By Gemma Tedaldi | Published: 18th November 2024 | Updated: 18th November 2024
The Portuguese island of Maderia is like no other, with tropical flowers in abundance, Levada’s that cross over the island and year-round warmth, making it easy to see why it is often given the nickname ‘the Hawaii of Europe’. But how is best to spend your time exploring this incredible island? That is where our 5 day Madeira itinerary come in:
📍 Madeira Itinerary Day 1 – Funchal
📍 Madeira Itinerary Day 2 – East Coast Madeira Tour
📍 Madeira Itinerary Day 3 – Funchal
📍 Madeira Itinerary Day 4 – West Coast Madeira Tour
📍 Madeira Itinerary Day 5 – Monte & Palace Gardens
Planning Your Trip? Use our favourite travel resources below:
Accommodation: We recommend Booking.com
Rental Car: We recommend Rentalcars.com
Flights: We recommend Kiwi.com
Tours: We recommend Get Your Guide & Viator
Travel Insurance: World Nomads
Madeira Itinerary Map
Madeira Itinerary
This is our suggested Maderia itinerary for 5 days, but you can of course mix these days up and head out on the tours on different days, especially if the weather is looking better for a different day. It can also be used for those with and without a car, if you have a car simply follow the rough itinerary for the tours and you will still be able to experience all the island has to offer.
It’s worth knowing that the weather and temperature can be vastly different in Funchal to the rest of the island. The weather is much cooler and wetter in the centre and north of the island, and windier in the east. The west is again more windy but still warm and humid in comparison to the mountain valleys.
Madeira Itinerary Day 1 – Funchal
For the first day of the Madeira itinerary we recommend getting to grips with Funchal and exploring this capital city to the full. From the seafront to the beautiful parks, to all the cafes, restaurants and roof top bars in between!
If you haven’t got breakfast included with your accommodation then we can recommend heading to Mya Petit Café for a hearty breakfast, or even if you just fancy a good coffee, then start the Funchal day off in the centre of Funchal at the Cathedral do Funchal. The Cathedral do Funchal looks rather unassuming from the outside but is incredibly beautiful inside with high painted ceilings and frescos on the walls, as well as Gothic and Manueline items.
From there head along the beautiful tree lined Avenue Arriaga, (which is also a great place to do some museum hopping) which takes you to Parque de Santa Catarina, one of the largest parks in Funchal. With beautiful views over the surrounding bay as well as stunning gardens filled with native flowers this park is well worth a stop by even if to just take in the view over Funchal.
After a wander through the park, head back into the main centre of Funchal to O.Giro Churros & Paninis for some lunch. We suggest getting the Giro Bolo do Caco panini, and a sharing churro, they are both delicious! There is plenty of indoor and outdoor seating too so if the weather isn’t playing ball you can still enjoy this place.
After filling up with Portuguese cuisine next up head to the coastline and Praça do Povo, an area along Funchal promenade lined with gardens and art work, (including the Madeira sign). This is a wonderful place to while away an hour exploring or relaxing in the gardens or visiting an exhibition or fair, which are often held in this area during the summer. Continuing on route along the bay you will eventually arrive at the cable car bottom station, (this is where you will need to go to get up to Monte in a later day in the Madeira itinerary).
From the cable car station head into the surrounding streets away from the sea and you will arrive at the wonderful Rue de Santa Maria. This well known historic street in Funchal is a hot spot for food, and it a hive of activity throughout the day, with its famous colourfully painted doors, souvenir shops and impressive selection of restaurants.
Just be warned it can get incredibly busy in the evenings, (and even more so in the summer), we were there in April and by 7pm it was heaving with people eating, drinking and just trying to find a place to go! That being said, it is still a great place to eat with plenty of cuisine options and a lovely atmosphere.
To help with the overload of options we can highly recommend stopping at Santa Maria Funchal. We actually ate here on two nights whilst in Madeira, once to try the local fish dishes, including local scabbard with banana, and once to try the sushi – all of which was incredible!
If after dinner you are after somewhere to go for some drinks with a view then head to Three House Restaurant & Cocktail Bar for 360 views over Funchal, with live music and great cocktails. During your time in Madeira you should be sure to try the local Madeira cocktail called Poncha, which is made with rum, honey and passion fruit, all of which is made and sourced on the island. It’s a strong cocktail but really lovely!
Madeira Itinerary Day 2 – East Coast Madeira Tour
Now for the second day of your Madeira itinerary we suggest heading out from Funchal to explore some more of the island, in particular the east. (You can of course switch this up and do the West Coast Tour today instead, but as we did east then west that is what we are suggesting).
