Madeira

Madeira is a Portuguese autonomous region in the Atlantic, roughly 1,000 kilometres southwest of Lisbon and closer to the African coast than to mainland Europe. The archipelago is volcanic, with sharp ridges rising out of the ocean and a mild climate that holds steady most of the year. Funchal, on the south coast, is the capital and the main entry point. Hiking and whale watching are the two activities that define the island for most visitors.

Santana

Santana, on the north coast, is known mainly for its A-frame thatched cottages with sloping roofs covered in straw. They were once farmhouses, painted in red, white, and blue. Today most sit as a preserved village, kept up for visitors.

We flew into Madeira in May, when the island holds its annual Flower Festival. The parade in Funchal was scaled back that year because of Covid restrictions, so we missed the procession and the Wall of Hope ceremony. The flowers themselves did not care. The vegetation around Santana was at full saturation, and the cottages with the gardens in front of them carried the day.

Pico do Arieiro and Pico Ruivo

Pico Ruivo is the highest peak on the island at 1,862 metres. Pico do Arieiro, the third highest, is reachable by car, which makes it the standard starting point for the ridge walk between the two summits. The path is one of the most photographed routes in Portugal, with stairs cut into rock and tunnels driven through ridges.

After we finished a daytime shoot in Santana, the light shifted as we moved toward the coast. That glow Madeira’s mountains get when clouds start to thin but do not fully give up.

A small pullout appeared and I swerved in. A row of houses clung to a far ridge, half-lit by a ray that had slipped through. The wide scene was chaos: ridges stacked on ridges, clouds everywhere. The telephoto pulled the houses out of the noise and let the light become the subject. Nikon D850, ISO 64, f/8, 1/200.

Ponta de São Lourenço, East of Madeira

Ponta de São Lourenço is the easternmost peninsula of Madeira and one of the few parts of the island where civilisation thins out to almost nothing. The rocks are volcanic, and the wind has done most of the styling. Where the rest of Madeira is forested, here the cover is grasses and low bush, and the cliffs drop straight into the Atlantic.

The peninsula is named after the ship of João Gonçalves Zarco, one of the navigators credited with the Portuguese arrival on the island in 1419. Legend has him shouting “São Lourenço, that’s enough” when he first saw this coast. On our May visit the sun was steady but the gusts were strong enough to make the climb real work. The views did the rest.

Levadas in Madeira

The levadas are irrigation channels built to move water from the wet north to the drier south. The network runs more than 2,000 kilometres, and the maintenance paths along the channels have been turned into a hiking system that covers most of the interior. Levada do Caldeirão Verde, Levada das 25 Fontes, and Levada do Rei are among the better-known routes.

The walking is mostly flat, since channels follow contour lines, but trails cut through laurel forest and along cliff edges, with sections of low tunnel. Headlamp territory in places. The laurisilva, a UNESCO-listed remnant of the forest that once covered much of southern Europe, gives a filtered, even light.

Cabo Girão and Câmara de Lobos

Cabo Girão sits west of Funchal and is among the highest sea cliffs in Europe, with a glass-floored skywalk built out over the drop. The view runs back along the south coast toward Funchal, with terraced fields, the poios, planted directly down the cliff face below.

Câmara de Lobos is the small fishing town just east of Cabo Girão. Winston Churchill painted here in the 1950s, and the spot is still marked. The harbour holds traditional xavelha boats, painted in the same red, blue, and yellow that recur along the Portuguese coast.

Funchal

Funchal is the capital and the only real city on the island, built up the slope from the harbour. The old town, Zona Velha, has the painted-door project on Rua de Santa Maria, where artists have turned old doors into a long open-air gallery. The Mercado dos Lavradores covers fish, tropical fruit, and flower stalls year-round. Above the city, the Monte cable car climbs to the Monte Palace gardens. The traditional way down is the wicker toboggan run, two drivers in white guiding a sled down the steep streets, started in the 19th century as transport.

Madeira wine is fortified and aged with deliberate exposure to heat. Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Funchal, and the airport carries his name.

Whale and Dolphin Watching

Madeira is one of the better places in southern Europe to see dolphins and whales. Depending on season, around 8 species of whales and more than 20 species of dolphins pass along the coast. The technical season runs April to November, but resident populations of common and bottlenose dolphins, pilot whales, and sperm whales are around all year. We went out on a catamaran in May. The catamaran sits lower and quieter than the speedboats, and the dolphins came in to ride the bow.

When to Visit Madeira

May and early June give the flowers, mild temperatures, and long days. September and October are quieter, with warm sea and stable weather. Winter on the south coast stays around 18 to 20 degrees, with the north coast wetter and cloudier. The island has microclimates that change in minutes, so a wet Funchal does not mean a wet Santana.

Frequently Asked Questions