Madeira

Sights

• Funchal old town – Painted doors along Rua de Santa Maria.
• Mercado dos Lavradores – A market hall with exotic fruit and fish.
• Monte and the toboggans – Up by cable car, down in a wicker toboggan.
• Levada walks – Paths along old irrigation channels, for example to 25 Fontes.
• Pico do Arieiro–Pico Ruivo – A spectacular ridge hike between the highest peaks.
• Cabo Girão – A glass skywalk on one of Europe's highest sea cliffs.
• Porto Moniz – Natural lava rock pools in the Atlantic.

Food & nightlife

• Espetada – Beef skewers cooked over the fire.
• Bolo do caco – Flatbread with garlic butter.
• Poncha – Sugar-cane spirit with honey and lemon.
• Madeira wine – Fortified wine to taste in Funchal's wine lodges.
• Black scabbardfish with banana – The island's deep-sea fish, often with fried banana.

Day trips

• Ponta de São Lourenço – A barren eastern peninsula with a coastal hike.
• Santana – Triangular thatched cottages.
• Porto Santo – The neighbouring island with a long sandy beach, by ferry.

Good to know

When to go

March–June, September–October

Getting around

Buses and cable cars from Funchal; a hire car or guided tours for the levadas and mountain roads.

Tipping

Service is usually included – rounding up is a nice gesture.

Power

Plug type C/F, 230 V – pack an adapter for Swiss plugs.

Currency

Euro (EUR)

Plan your trip to Madeira together

Create a trip plan and the Travel Guide comes with it – with a map, ideas to suggest and saved for offline use.

Plan with Pickeed

More in Portugal

• Lisbon
• Porto
• Algarve