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Levada do Furado vs Vereda dos Balcões

Two of Madeira's hiking trails side by side: distance, difficulty, ascent, duration and booking. Live 0 to 100 scores for each are in the app.

Quick take: Vereda dos Balcões is the shorter walk; Vereda dos Balcões has less climbing; Levada do Furado is graded medium, Vereda dos Balcões easy.

Which one is harder?

Levada do Furado is the harder of the two on paper: graded medium against easy. Levada do Furado climbs 340 m more, 495 m against 155 m. Levada do Furado is the longer walk too, 11.0 km against 3.0 km.

How long does each take?

Allow about 5h for Levada do Furado and about 1h 30m for Vereda dos Balcões, one way and at a walking pace. That is roughly 3h 30m more for Levada do Furado, before any stops. Vereda dos Balcões is an out-and-back, so the return doubles the time on the ground; the other is not.

Do you need to book?

Both are regulated IFCN trails, so both need a ticket at EUR 4.50, bought through the SIMplifica portal.

Which one should you pick?

Levada do Furado

Choose Levada do Furado if you are here for Tunnel, Endemic flora, Point to point.

Vereda dos Balcões

Choose Vereda dos Balcões if you are here for Endemic flora, Out and back, Levada, or if you want the shorter day, or if you would rather not climb.

Which of the two is better on a given morning is a different question, and the numbers above cannot answer it: cloud, wind and closures change hourly and they change differently on the north and south coasts. Levadas scores both live and tells you which to drive to today.

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