We go into more detail about this East Coast Tour in another blog post, which explains food stops and additional stops you might make, but here is the rough itinerary for the tour, to and from Funchal:
📍 Pico Arieiro (one of the highest points of the island, which is incredible at sunrise)
📍 Levada walk at Ribeiro Frio (you can’t visit Madeira and not walk at least one levada)
📍 Santana (to see the beautiful wooden traditional housing)
📍 Porto de Cruz North Mills Distillery & Sugar Mill (to learn about sugar and rum manufacturing)
📍 Ponta de São Lourenço & Miradouro da Ponta do Rosto (at the very east of the island)
📍 Miradouro do Pico do Facho (viewpoint over the historic old capital and the airport)
Once back in Funchal we recommend heading to The Snug Smoke House for dinner, delicious burgers and fries with a good selection of local drinks too.
Madeira Itinerary Day 3 – Funchal
After a couple of fairly busy days, we suggest making your third day in Madeira a little more relaxing, with lots of food and a bit of local wine tasting too! As we are only suggesting a few locations you really have to go to for this day, it leaves plenty of time for visiting any museums / galleries you are interested in (the CR7 Cristiano Ronaldo museum is particularly popular, however we didn’t visit as we just aren’t that into football), or hit the streets shopping.
Some of the most popular museums in Funchal are:
📍 CR7 Museum
📍 Natural History Museum of Funchal
📍 Henrique e Francisco Franco Museum
📍 Madeira Optics Museum
📍 Frederico de Freitas House Museum
📍 Madeira Military Museum
📍 Museum of Sacred Art of Funchal
To officially start the third day of your Madeira itinerary head out to breakfast. Again if you haven’t got breakfast included with your accommodation then we can recommend heading to Pátio – Brunch & Bistrô for breakfast, which has a great selection of pancakes, granola bowls or tostas.
Then as we mentioned above there are only a few key places you simply have to visit. First up is Comur a famous Portugese Sardine shop where there are literally hundreds of varieties of tinned sardine. It sounds boring but it is actually quite interesting!
Then we can recommend Nata 7 for a delicious Pastel de Nata, which are just €1 each, (which is somewhat incredible and somewhat annoying as you will no doubt go back for seconds or thirds on that price!). You can’t sit in the shop itself as it is more of a whole in the wall type place, but they have a small amount of seating down the neighbouring street if you want to sit and have your Pastel de Nata with a drink.
The final place we recommend visiting during the day is Blandys Wine Lodge for wine tasting. This is the place to go to sample Madeiran wine, (from bottles as young as 3 years old right up to bottles over 100 years old), and to tour the aging rooms with a family who know everything there is to know about Madeiran wine and canteiro. There is no need to book in advance for the wine tasting either so you can just turn up to taste the delicious wine alongside a local cheese platter or handmade chocolate truffle tasting platter, (we did the chocolate tasting accompaniment and it was really good!).
After all that wine spend the rest of the day at your leisure, be it shopping, relaxing in a park or exploring more of Funchal.
Finally finish up the third day of the Madeira itinerary at Armazém do Sal for some of the best food you will find on the island. We had the Gastronomic Tour tasting courses and it was honestly divine!
Madeira Itinerary Day 4 – West Coast Madeira Tour
For the Madeira itinerary day 4, it is another day we would highly recommend heading out of Funchal but this time to explore the west coast of the island, and all that it has to offer.
We go into more detail about this West Coast Tour in another blog post, including food stops and additional locations we visited on route, however this is the rough itinerary for the tour, to and from Funchal:
📍 Câmara de Lobos
📍 Cabo Girão Skywalk (at 580m above sea level this is not for the faint hearted)
📍 Ribeira Brava (small but wonderful village with lovely cafes and a beautiful church)
📍 Serra D’Água (also known as Forest of Water, where clouds literally fall like waterfalls)
📍 Encumeada viewpoint and mini levada walk (another levada walk because when in Madeira!)
📍 Paul da Serra
📍 São Vicente
📍 Porto Moniz (with volcanic sea pools that are perfect for a swim in if the weather is good)
Once back in Funchal after the day tour we recommend heading to back to the Rue de Santa Maria for dinner once again. There is literally so much choice along this one street you could spend a month in Madeira and still not have eaten at everyone of the establishments along here!
Madeira Itinerary Day 5 – Monte & Palace Gardens
For the final day of the Madeira itinerary, we recommend spending the day looking down over Funchal, from Monte, Monte Palace Gardens and Madeira Botanical Gardens. Just a short cable car ride away from the centre of Madeira, you can be whisked away above the city to tropical gardens filled with beautiful plants, private collections of statues and even a lake with flamingos!
