In this guide, you can find a complete selection of Things to Do on Madeira Island in one week while on holiday in Madeira. 7 days full of things to do on the island. You can find places to visit by foot or/and by car, food recommendations, activities and other special attractions on the island.
In this guide, we will assume you will be staying in one hotel (Airbnb or similar) in the area of Funchal.
Planning an itinerary can be really difficult in a new place that you are visiting. Madeira Island is no exception, so we have prepared a list of things for you to do while you stay in Madeira Island. so let’s start with our suggestions:
On the day of your arrival to Madeira, you will need to go first to your accommodation (Hotel or Airbnb). After you do the check-in and put all of your things in your room, you can start exploring the surroundings of your accommodation.
If your Hotel is around Estrada Monumental in Funchal, you can go to do a walk around the Lido promenade. If you have rented a car, you can also visit one of the best viewpoints in Funchal, that is Pico dos Barcelos. In this viewpoint, you will see the whole city.
Another recommendation for your first day in Madeira is for you to have a drink at one of the most popular bars around Estrada Monumental, “Hole in One”.
Funchal
In your vacations, you should reserve a full day to visit the centre of Funchal and the higher areas because in the city you will have a lot of places to visit.
For example, if you want to have a more personalized experience you can book a tour of the centre of Funchal, with this free walking tour you will walk around the city with a guide, and he will explain all the history of each monument or place that you are visiting.
You can also explore all the attractions by yourself. We recommend you to visit the following attractions/location in the centre of Funchal:
If your answer is yes we suggest another thing you can do in Funchal that is wine tasting. For example, you can book your wine tasting experience at the Blandy’s Wine Cellars/Madeira Wine Lounge in Praça do Povo.
Another suggestion for you to do in Funchal is to go and go in the cable cars from Funchal to Monte. After you arrive at Monte you should visit the Monte Palace Garden. It’s a fantastic place with gardens and other beautiful things.
You should also try to go down on the basket carts (go back up on foot as it is still far from the centre and taxis are expensive in this area, as they take advantage of the difficult to reach place). You can return to the centre on the Funchal Cable Cars.
For your day 3 with things to do on Madeira Island, we recommend for you explore the west side of the island. You can start by visiting Câmara de Lobos, it’s one of the fishing villages in Madeira. You can try one of the most traditional and well-known drinks, which is the Poncha (a drink with sugar cane brandy with lemon and honey juice) or you can try some “Nikita” (a drink with pineapple juice with beer, and ice cream) at “Bar Filhos D’Mar”.
After you spend some time in the centre of Câmara de Lobos, you should go to Cabo Girão, its a viewpoint with a glass platform where you will be 580m above sea level with amazing views over the city of Câmara de Lobos and Funchal.
The next stop of your day is at Ribeira Brava, where you can spend some time walking around, discovering this village that is one of the oldest cities in Madeira. By this time, you probably will be hungry so we recommend you to have your lunch in one of the amazing restaurants in the village of Ribeira Brava.
You can resume your adventure by going to Ponta do Sol village, this municipality is considered one of the hottest and where the sun shines more hours in Madeira. Here you can find a beautiful and small village with some historic and cultural places to visit.
Calheta is your next destination, is a village where you can find a yellow sand beach and is the longest municipality by area on Madeira Island. You can also find approximately 20 walking routes, great restaurants with traditional food and more attractions.
Your next stop is at Porto Moniz, in this municipality you can find a wide range of things to do. One main attraction is the natural pools, you can spend some time having some swim. You can also visit the aquarium and the village centre.
View over Porto Moniz City
Seixal will be your next destination, here you will find a black sand beach (one of the few beaches in Madeira with natural and black sand). While moving to Seixal you will find a viewpoint where you can see one of the biggest waterfalls in Madeira “Véu da Noiva”.
At this point of your day, you will start returning to Funchal (assuming that you went from Calheta to Porto Moniz and then to São Vicente) but first, you will pass on São Vicente. Several places that you can visit like the historic centre of the village, viewpoints, the Laurisilva Forest, volcanic natural caves and more.
