Madeira Encumeada and Paul da Serra (63 km)
Ribeira Brava to Porto Moniz
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Why this ride
A 63 km one-way ride from near Ribeira Brava, about 1 h 05 of riding. It goes by way of Encumeada Pass and Paul da Serra. The highest point is about 1,000 m. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
Roadbook
- Ribeira Brava
start
Ribeira Brava is a south-coast Madeira town that sits at the mouth of a deep valley and the foot of the old road across the island. A small bay of dark pebbles, a church with a handsome tiled tower, a seafront that locals actually use, and then the mountains rise straight behind. It has roughly six thousand people, so petrol, cash machines, bakeries and a decent lunch are all easy, which is exactly what a start point should offer.
Madeira's coast is steep volcanic rock cut by ravines, and this valley is one of the big ones. The old road climbs from sea level to the Encumeada Pass at about a thousand metres in a tight sequence of hairpins and shaded bends, past terraced banana plots, vines, and the little stone levada channels that carry water around the hillsides. The expressway tunnels have taken most of the traffic, which is a gift: the old route is quiet, narrow in places, occasionally scattered with rockfall after rain, and a wonderful bike road if you like riding up a mountain with the view slowly widening behind you.
The history is mostly sugar and wine. In the sixteenth century this coast made a fortune from sugar cane, and later the island's fortified wine became famous around the Atlantic world. Even now you will see cane being grown and the local honey-cane rum served in the bars. The island rises from the ocean without a shelf, so weather behaves strangely: you can leave in bright sun at the shore and meet cloud and drizzle on the plateau above, then drop out of it again on the far side. Pack a thin waterproof whatever the forecast says.
Past Encumeada the ride opens onto the Paul da Serra, a high moorland plateau at about fourteen hundred metres, treeless and windy, with grazing cattle and a long straight road that feels like another country. Fuel is not available up there, so fill in Ribeira Brava or nearby Ponta do Sol before you start. Try a bolo do caco, the flat bread cooked on a stone, hot with garlic butter, and a poncha, the local lemon and spirit mix, but save that second one until the bike is parked for the day.
- Encumeada Pass
scenic · 1007 m
Encumeada is the notch in Madeira's spine where the island shows both of its faces at once. At just over a thousand metres, the pass sits between the high peaks that run east to west, and from the viewpoint beside the road you can look north to the valley that falls toward São Vicente and south to the valley of Ribeira Brava, with the sea glinting in each direction when the cloud permits. On a clear day it feels almost like standing on a roof.
The road here, the ER228, is one of the island's classics. Coming up from the south it climbs through terraced farms, eucalyptus and pine, and hairpins carry you up to the saddle; on the north side the descent is steeper and more dramatic, with tunnels drilled through rock and waterfalls pouring down cliffs beside the road. Surfaces are mostly good, but expect damp patches and falling stones in wet weather, and watch for fog, which can drop onto the pass in minutes and turn the road to a grey tunnel. Morning tends to be clearest, with cloud building from midday as the sun heats the slopes.
Beyond the road, the pass is a jumping-off point for walking. Levadas, the narrow irrigation channels built centuries ago to carry water from the wet north to the dry south, run through the mountain forest, and several famous trails start near here. The laurel forests of Madeira, which are a UNESCO World Heritage site, grow in the damp folds of these mountains, and the smell of wet earth and leaves is part of the place. The island's mountains were built by volcanoes, and the cliffs beside the road show layers of ash and lava in rust and grey.
There is a small kiosk or café at the pass in season and a car park by the viewpoint, but for fuel you need to descend to São Vicente on the north coast or Ribeira Brava to the south. Carry a rain jacket and a warm layer, since the temperature drops at altitude and the wind can be fierce. In the summer months the pass is a lovely cool place to stop, and a hot coffee tastes better here than almost anywhere.
Take a moment at the viewpoint to look both ways before you choose which side of the island to drop into.
- Paul da Serra
scenic
Paul da Serra is the odd one out in Madeira, because it is flat. After the steep valleys and hairpins of the coast, you climb onto a high plateau about fourteen hundred metres up where the land spreads out into open moorland of heather, gorse and tussock grass, with a few cattle and sheep and a scatter of wind turbines. It feels like Scotland dropped into the Atlantic, and the first time you reach it you wonder where the subtropical island has gone.
The name means something like the marsh of the mountain, and it earns it. The plateau catches the clouds that roll up from the sea, absorbs the rain and feeds the springs and streams that supply Madeira's levada network of irrigation channels. In wet weather the ground is soaked, and fog can fall so thickly that visibility drops to a few metres. When the sky is clear the views are enormous, with the Atlantic stretching away on both sides and the peaks of the central massif lined up to the east. The air is cool, the wind is steady, and the light is wide and bright.
The road across, the ER209, is one of the best on the island for riding: long straight stretches broken by smooth, wide bends, hardly any traffic, and an open feeling that contrasts with the narrow coastal lanes. Take care, though. Fog, wind, and sheep and cattle on the road are all real hazards, and in winter there can be ice or even a dusting of snow. Late spring and autumn usually bring the best weather, and early morning is quietest.
Beyond the plateau, side roads lead down to places like Rabaçal and the laurel forest of Fanal, where ancient trees stand wrapped in moss and mist. The laurisilva forest, a relic of the vegetation that once covered southern Europe, is protected and listed by UNESCO, and walking in it is an experience you will remember.
There are almost no services on the plateau. Fuel stations are in the towns on the coast, such as Calheta or São Vicente, and it is wise to fill up before you climb. Carry water, a rain jacket and a warm layer, and keep your phone charged in case the weather turns. The silence here, broken only by wind and distant bells, is the real treat.
- Porto Moniz
finish
Porto Moniz sits at the north-western corner of Madeira, where the island runs out of land and meets the Atlantic with a wall of black volcanic rock. The village is small, with just under three thousand inhabitants, and its fame rests on the natural swimming pools, a series of basins formed in solidified lava by ancient eruptions, which fill with clear seawater at high tide and make a sheltered place to swim among the rocks while the swell crashes just beyond. Fishermen still work the coast, and the village has a small fort, a handful of cafes and a lively fish restaurant tradition. The name comes from an early settler family, the Monizes, who received land here in the fifteenth century.
The way to get here is the point. From the south, the road crosses the Paul da Serra, a high, windy plateau at about 1,400 metres, with moorland, wind turbines and sheep, and then plunges down the north-west slope through forest and tunnels to the coast. The classic approach is from the south over Encumeada, a fine mountain pass at about a thousand metres, down to São Vicente and then west along the ER101 on the north coast, where the road dives through tunnels carved into the cliffs and passes waterfalls that fall almost onto the tarmac. Surfaces are generally good, but the bends are tight, rain is common and cloud on the plateau can reduce visibility to a few metres. Ride slowly, particularly in wet weather, when the tarmac turns slick.
The laurel forests of Madeira, known as the laurisilva, are a World Heritage site and the largest surviving area of this ancient type of forest, once widespread across southern Europe. The levadas, narrow irrigation channels cut along the hillsides, offer walks through the trees, and some of them start near the road.
Fuel is the main concern. The village is small, so fill the tank at Calheta or Ribeira Brava on the south side before crossing the plateau, and do not leave it late. Bring a rain jacket, because the weather can change from sunshine to downpour in minutes. The poncha, a local drink of sugarcane spirit, honey and lemon, is a good way to warm up at the end of the ride.