Monte Palace Gardens are the most famous gardens in Funchal, if not in Madeira, with over 70,000 square meters of gardens to explore, through wooded paths, past Asian inspired pagodas and of course through countless varieties of plants. Monte Palace Gardens are well worth a visit too.
Madeira Botanical Gardens are a little less known about than Monte Palace Gardens, but still well worth a visit if you have the time. Opened in 1960, with over 2000 exotic plants, (some of which are endangered), and of course beautiful views over Funchal, these gardens are a great place to visit away from the more crowded Monte. There is also a Herbarium, orchid area and incredible outdoor plant beds which are created to flower in beautiful patterns.
Just underneath the cable station in Monte there is a wonderful restaurant called Land Food & Coffee, which we would highly recommend stopping by for either a late breakfast or lunch depending on what time you head up to Monte. The food is delicious and the views are amazing. You can also stop by Pátio das Babosas for food which is located between the two cable car stations for Monte Palace Gardens and the Madeira Botanical Gardens, and again has incredible views back to Funchal.
Be prepared to spend roughly half a day exploring Monte and both the gardens, we spent about that amount of time and didn’t feel rushed at all. We didn’t however take part in the sledding, (more on that below), so if you would like to do that you might want to factor in an additional hour or two if it is particularly busy!
We would recommend heading up to Monte either earlier in the day to beat the clouds that will inevitably roll in during the day, or in the afternoon ready to watch the sunset, just be aware of the last funicular down to the old town or get a taxi back, you can maybe even walk one of the levadas back into the old town, just be sure to check which ones are open before you set off.
If you want to have a go at the sledding in Monte, then from the very top of the Monte Palace Gardens, (where you come in), head away from the cable car station following the road around to the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte, (the church in Monte, which is beautiful and well worth a visit whilst in the area as well), and there you will find the sleds stacked up along the road, and more often than not, a queue of tourists waiting to be taken down the hill!. We chose not to do the sledding as we wanted to explore the botanical gardens before heading back into Funchal, but we did see lots of people having a fantastic time sledding. If you want to experience the sledding, and not have to wait to queue then be sure to check out this sledding tour.
As a side note, it is much cooler and less humid up in Monte than down in the main town of Funchal so you might want to bring warmer clothes just incase it is too cool for you.
Book your cable car return ticket from Funchal here
Where to eat in Madeira
Breakfast
We had breakfast included with our hotel stay, (more on where below), so didn’t eat out for breakfast, but we have heard great things about Pátio – Brunch & Bistrô and Mya Petit Café brunch restaurant.
Lunch
🍴 O.Giro Churros & Paninis – if you want a taste of the local beef Bolo do caco, then this is the place to try it.
🍴 NATA 7 – Ferreiros – this is the place to go for the best Pastel de Nata in Funchal. They have good coffee too.
🍴 Café do Teatro – this is great budget friendly place along the Avenue Arriaga.
🍴 Land Food & Coffee or Pátio das Babosas – near Monte Palace Gardens both these places have great local food and incredible views.
Dinner
🍴 Armazém do Sal – this is the number one place you simply have to eat at whilst in Madeira. The food is incredible, local and seasonal, the setting is beautiful, and the staff are wonderful.
🍴 Santa Maria Funchal – The Rua de Santa Maria is a well-known place to go for an evening meal, with plenty of options for all cuisines, but we would highly recommend stopping at the Santa Maria Funchal to try their delicious fresh sushi, a scabbard dish or the salmon risotto.
🍴 The Snug Smoke House – if you want a good burger whilst in Maderia then this is the best place to go. The burgers and fries are not only decent sized portions but also really tasty!
Drinks
🍴 Blandy’s Wine Lodge – this is the place to go to sample the famous Madeiran wine and to tour the aging rooms. You can try wine from 3 years old to bottles from 1920 along with a local cheese platter and handmade chocolate truffles.
🍴 Three House Restaurant & Cocktail Bar – with a 360 roof top bar, live music and delicious cocktails, this is a great place to visit for some down time in Funchal. It is a little more expensive than other locations, but it is worth it for the view.
🍴 Cais da Ribeira – lovely cocktails, and food, with views over the nearby harbour.
Where to stay in Madeira
We would highly recommend staying in Turim Santa Maria for your trip in Madeira as they are not only fairly central in Funchal but also close to lots of restaurants and bars. They also offer views out over the surrounding city and coastline from the rooftop pool and 360 bar, perfect for watching the sunset with a drink, (the poncha is great!).
