This is not an itinerary for collecting sights. It is a week built the way we would spend it ourselves: one great thing each morning, a long lunch, a slow afternoon, dinner somewhere that takes food seriously. Distances are short — nothing on this route is more than an hour and a half from Funchal — so the pace stays soft.
Base: five nights in Funchal plus two in the mountains or on the north coast if you like moving; seven in one place if you don’t. A rental car for days 2–5 makes everything easier (from ~€30/day), though every day below has a no-car alternative covered in this guide. Whatever you choose, resist the urge to over-schedule: the island is small, the light is generous, and an unplanned hour on a sunny terrace is not time lost — it is the point.
Day 1 — Funchal, slowly
Start at the Mercado dos Lavradores before 10am: orchids, black scabbard fish, passionfruit in six varieties. Walk the painted doors of Rua de Santa Maria in the Old Town, then ride the cable car from the Zona Velha up to Monte (€18 return) — fifteen silent minutes over terracotta roofs and gardens. Visit the Monte Palace Tropical Garden, then come back down the absurd way: the wicker toboggan sledges, two men in white steering you 2km downhill for ~€27.50 per sled.
Afternoon tea at Reid’s Palace is the island’s great civilised ritual (~€45, book ahead). For dinner, keep it local: O Tapassol or Terreiro — see the full list in our Funchal restaurants guide. End the day with a glass of 10-year Malmsey on a terrace while the city lights come on below.
Day 2 — the roof of the island
Leave at dawn for Pico do Arieiro (1,818m, ~40 min from Funchal). Sunrise above a sea of cloud is Madeira’s single best hour — free, and empty if you arrive by 7am. The famous ridge walk to Pico Ruivo is partially closed for maintenance in stretches; check current status before committing, and always treat wind and fog seriously at altitude.
Descend through the thatched houses of Santana to the north coast, and take lunch at Quinta do Furão — a cliff-edge estate restaurant with views down to Porto da Cruz (mains ~€18–€28; the espetada and the bread from their own wood oven). If the afternoon is clear, walk the Portela viewpoint or simply sit on the terrace with a glass of the estate wine while the chickens scratch the vineyard below. Overnight option for maximum quiet: Eira do Serrado, inside the mountain, where the silence has texture.
Day 3 — the sunny southwest
Drive west along the south coast. Stop at Cabo Girão (580m glass skywalk, small fee) early, then at Câmara de Lobos, the fishing village Churchill painted — coffee or poncha at the harbour before the day-trippers arrive.
Afternoon belongs to the water: swim at Calheta Beach or the rocky cove at Jardim do Mar, then drive up to Ponta do Sol for sunset — Estalagem da Ponta do Sol has a cliff-top bar open to non-guests and the best west-facing terrace on the island. Dinner at Socalco Nature Calheta, a farm-to-table restaurant in the Calheta hills that is quietly one of the island’s most interesting kitchens.
Day 4 — the wild north
Today is the dramatic day. Take the VE4 through the tunnels to São Vicente (the volcanic caves are worth an hour, ~€8), then follow the old coast road — waterfalls falling directly onto the tarmac — to Seixal. Seixal Beach is black volcanic sand under green cliffs; swim in the morning calm, and look up at the thin ribbon of the Véu da Noiva waterfall dropping into the sea just east of the village.
Continue to Porto Moniz, where the ocean fills natural lava pools — the managed pools charge a small entry (a few euros) with lifeguards; the wild ones beside the aquarium are free. Lunch on grilled limpets and scabbard fish at one of the harbour restaurants, then on the way back climb to the Fanal forest — 600-year-old laurel trees in the mist. If fog rolls in (it often does), you get the most photographed moody forest in Europe entirely to yourself. Return via the Paúl da Serra plateau at dusk, when the light lies flat across the moorland.
Day 5 — a levada
Every Madeira week needs one levada — the irrigation channels turned footpaths that thread the laurel forest. For a first-timer we suggest Levada do Rei (PR18) near São Jorge: 10km out-and-back, mostly flat, cathedral-quiet, ending at the Ribeiro Bonito waterfall. Allow 3.5–4 hours, bring a torch for two short tunnels, and wear shoes with grip — the paths are narrow stone beside running water.
Alternatives: 25 Fontes (PR6) for waterfall density, Vereda da Ponta de São Lourenço (PR8) for a treeless, ocean-on-both-sides ridge walk at the island’s dry eastern tip. Guided walks with hotel pickup run ~€40–€60 — worth it if you’d rather not drive mountain roads. Reward the afternoon with nothing at all: pool, book, and dinner in Funchal.
Alternatives: 25 Fontes (PR6) for waterfall density, Vereda da Ponta de São Lourenço (PR8) for a treeless, ocean-on-both-sides ridge walk at the island’s dry eastern tip. Guided walks with hotel pickup run ~€40–€60 — worth it if you’d rather not drive mountain roads. Reward the afternoon with nothing at all: pool, book, and dinner in Funchal.
If it rains
Swap, don’t cancel. The tunnel system means the dry side is rarely more than twenty minutes away — if the north is grey, push days 3 and 4 forward. And keep one genuinely bad-weather card up your sleeve: a long lunch, the São Vicente caves, a Madeira wine tasting at Blandy’s lodge in Funchal (~€15–€25 with a cellar tour), and the hotel spa you booked for exactly this moment.
Day 6 — ocean and spa
Morning catamaran from Funchal marina (~€35–€45, 3 hours): dolphins are almost guaranteed year-round, pilot whales common, and the boat hugs the cliff coast west to Cabo Girão — book a morning departure, when the sea is calmest and the cabins emptiest. Back on land, take the afternoon as the island’s luxury — a spa afternoon at Saccharum or the garden pool at Quinta da Serra, then an hour on the promenade as the light turns.
For dinner, book the special-occasion table: Il Gallo d’Oro at The Cliff Bay holds two Michelin stars — the tasting menu (~€150–€180) is the finest meal in Madeira. William at Reid’s, one star, is the refined alternative.
What this week costs
For two people travelling in shoulder season: boutique or five-star accommodation €180–€350/night (a quinta or a Lido five-star; less for apartments), car hire for four days ~€140–€200 with fuel, dinners €35–€60 per person at the good tables, one fine-dining evening ~€300–€400 for two, catamaran and levada guide ~€160 for two. A comfortable version of this week lands around €2,500–€3,500 per couple excluding flights; with apartments and taverns it can be done for half that.
Day 7 — last morning
A slow final morning: bolo do caco and coffee in the Santa Maria quarter, a last swim at the Lido bathing complex if your flight is late, and ten minutes in the Botanical Garden or simply on the promenade. If souvenirs are the mission, skip the airport — embroidery, Madeira wine and cane-sugar honey cake travel well and cost half as much in town. The airport is 25 minutes east; leave margin for the road, which is fast but has tunnels.
Practical notes
- Driving: expressways are excellent; mountain roads are steep but short. Automatics are scarce — reserve early.
- Timing: start west- and north-coast days before 9am — tour buses arrive by 10:30.
- Swimming: morning is calmest on the north coast; afternoons bring breeze and chop.
- Packing: layers. It can be 24°C on the promenade and 12°C on Pico do Arieiro the same morning.
- Book ahead: Il Gallo d’Oro and William (1–2 weeks), Reid’s afternoon tea, New Year and August everything.
- Free things: sunrise peaks, Fanal, levadas, Seixal beach, Old Town, cable car views from the promenade.
- Skip: tourist-trap espetada on the marina; restaurants are in our Funchal guide.
Choose the right week with the month-by-month weather guide, and the right bed with where to stay. The rest is downhill — sometimes literally, on a wicker sled.
