Itinerary · 7 days · 33 places
7 Days in Madeira
A week in Madeira based in Funchal: two days for the city, Monte and the coast, plus four day trips to the finest levadas — Rabaçal, Ponta de São Lourenço, the wild north-west and the mountain range around Pico do Arieiro.
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Photo: Patrick Gamelkoorn · Pexels
The route on the map
The plan, day by day
Day 1Arrival in Funchal
Arrival in Funchal
Hotel check-in
Your base is in the Zona Velha around Rua de Santa Maria: narrow lanes with painted doors, all within walking distance of the market, cathedral and promenade.
Marina do Funchal and Avenida do Mar
A first stroll along the harbour promenade, past the replica of the sailing ship Santa Maria and the yachts, to the Parque de Santa Catarina.
Evening: Rua de Santa Maria
The city's oldest lane, with its painted doors, open wine bars and poncha counters until late into the night.
Day 2Funchal, Monte and the toboggan
Mercado dos Lavradores
A two-storey market hall of 1940 with custard apples, several kinds of passion fruit, turban squashes and the fish counter full of black scabbardfish.
Sé do Funchal
The cathedral of 1514, with a Mudéjar ceiling of Madeiran cedar above the nave.
Fortaleza de São Tiago
An ochre-yellow sea fortress of 1614 on the eastern edge of the old town, whose walls overlook the pebble cove of Barreirinha.
Teleférico do Funchal
Fifteen minutes by cable car from the harbour over the rooftops and banana plantations of the Ribeira de João Gomes valley up to Monte.
Monte Palace Tropical Garden
A terraced garden with koi ponds, Japanese gates, tree ferns and a collection of Portuguese azulejos spanning five centuries.
Toboggan ride from Monte
Two carreiros dressed in white with straw hats push the wicker sledge two kilometres down the road to Livramento.
Evening: Avenida Arriaga and Jardim Municipal
An illuminated jacaranda avenue between the Teatro Baltazar Dias and the municipal garden, with kiosks and Blandy's wine lodge on the corner.
Day 3Rabaçal — levadas in the laurel forest
Levada das 25 Fontes
From the Rabaçal car park, the narrow levada path leads through the laurel forest to a rocky cirque where twenty-five springs fall into a green pool.
Levada do Risco
A short detour along the upper levada to the viewpoint in front of the hundred-metre Risco waterfall.
Paul da Serra
The island's only plateau, at 1400 metres: treeless heath, wind turbines and free-roaming cattle, often above the clouds.
Ponta do Sol
The sunniest place on the island: a pebble cove below steep cliffs, old sugar-cane buildings and the bridge over the Ribeira da Ponta do Sol.
Evening: Praia Formosa
The long pebble beach west of Funchal with beach bars, where the sun sets behind Câmara de Lobos.
Day 4The eastern tip — Ponta de São Lourenço
Ponta de São Lourenço
The PR8 runs across the bare volcanic peninsula with its red and ochre bands to the Casa do Sardinha, with sheer drops on both sides.
Prainha
Madeira's only natural beach of black volcanic sand, reached by a staircase below the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Piedade.
Museu da Baleia
The whale museum in the old whaling village of Caniçal tells the story of whaling up to 1981 and shows a life-size sperm whale in a darkened hall.
Old town of Machico
The island's first capital: the Capela dos Milagres, the church with its Manueline portal and the yellow fort by the yellow beach of imported sand.
Evening: Barreirinha Bar Café
A terrace above the swimming cove below the fortress, where Funchal gathers at nightfall for a glass of poncha.
Day 5The wild north-west
Fanal
A plateau with ancient, wind-blown til trees that stand above the cow pasture like paper silhouettes in the mist.
Porto Moniz – natural pools
Pools washed into the solidified lava at the north-western cape, refilled by the Atlantic with fresh water at every wave.
Miradouro do Véu da Noiva
A lookout above the old north-coast road with a view of the Bridal Veil waterfall, which plunges straight into the sea.
Praia do Seixal
A black-sand beach in a cove where waterfalls from the cliff fall straight onto the coast road.
Grutas e Centro do Vulcanismo de São Vicente
Lava tubes around a kilometre long, about 700 metres of them open to visitors, formed by an eruption some 890,000 years ago, followed by an exhibition on volcanism.
Evening: promenade from the Lido to Ponta Gorda
An illuminated coastal path along the Lido to the Complexo Balnear da Ponta Gorda, with bars along the way.
Day 6Mountain range and Santana
Pico do Arieiro
At 1818 metres, the third-highest peak, reachable by road; from the Ninho da Manta you look over the sea of clouds to Pico Ruivo.
Levada dos Balcões
A flat levada path from Ribeiro Frio to a rocky lookout with views into the amphitheatre of the central peaks; chaffinches beg at the railing.
Ribeiro Frio – trout farm and Parque Florestal
Rearing pools of rainbow trout in the middle of the laurel forest, surrounded by tree heather and streams.
Casas típicas de Santana
The triangular thatched farmhouses in red, white and blue at the entrance to Santana, with a look inside one of the rooms.
Miradouro do Guindaste
Two glass platforms on the north coast near Faial, hanging freely above the cliffs and Eagle Rock.
Evening: Praça do Povo
A wide waterfront square behind Avenida do Mar with kiosks, live music at weekends and views of the illuminated mountain backdrop.
Day 7Cabo Girão and departure
Cabo Girão Skywalk
A glass platform 580 metres above the Atlantic, from which you look straight down onto the fajãs with their vineyard terraces.
Câmara de Lobos
A fishing village with colourful xavelha boats in the round harbour, poncha counters by the bay and the spot where Churchill painted.
Departure from Funchal
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