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Vereda do Fanal 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; Vereda do Fanal is graded medium, Vereda dos Balcões easy.

Which one is harder?

Vereda do Fanal is the harder of the two on paper: graded medium against easy. Vereda do Fanal climbs 205 m more, 360 m against 155 m. Vereda do Fanal is the longer walk too, 10.8 km against 3.0 km.

How long does each take?

Allow about 4h for Vereda do Fanal and about 1h 30m for Vereda dos Balcões, one way and at a walking pace. That is roughly 2h 30m more for Vereda do Fanal, 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?

Vereda do Fanal

Choose Vereda do Fanal if you are here for Endemic flora, Point to point, Viewpoint.

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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