Madeira is a mountain standing in the sea. Book both halves.
Which whale boat finds the pods. What a jeep day out to the Porto Moniz pools costs. Whether the Arieiro sunrise is worth a pickup before four. Reviews of the tours you can book from Funchal.
Whales off Funchal, the Porto Moniz pools, Santana, a wicker sledge.
The four bookings most first visits to Madeira are built around, with what each costs and what travellers made of it.
01The morning at seaEcological Catamaran Dolphin Whale WatchingOut of Funchal marina by catamaran to the pods that feed off the south coast. Book an early day of your stay in case the sea says no.
02The day out westSkywalk, Porto Moniz, Seixal, and Fanal 4WD TourBy 4WD to the Cabo Girão glass floor, the Seixal coast and the lava pools at Porto Moniz, then up into the Fanal fog forest.
03The day out eastBest of the East Tour from FunchalSantana’s thatched A-frame houses and the green north-east coast, on a full day out of Funchal.
04The half dayNuns Valley, Monte and Sleigh Ride TourInto the Nuns Valley, up to Monte, then back down in a wicker sledge steered by two men in straw boaters.
Jeep, levada, canyon or the Arieiro sunrise: pick your Madeira mountain day.
Half the island sits above a thousand metres and most of its best days go up. Four ways to get there, and what each costs to book.
★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Full Day Jeep Safari East – Pico do Areeiro – Santana – Ponta de são Lourenço
Jeep daysOpen-roof 4x4 over the passes and down the dirt tracks to the coast.
Levada walksLevel paths beside the old water channels, through laurel forest to the falls.
Arieiro sunriseA pickup in the dark, then sunrise at 1,818 metres over a sea of cloud.
CanyoningAbseils and jumps down the waterfalls of the inland ravines.
All 154 jeep days on Madeira →
Funchal on the south coast, then west to the lava pools or east to Santana.
The capital, both ends of the island, the rock pools at Porto Moniz, the thatched houses of the north coast and the valley the nuns hid in. Six places to start, and the best day out from each.
Off Funchal the deep water starts minutes out of the marina.
Madeira drops steeply into the Atlantic, so whale and dolphin water is a short ride from the harbour wall. Catamarans, fast RIBs, a replica of Columbus’s ship, dive boats and kayaks along the Garajau reserve. The three most booked are below.
1
3The Madeira tours more travellers book than any other.
Every Madeira tour we review →Whale boats and jeep days fill the top of the list, with the old-town walk and the peak hikes close behind.
1
Dolphin and Whale Watching Catamaran Cruise
From Funchal Marina, sail for three hours along Madeira’s coast aboard a spacious catamaran, watching for dolphins, whales and turtles. The crew speaks English and Portuguese and shares information about marine life. In summer, the trip may include a swim stop beneath Cabo Girão. Drinks are sold onboard; wildlife sightings are not guaranteed.
From · $41
Read our review →
2
Enchanted Terraces, Porto do Moniz & Fanal 4WD Tour
from $74
3
Porto Moniz, Seixal, Fanal Forest, Cliff Skywalk in Open Roof 4X4
from $75
4
Best of Madeira’s West Tour
from $42
5
Old Town Walking Tour
from $19
6
Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Transfer Self-guided Hike
from $37
7
Dolphin & Whale Watch Luxury Catamaran Cruise
from $47
8
West Madeira Waterfalls and Fanal Forest Tour
from $33
Funchal: a wine lodge, the market and a basket sledge down from Monte.
Everything in Funchal →The capital climbs from the marina to Monte in one steep amphitheatre. Walk the painted doors of Rua de Santa Maria, ride the cable car up, and come back down the old way. These three carry the most travellers in town.
The ride downUp by cable car, down by sledge2–4h· from $42· steep lanesWicker sledges on wooden runners, steered down the lanes from Monte by two carreiros in straw boaters. About two kilometres, and the only brakes are their rubber-soled boots.
The fortified oneMadeira wine, from the cask1–4h· from $17· tastingsMadeira is heated as it ages, which is why an open bottle keeps for months. The lodges in Funchal pour the classic grapes side by side, from dry Sercial to sweet Malvasia.
