A Madeira family holiday

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My parents have been going to Madeira, Portugal for the last 20 years. I always thought that this small Portuguese island in the Atlantic Ocean was a destination just for old people (sorry I mean older if my parents are reading this!).

I had never considered a Madeira family holiday. True, if you like to spend most of your holiday at the beach, Madeira probably isn’t for you.

There aren’t many beaches on Madeira, unlike the Balearic Island of Mallorca. But if you enjoy stunning mountain scenery, walks, waterfalls, swimming in natural rock pools or beautiful gardens then Madeira absolutely is the place for you!

These are just some of the amazing things we experienced on our recent family holiday in Madeira.

Where is Madeira?

Madeira is a Portugese island in the Atlantic ocean. It’s roughly 1000km south-west of mainland Portugal but only 500km from Africa.

It’s actually part of a small archipelago which consists of Madeira, Porto Santo and the ilha Desertas. These other islands can be visited on day trips from Madeira.

What is the best month to visit Madeira?

Madeira is a year-round destination although you may want to plan when you go based on what activities you are most likely to be doing.

The Madeira weather can be unpredictable whatever month you choose and can be quite different just a few miles away.

This is particularly the case if you head up into the mountains. Our visit was in April which was perfect for allowing us to experience lots of what the island has to offer.

We managed walks up in the mountains as well as swimming in the sea. We wore jumpers in the mountains and were lucky not to need the waterproof coats that we had packed.

However, on the coast, and the south coast in particular, we had beautiful hot sunny weather. If you’re in Madeira with kids you are likely to want to go swimming at some point.

So you’re probably best visiting between April and October. It is the Atlantic Ocean and not many swimming pools are heated so whatever Madeira weather throws at you it may still be a bit chilly without a bit of sunshine to warm you up!

Is Madeira a good destination for families?

Madeira is one of the favourite holiday destinations of our children. It’s a place they keep asking if we will go back to.

I believe the combination of family friendly accommodation, chance of adventure and lots of swimming is a brilliant combination.

Although it doesn’t have lots of sandy beaches like many other holiday destinations, it is clean and safe. There are also lots of opportunities for fun activities that the kids will love.

This includes riding down the streets of Funchal on sledges, seeing dolpins and lizard spotting in the gardens.

Where to stay in Madeira with a family?

Funchal is the biggest town on the island and is probably the best place to base yourself for a family holiday in Madeira. There are lots of things to keep you busy in the town itself as well as plentiful hotels and restaurants. 

We stayed at the Carlton Pestana Madeira Ocean resort hotel. This was close to the ‘hotel district’, where there are lots of restaurants and the lido area for sea swimming. But also walkable in the other direction to Funchal old town.

For other ideas on the where to stay check out our guide to places to stay in Madeira.

How to get around Madeira

I think the best way to get around Madeira is to hire a car. This give you full flexibility for where to stop and how long for.

If you are not keen on driving or on more of a budget there are plenty of bus routes to take you around Funchal. There are also buses that will take you to many of the main towns on the island.

For more flexibility many choose to take taxis or book tours.

Tours can be a great way to see lots of the island in one go, these can be either private or group tours and there are soooo many options. In Funchal most hotels will book tours for you or there are numerous tour companies offering them.

What to eat and drink in Madeira

We loved the food in Madeira. Being an island there is a large focus on seafood which was generally delicious.

‘Filete de Espada’ (Black Scabbardfish) is one of the main specialities and you will see this on many menus. Many restaurants will display the fresh fish for you to peruse.

As well as seafood ‘Espetada’ is one of other main specialities. These are beef skewers, simple but delicious!

Our children’s favourite though was the Bolo do Caco. This is basically garlic bread, but some of the tastiest garlic bread we have had!

As well as all the local specialities there are plenty of places offering any other type of cuisine you might prefer. From pizza and pasta to sushi.

To drink our children were hooked on Brisa, a local fizzy drink made with real fruit juice. I loved the maracuja (passion fruit flavour) but I think the kids preferred the maçã (apple) one.

There are all the usual brands of drinks available too.

For the adults the speciality is the well-known Madeira wine and also the less-known ‘Poncha’. I didn’t try the poncha until late in my holiday (I had been warned it was very strong and could be lethal!).

Poncha is made from sugarcane spirit and sweetened with honey and sugar. It is then flavoured usually with citrus fruit (orange or lemon) but we saw other flavours available too.

I really enjoyed my poncha but wouldn’t recommend too many in one sitting!

