An island built vertically.
Sunrise on Pico do Arieiro, 25 Fontes by lunchtime, whales half an hour off Funchal harbour. What each trip is actually like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Seven that carry a week here.
A catamaran out of the marina before the swell builds, an open-roof 4x4 over the Paul da Serra plateau, the walk to 25 Fontes and back. Between them they cover the coast, the plateau and the peaks.
Dolphin and Whale Watching Catamaran Cruise
3-hour catamaran from Funchal to Cabo Girão to spot dolphins, whales and turtles, with panoramic views and a swim stop.
From $41 per person
Read the review →
★ 4.8Books out weeks aheadEnchanted Terraces, Porto do Moniz & Fanal 4WD TourFrom $744,930 reviews
★ 5.0Small boatPorto Moniz, Seixal, Fanal Forest, Cliff Skywalk in Open Roof 4X4From $753,631 reviews
★ 4.7Goes in any weatherBest of Madeira’s West TourFrom $423,463 reviews
★ 4.7Worth the early startBest of the East Tour from FunchalFrom $423,364 reviews
★ 4.7Kind on the legsOld Town Walking TourFrom $193,233 reviews
★ 4.2Island favouriteFunchal Bay: Dolphin & Whale Watch Luxury Catamaran CruiseFrom $472,684 reviews
The 4x4 day does the distances for you.
Madeira looks small until you drive it. An open-roof Land Rover climbs out of Funchal, crosses the Paul da Serra plateau in cloud, drops into Fanal, stops at the Seixal black-sand cove and the Porto Moniz lava pools, then comes back over Encumeada. Nobody has to park.
How do you want the mountains?
Everyone leaves Madeira with a photo from up high. Which one depends on how much of the day you are willing to spend on your feet. Three ways up, each with its own list of trips already priced and reviewed.
Up before dawn
The sunrise transfer
from $37 · 2,798 reviews
A van collects you in Funchal around four, climbs to the car park at 1,818 metres and leaves you on the viewing platform while the cloud sea turns orange under your feet. Half an hour of walking, no route-finding, and you are back at the hotel for a late breakfast.
See the Arieiro sunrise runs →
Seven hard kilometres
PR1, ridge to summit
from $36 · 1,591 reviews
The stair-cut traverse from Arieiro to Pico Ruivo, through tunnels you need a torch for and along ledges cut into the rock. Six to seven hours with real exposure and 1,000 metres of climbing, ending on the highest point of the island.
See the Pico Ruivo hikes →
Flat and shaded
A levada instead
8 hours · from $50 · 2,197 reviews
The irrigation channels contour the mountains at a steady gradient, so you walk for hours inside the laurel forest without climbing anything. Rabacal to 25 Fontes is the one most people mean. Waterproof and a head torch for the tunnels, and that is the kit list.
See the levada walks →
The best hour here starts at five.
Vans leave Funchal in the dark and climb through the cloud layer that sits over the south coast most mornings. By six you are above it, at 1,818 metres, watching the sun come up over a white floor with only the other peaks breaking through. Down again before the island properly wakes.
The whales are closer than you think.
The seabed drops to 3,000 metres within sight of the marina, which is why pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins turn up half an hour out. Morning sailings get the flattest water.
Fortified wine, and the rum that came first.
Madeira wine was invented by accident on ships crossing the equator. Poncha was invented on purpose, with sugarcane rum, honey and lemon, and is still stirred with a wooden caralhinho in Camara de Lobos.
A forest that outlived the ice age.
The laurel woodland covering Madeira’s north slopes is the last big remnant of a forest that once ran across southern Europe. At Fanal the til trees are five hundred years old and the fog rolls in most afternoons, which is exactly what everyone comes to photograph.
The island splits into days.
Funchal for the market and the toboggan. Porto Moniz for the lava pools. Santana for the thatched A-frame houses. Sao Lourenco for the bare red headland with the sea on both sides.
Know what you’re after?
Twelve ways to spend a day on the same island. Pick the one that sounds like yours and every option behind it is already priced and reviewed.
Nothing is more than ninety minutes away.
Fifty-seven kilometres end to end, and tunnels under most of the ridges. The north coast, the western plateau and the highest peaks are all a morning’s drive, which is why almost everything here runs as a day trip with pickup included.
Three days that fit the island.
Most people land at Santa Cruz in the afternoon and lose the first evening. This is the order that works after that: low and easy, then the long west day, then the peaks on whichever morning the forecast is clearest.
Day 1
Stay low, stay in Funchal
Mercado dos Lavradores while the fish is still coming in, the cable car up to Monte, the wicker toboggan back down, then the old town for dinner. Almost no driving.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The long west day
Cabo Girao’s glass floor, the plateau, Fanal in fog, lunch at Porto Moniz beside the lava pools and back along the north coast. Book it with a driver and enjoy the road.
Plan day two →
Day 3
Up on the ridge
Arieiro for sunrise, then either the PR1 traverse to Pico Ruivo or straight back down for a levada in the afternoon. Watch the mountain forecast, not the coastal one.
Plan day three →
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