The whole island, from one harbour.
Sunrise on Pico do Arieiro, the levadas through the laurel forest, open-roof 4x4s to Porto Moniz and whales off the coast. What each day is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Book these seven before the flights.
First visit or fifth, these hold the week together: the pre-dawn drive to Pico do Arieiro, the open-roof run across the west, the boat that finds the dolphins, the levada that ends at a waterfall.
Madeira Funchal:East Tour Pico Arieiro & Santana&Laurissilva
East Madeira in a small group: Pico Arieiro views, UNESCO Laurisilva levada walk, Santana houses, glass walkways, rum, and sea cliffs.
From $37 per person
Read the review →
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★ 4.9Island favouriteFrom Funchal: Transfer to Pico do Arieiro & Pico Ruivo TrailFrom $361,591 reviews
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★ 5.0Easy winJeep Tour Amazing West to Natural Pools -Full-DayFrom $78827 reviews
★ 5.0Crowd favouriteFull Day Jeep Safari East – Pico do Areeiro – Santana – Ponta de são LourençoFrom $74819 reviews
★ 4.5Locals send you hereAround The Island – Two Days Tour From 9am To 5pm (Each Day)From $72795 reviews
The sunrise everyone flies for.
A transfer leaves Funchal in the dark, climbs above 1,800 metres, and drops you at the rim while the sky is still turning. From there the ridge to Pico Ruivo runs along the tops with the cloud sea below. Book the pickup, watch the forecast, pick the clearest morning of your trip.
Which side of the island first?
The central peaks split Madeira in two, and most first trips only have time for one half properly. Three ways to see it: pick the one that sounds like your kind of day, and every option behind it is already reviewed and priced.
The west
The west run
8 hours (approx.) · from $75 · 3,631 reviews
Up into Fanal, where the ancient laurel trees stand in the mist, then down to Porto Moniz for the black volcanic pools and Seixal’s waterfall on the road. Cabo Girão’s glass skywalk on the way home. The greenest, wildest half of the island in a day.
See the west-island days →
The east
The east run
7 hours · from $37 · 1,994 reviews
Santana’s triangular thatched houses, the red-rock spine of Ponta de São Lourenço where the island runs out into the Atlantic, and the high central peaks in between. Drier, sharper, more coastline: the east is a different Madeira entirely.
See the east-island days →
The full loop
The whole island
2 days (approx.) · from $72 · 795 reviews
Both coasts, top to bottom, in one long day, or split across two if you want to breathe. For the trip that’s short on days and refuses to choose between the green west and the rugged east. Long hours in the seat, but you miss nothing.
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Follow the water into the forest.
The levadas are old irrigation channels, and the footpaths beside them thread deep into the laurisilva, the last of Europe’s ancient laurel forest. Twenty-five springs at Rabaçal, the Caldeirão Verde tunnel walk, the ridge out to Ponta de São Lourenço. Cool, mossy, and mostly flat: the walking Madeira is famous for.
The Atlantic starts at the marina.
Madeira drops straight into deep water, so the whales and dolphins are close. Catamaran or wooden boat out past the cliffs, a dive down to the reefs at Garajau, or an easy sail along the south coast. These are the ones worth the morning.
Down waterfalls, down the hill.
Canyoning through the volcanic gorges above Funchal, the wicker toboggan run down from Monte with two straw-hatted drivers steering, a sidecar loop through the old town. The island’s stranger, faster afternoons, all sorted below.
Funchal keeps its own time.
The painted doors of the Zona Velha, the cable car up to Monte and the wicker sleds back down, the tropical gardens above the harbour. Half a day in the old town costs almost nothing and shows you why people keep coming back. Go on foot, by tuk-tuk, or in a sidecar.
Pick your Madeira, corner by corner.
The island changes every twenty minutes of road. Pico do Arieiro for the peaks. Porto Moniz for the volcanic pools. Santana for the thatched houses. Cabo Girão for the drop, Monte for the sled ride, the Zona Velha for dinner.
The walking, the water, or the wine?
Twelve ways to spend a day on the island. Pick the one that sounds like you, and every option behind it is already reviewed and priced.
Half the island is a day trip.
The mountain road and the coastal tunnels put the far corners within a morning. Rabaçal’s levadas, the Nuns’ Valley crater, Santana in the east, Porto Moniz in the west. Out after breakfast, back for dinner.
How to spend the first three days.
You won’t see all of Madeira in one trip, but three well-ordered days cover the peaks, the forest and the coast. This is the sequence we’d hand a friend landing at the airport tomorrow.
Day 1
Monte and the old town
The Zona Velha’s painted doors, the cable car up to Monte and the wicker sled back down, an evening of espetada in the old town. Easy pace, no early alarm.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The peaks and the forest
Up to Pico do Arieiro before dawn for the cloud sea, then down into the laurel forest for a levada walk to a waterfall. The day the island earns its reputation.
Plan day two →
Day 3
The pools or the whales
An open-roof 4x4 to the west (Fanal’s misty trees, the pools at Porto Moniz), or a boat off the harbour for the whales. Check the forecast and take whichever the weather favours.
Plan day three →
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