Madeira airport transfers and travel guide

Things to see in Madeira

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  Funchal old town and the Sé

  City centre, Funchal

  Funchal is the sixth largest city in Portugal, with a population of 105,795, and it is built inside a natural amphitheatre-shaped valley with gentle slopes that begin at the coast and rise to 1,200 metres. At its heart stands the Sé, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Assunção and raised to cathedral in 1514. Down at the water, the Port of Funchal — once the only major port in Madeira — has since 2007 been dedicated to passenger transport, cruise ships, ferries and yachts.

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  The cable car to Monte

  Almirante Reis Park to Monte

  The quickest way out of the old town is upwards. The cable car runs 3,173 metres from Almirante Reis Park, by the water in central Funchal, to the suburb of Monte, climbing a height difference of 560 metres in about fifteen minutes. It opened in November 2000 and has been in service since; 39 cabins, each seating seven passengers, give it a capacity of up to 800 passengers an hour. The view back over the red roofs and the bay is the reason to ride it.

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  Cabo Girão

  Less than 2 km west of Câmara de Lobos

  West of Funchal the coast rears up into one of Europe’s great sea cliffs. Cabo Girão reaches 580 metres at its highest point, with the escarpment running from 560 to 589 metres, and since late October 2012 a glass-floored skywalk has projected from the top — the highest cliff skywalk in Europe. It stands less than two kilometres west of the centre of Câmara de Lobos, so it pairs naturally with a look at the fishing harbour below.

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  Pico do Arieiro

  Central mountains, inland from Funchal

  At 1,818 metres, Pico do Arieiro is the third highest peak on the island and the rare one you can drive to: there is easy road access to the summit, with a large car park, a restaurant and a souvenir shop. It is the starting point for walkers heading to Pico Ruivo, the highest point in Madeira, and on a clear day Porto Santo is visible about 48 km to the north-east. Cloud often sits below the summit rather than above it.

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  Porto Moniz natural pools

  North-west corner of the island

  In the north-western corner of Madeira, Porto Moniz has a natural complex of lava pools that are popular with locals and tourists alike — basins in the volcanic rock that the Atlantic refills from the open sea. The municipality covers 82.93 square kilometres and had 2,711 inhabitants at the 2011 census, and it takes in Ponta do Tristão, the island’s northernmost point. Reaching it means crossing the island, so treat it as a day out rather than an afternoon.