While being on São Vicente, you can choose to return to Funchal through Encumeada, here you will have some breathtaking views over the valley of Ribeira Brava and the mountains. After that you can enjoy a traditional drink of Madeira in Serra de Água, you can drink a Poncha at the “Taberna da Poncha”.
So it ends the third day of your holidays.
For your fourth day on the island, we recommend you explore the centre of the island and do a small Levada.
Our first recommendation is for you to visit Eira do Serrado. At this place, you can find a really nice viewpoint with magnificent views over Curral das Freiras. After you spend some enjoying the views, you can go to the actual village of the Curral das Freiras.
Curral das Freiras is an isolated village in the crater, here you can drink chestnut liqueur and for example eat a chestnut cheesecake in one of the restaurants present in the village.
Your next destination will be the second-highest point of the Island, Pico do Areeiro, here you will be above the clouds. You can choose the road that you went to Eira do Serrada, and there, you will find a road that goes up to the Pico do Areeiro. On this road, you will be able to have some really nice views of the village of the Curral das Freiras, Funchal and the mountains.
Coming down from Pico do Areeiro, you should make a stop in Poiso at the “Abrigo do Poiso” and drink some Poncha and/or have some delicious meal from the menu. After, you can resume your trip and continue moving down to Ribeiro Frio. When you arrive at Ribeiro Frio, you can visit the trout farms and do the Levada dos Balcões, it’s a really easy and nice walking trail with at the end a beautiful view over the valley and the mountains.
After you visit Ribeiro Frio, you should return to Poiso, and from there, you start to descend to Camacha and in the way, you can have a stop at the “Restaurant Abrigo do Pastor” to try out the homemade food.
Return to the hotel or accommodation and you should try to relax.
Our recommendation for the fifth day on the island, we suggest you spend some time exploring a little bit more the surroundings of your hotel/accommodation. If you are up to move further you can visit one of the best botanical gardens on the island – “Jardim Botânico”.
We can recommend you to have your lunch (or dinner) at the “Restaurant Santo António” in the Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, where you could try the traditional “Espetada” on a laurel stick with fried corn (“milho frito”) and “bolo do caco”.
Your day sixth on the island, we recommend you to start your day by visiting Garajau and the statue of Christ (Cristo Rei) with an amazing view over the sea, the Funchal bay and some part of the east coast of the island.
Machico will be the next destination of your day. Here you can visit the centre of the village of Machico (former capital of the island), and if you are up to it you can go to the yellow sand beach.
Next, you can go to Caniçal, it is a fishing village and a business centre, here you will find another black sand beach where you can also have a swim at the sea.
After visiting caniçal, you can continue your journey and visit Ponta de São Lourenço, which is the narrowest and far east point on the Island. Here you will be able to see some parts of the south coast and the north coast of the island.
Your next destination will be Porto da Cruz, it’s a small village located on the east side of the island, here you can visit the centre of the village. You can have your lunch or dinner at the snack bar “A Pipa” we suggest you the limpet, sword fillet (Filete de Espada) or Prego (beef steak with rice, french fries, fried egg and salad). It’s also known to be a good place to practise surf & bodyboard.
The last place you should visit on your sixth day on the island is Santana. Here you will have the opportunity to see the typical houses of Madeira, explore the centre of the village and you can also explore a theme park, here you will be able to experience and learn more about the culture of Madeira.
On this day on the island, we suggest you do one of the amazing Levadas we recommend below. It’s recommended that you have a good hiking experience and also you should book with a guide to make them. It’s easy to find one. So our recommend Levadas are:
After the day of hiking around in the Levadas of Madeira, you probably will be tired and hungry, so we recommend you to have your Dinner at “Cris’s” restaurant (but reservation is required).
If you still have some time you can do other activities like do a full-day jeep wine tour (reservation required), you can also do a visit to the “Quinta do Barbusano”, a wine farm in São Vicente, for wine tasting and lunch (reservation is required); visit the CR7 Museum in Funchal.
Our guide with things to do on Madeira Island in 7 days, will be a good starting point with suggestions for you to enjoy the most of the island. Although, you will still need to visit the island again to enjoy and discover more things. Madeira is a small island, but it’s full of activities, places and more to visit.
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