The eveningMarket fruit, then poncha3–4h· from $29· come hungryThe Mercado dos Lavradores sells fruit you will not have names for. Food walks pass through the stalls and finish on poncha, cane spirit shaken with honey and lemon. Three things Madeira has that the rest of Portugal does not.
Plenty of islands have whales and cliffs. Two thousand kilometres of hand-cut water channels, a fog forest older than the Ice Age and a glass floor 580 metres above the sea are another matter.
The Levadas
From the fifteen hundreds settlers cut channels along the mountainsides to carry water from the wet north to the sugar fields of the sunny south. The maintenance paths beside them became the island’s walking trails: nearly level, often a sheer drop on one side, sometimes through tunnels where you need a torch.
- 1Enjoy a Guided Levada Walk in the Rabaçal Valley★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,197 reviews
- 225 Fontes & Risco Levada Transfer Self-guided Hike★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 841 reviews
- 3Madeira East Island Tour and Levada Walk★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 787 reviews
The Fanal Forest
On the high plateau above Porto Moniz, centuries-old til trees stand in open pasture and most afternoons the cloud rolls through them. The laurel forest that covers the north of the island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Fanal is where it looks least real.
- 1Skywalk, Porto Moniz, Seixal, and Fanal 4WD Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 5,732 reviews
- 2Enchanted Terraces, Porto do Moniz & Fanal 4WD Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 4,930 reviews
- 3Porto Moniz, Seixal, Fanal Forest, Cliff Skywalk in Open Roof 4X4★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,631 reviews
Cabo Girão
One of the highest sea cliffs in Europe rises straight out of the water west of Câmara de Lobos, and a glass platform hangs off the top of it. Look down past your feet at the farmed plots on the fajã at the foot of the cliff, reached by its own cable car.
- 1Skywalk, Porto Moniz, Seixal, and Fanal 4WD Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 5,732 reviews
- 2Porto Moniz, Seixal, Fanal Forest, Cliff Skywalk in Open Roof 4X4★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,631 reviews
- 3Full-Day Jeep Safari West: Fanal, Porto Moniz, Seixal, Cabo Girão★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 940 reviews
What a day out on Madeira costs.
Every tour on the site, sorted by price. A walk through old Funchal costs less than lunch; the full-day jeep runs to three figures for two.
Old-town walks, whale boats, levada transfers and the half day in the Nuns Valley.
The full-day jeep runs, canyoning, guided levada walks and the food-and-wine walks in Funchal.
Private drivers, private boats and island days built around one party.
Sun in Funchal, cloud on Arieiro: Madeira runs on two forecasts.
The island makes its own weather. The north and the peaks catch the trade-wind cloud while the south coast stays bright, and a morning that starts clear at the marina can be white-out at 1,800 metres. Check the mountain webcams before a peak day. If the tops are under cloud, stay low and go under a roof.
Four Madeira bookings to make before you land.
Most of the island can be arranged the evening before. These four depend on the sea, the cloud or a ferry timetable, so book them for early in your stay and leave room to move them.
- 01Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Transfer Self-guided HikePickups leave Funchal hours before dawn with a few seats to a van, and a clear sunrise is never promised. Book it early in the week so a cloudy morning can be tried again.
- 02Ecological Catamaran Dolphin Whale WatchingThe boats sail when the sea allows. A booking in your first days leaves room to move it if the swell picks up.
- 03Canyoning Madeira Island – Level OneGroups are small and rain upstream can postpone a descent. Guides set a minimum age and fitness level, so check both before you pay.
- 04Porto Santo One-Day Cruise and TourThe day hangs on the ferry, about two and a half hours each way on a fixed timetable, and the return sailing does not wait.
Funchal, the west coast, the peaks, the north: how a first Madeira week runs.
Funchal
Santana
São LourençoBy place: coast, valley and peak
Recent additions from around the island.
All the recent Madeira reviews →
“25 Fountains” Walk / Lost In The Beautiful Forest
Read our review →
Half day jeep Wine tour and tasting, & sea cliff adventure
Read our review →
Private 1.5-Kilometer Levada dos Balcões Hike PR11
Read our review →
Funchal Private Vehicle Service with Driver for a Half Day or Full Day
Read our review →
