our east Madeira day stops at Ribeiro Frio after Pico do Arieiro, on the way down to Santana. For the walk on its own, a hiking transfer drops you at Ribeiro Frio at your slot time and collects you at the same car park, or at Portela after the PR10.