Madeira Island Must Do's

My husband and I spent nine nights on the island of Madeira. We are doing the whole “digital nomad” thing, so there were days of our trip where we would only have a few hours in the morning to explore before heading back to our accommodation in Funchal to work the good ole 9–5.

With this said, if you plan to travel to Madeira on full paid time off, I truly think you could spend five days or 25 days on the island and never get bored. Whether you’re hiking, finding a hidden beach, or aimlessly driving around looking for the best miradouros (“viewpoints” in Portuguese), the endless beauty of this place and the people who live here will make you want to stay forever.

Here are a few of my recommendations on how to spend your time exploring Madeira:

Dolphin & Whale Watching Tour: Listen closely, there are many choices when it comes to choosing which tour to go on. Undoubtedly there are times during your vacation where you can choose the cheaper option or skimp a little, but this experience was worth the splurge. We saw so many boats boarding at the same time as ours, but there were triple, if not quadruple, the amount of guests on board.

We decided to take the morning tour with VIP Dolphins, which is an all-inclusive (champagne, rum punches & constant snacks) catamaran experience that has a cap of 17 guests on board. We had so much space to ourselves, we could get up and move around, and we weren’t elbowing any strangers to see the dolphins.

Moral of the story here, you can’t control mother nature and the reality is there is a chance you go on this tour and don’t see any dolphins or whales. So may as well control what you can and put yourself in an environment that will keep the drinks flowing and take a pit-stop so you can snorkel in the clear, blue ocean.

Hiking: Madeira has over 100 hikes to explore. The Madeira regional government controls 28 of these hikes. This means they are kept up-to-date every week, making sure that each trail is kept clean and that signs and way-markers are clearly shown. These hikes are known as the “PR” hikes, aka the ones you have inevitably seen all over social media. During our time, we did PR1, PR3 & PR8.

If watching the sunrise from Pico do Arieiro is on your bucket list, I highly recommend the experience. Be sure to hire a round-trip transfer service to take you to the trailhead of Pico do Arieiro (PRI) nice and early, and pick you up at the end of the hike, since they begin and end at different points on the island.

Monte Palace Tropical Garden: Madeira has two botanical gardens that they are known for, but we were told by multiple locals that the Monte Palace takes the cake. We took the cable car from Funchal up to Monte Palace, which I recommend if you are seeking a fun and scenic route to your destination. The cable car drops you off right at the entrance/ticket booth for the gardens, so it flows perfectly. We spent about two hours in the gardens, but could have spent more time, I’m sure.

If looking for an equally as fun way to get back towards Funchal, you are only a few minutes walk away from the famous toboggan rides, once exiting the gardens. The cost is 35 euros for two people and they only accept cash. This experience had me giggling the whole time and was so unique that I felt it was worth every penny.

Porto Moniz natural swimming pools: Located in Porto Moniz on the northern side of the island, these natural swimming pools are the perfect in-between for those who want to feel refreshed by the salty water, without having to hike to a beach and get sand in their crevices. Entry is three euros per person and they have changing rooms and lockers, making it easy to pop in for a swim and then carry on with your day.

Praia do Porto do Seixal: The famous black sand beach—I’m going to be 100 percent real with you all and say that while this was, of course beautiful, I was mildly underwhelmed. That said, it was a chilly, overcast day and we had a long list of sites left to hit, so it could all be my perception. If you have several days in Madeira, I would still recommend checking it out and exploring Seixal.

Honorable Mentions:

• Laurissilva (Fanal) Forest

• Ponta do Pargo Lighthouse

• Cabo Girao Skywalk

• Teleferico da Faja dos Padres

Renting a car: No matter which part of the island you stay on, you’re going to want (and need) a car to get the full experience. We rented a car for two days over the weekend and squeezed an insane amount of sightseeing into those 48 hours. I wouldn’t recommend doing it this way because it was simply exhausting, but if renting a car for your entire stay isn’t in your vision or budget, I recommend having one for at least three days. We rented through Madpoint Madeira and had the best rental car experience.

On days we didn’t have the car rental, we were able to use Bolt (which was more reliable than Uber) and we explored Funchal (the capital and main hub of the island) by foot. If renting a car and navigating the windy and occasionally sketchy roads isn’t for you, there are drivers and tours that I can happily set you up with to ensure you’re still experiencing it all.

For more information and insider recommendations, visit our Madeira page.