Madeira Itinerary FAQs
Where is Madeira?
Madeira is located 1000km of the coast of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean, and only 520km from the African Coast. So even though it is closer to Africa than it is to Portugal, it is Portuguese, albeit with lots of African influences across the island.
How to get to Madeira
The easiest way to get to Madeira is by air, with the international airport on the island getting flights from various European destinations, including the Canary Island and mainland Portugal. Just be warned, this airport goes out right over the sea and is therefore prone to being shut due to wind, (due to this and the small runway, it is also the third most dangerous airport in Europe!).
You can also get to Madeira via ferry at certain times of the year from the Algarve although these crossings have a tendency to be cancelled at short notice.
How to get around Madeira
The best way to get around Madeira is with a vehicle, either through tours or by driving yourself. You can use the public transport that runs around the island, but the buses can be infrequent once you venture out of Funchal.
Do you need to hire a car to visit Madeira?
You definitely don’t need to hire a car in order to visit Madeira, but if you do want to see more of the island than just Funchal and the nearby villages, then you will have to take a tour if you dont hire a car. This is what we did during our trip to Madeira and honestly, it couldn’t have been better. No stress or hassle of driving and finding parking spots, just sit back and take in the views whilst learning about this wonderful island.
Driving in Madeira – Is it difficult to drive in Madeira?
We chose not to hire a car for this trip to Madeira as we opted to take tours across the island instead, however from having been driven across the entire width and breadth of the island we can say driving in Madeira is no more difficult than anywhere else, but you should be prepared for some seriously tight bends in the mountain roads and some high roads with big drop-offs to one side. There are also often landslips, rock falls or even waterfalls that cross the path of the road, so just ensure that you are comfortable driving with these potential conditions.
How many days to you need in Madeira?
We spent 5 days in Madeira, and it was the perfect amount of time for a first visit to the island. We would however suggest that if you have longer, say 10 to 14 days, then that would be great as we came away planning a trip back to hike more levadas already!
Is 3 days enough for Madeira?
If you just want to see Funchal, and maybe venture up to Monte, then 3 days will be enough. If you want to go further afield and explore more of the north, east or west coast however, then 3 days will definitely not be enough for Madeira.
When is the best time of year to visit Madeira?
We visited Madeira in the spring, and it was the perfect blend of warmer weather, little rain and fewer tourists. This is also one of the best times of the year to see the flowers across the islands blooming, as well as have more water flowing in the levadas as well as waterfalls. Madeira has a fairly temperate climate year-round so you don’t have to plan for particularly cold weather unless you plan on hiking any of the mountain peaks in the centre of the island.
What currency to you need in Madeira?
The currency in Madeira is the Euro. Most places accept card but a few will only take cash.
If you want the ease of having a variety of currencies in your pocket that you can easy convert and switch between then we would highly recommend getting a Wise card. We use Wise both at home, (oh the joys of living in a border country with two different currencies!), and abroad, and it is super simple and convenient.
How expensive is Madeira?
Madeira is not as expensive as you might think.
The average cup of coffee in a cafe is around €2. Dinner out at a nice restaurant with wine or local beer starts at around €20 per person. The average cost for a night in a small hotel or guesthouse, (double or twin room) is around €100, and a luxury stay on the island is from €200 up.
Car hire is from €60 a day depending on the transport option and number of people. (If you are looking to get around without a car, then just be aware that there is no Uber in Maderia).
How big is Madeira?
Madeira is roughly 740km2 in size, at roughly 55km long and 22km wide.
What is Madeira famous for?
Madeira is famous for a number of things, top of which is being the home of the Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo. The airport is named after him, his old house is now a museum and nearly all the tours that you can take through Funchal will in some way relate to him!
Other than Ronaldo, Madeira is also famous for its incredible scenery, including the levadas that cross the island, the mountain range in the centre of the island, the volcanic land to the north and east, the wonderful flowers that make the entire island like a garden oasis, and of course its Madeiran wine.
Planning your own trip to Portugal? Be sure to download Wise by far the best currency conversion app around. We use it daily living on the border of two countries and it is a game changer when travelling!
Conclusion: The Best 5 Day Madeira Itinerary
So there is our 5 day Madeira itinerary, with day trips to the west and east coast as well as time to explore Funchal and its surroundings. We loved our time in Madeira and hope you will too!
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Gemma Tedaldi
Gemma is the owner and author of The Travelling Tedaldi, a travel blog helping travellers to discover the best road trips and travel itineraries throughout the UK and Europe. When she isn’t writing about her favourite travel destinations, she can often be found out exploring local hikes or planning future trips.