Things to do in Madeira

1. Explore Funchal

Funchal is a large tourist centre but is also a real working town and the administrative centre for Madeira. There is plenty to explore without venturing too far and the old town is a lovely place to wander.

There are so many lovely restaurants to choose from both in the old town, by the marina and in the hotel district.

Other things to discover in Funchal include:

• The oceanfront Yellow Fort
• The beautiful Cathedral on the edge of the old town.
• Marvel at the local wares at the Mercado los Lavradores (farmers market)
• Take the Monte cable car (with or without a wicker basket ride down the hill)
• The marina area has some nice restaurants and the CR7 museum for any Ronaldo fans.
• There are beautiful gardens galore. We loved the Monte gardens, but there are also the botanical gardens.

Read our Funchal guide for more details of the above and more ideas for keeping busy in Funchal.

2. Do a Levada Walk

Madeira is famous for its levadas. These are waterways that were built to transport water around this mountainous island.

Now most of the levadas have walking trails alongside them.

If you are in Madeira with kids you may want to do your research first about which walks are most suitable for families as some have quite steep drops and aren’t for the faint hearted!

The walks vary in length and are mostly one-way walks, so you need to factor in either walking back to your start point or arranging transport at the other end.

Lots of tour companies will offer transfers to drop you at the start of a hike and pick you up from the end.

Whichever walk you choose, I think you are pretty much guaranteed amazing views because the island is full of them!

We completed 3 different walks on this visit but there are a few more that I have my eye on returning to do when the children are a bit bigger and can be trusted to not run off a cliff!

One of the most popular hikes is the 25 fonts levada walk. With good reason, the views are stunning. However it does get very busy.

We visited late in the day, which did mean we were racing time a bit to get round but we had the trails almost to ourselves once we reached the waterfalls.

3. Hire a car and drive around the island

Our family holiday in Madeira was just one week. We hired a car for two single days through rentalcars.com. This meant we got to explore quite a bit of the island but obviously couldn’t do everything.

Madeira isn’t a large island although many of the roads are very windy so journeys can take longer than you would expect.

Wherever you go there are lots of pull in spots to sit and admire the views. There are now also lots of tunnels on the main roads.

This makes getting around the island a lot quicker but obviously means you sometimes miss out on some of the views.

Look carefully at the map to check if you are going to be underground in places that you want to be able to see!

If you don’t fancy driving there are plenty of options for tours from short excursions to full day tours.

For five of us this would have been much more expensive. We also like having the flexibility to determine how long we stay somewhere and change plans if needed. We really enjoyed both of our road trips.

4. Check out the pretty fishing village of Camara de Lobos

Camara de Lobos is a cute fishing village close to Funchal. It was one of Winston Churchill’s favourite places and with good reason.

The colourful houses crowd around a bay of sparkling water with fishing boats bobbing in the waves.

It’s a pretty village for a wander and coffee or maybe lunch.

Camara de Lobos is just a 20 minute drive from Funchal. If you don’t have transport it is easy to hop on a public bus or there is a trail along the coast all the way from Funchal.

5. Admire the views from the highest cliff in Europe.

Probably the most famous (and busiest) viewpoint on Madeira is Cabo Girao on the south coast.

This consists of a suspended glass platform above the highest cliff in Europe which certainly has the wow-factor.

It does get very crowded, and you do now need to pay a small fee to access the glass platform but I still think it is worth experiencing if you are in the area.

It’s quite exciting for the children and there is very little walking needed so it’s accessible for all. There is also a small café near the viewpoint which made a nice place for a drink with a view.

6. Admire the Miradouro do Véu da Noiva

On the road between Sao Vicente and Porto Moniz on the North coast of the island you’ll find the Miradouro do Véu da Noiva.

This is a spectacular waterfall that tumbles straight from the cliffs into the ocean.

What is more amazing is that the road used to go right underneath this waterfall. Look carefully on the photo above and you’ll be able to see the route of the old road.

Now there is a tunnel which transports you much more quickly past it. Make sure to pull in at the view point (after the tunnel if coming from Sao Vicente) to have a look.

7. Check out the traditional houses in Santana

The small town of Santana in Northern Madeira is famous for it’s traditional houses. These pretty houses, complete with thatched roofs are definitely worth stopping off to admire if you are in the area.

The centre of the town is almost like an open air museum.

8. Check out the fort at Faial

In the North-East of Madeira is the small village of Faial. There isn’t much more here than a collection of houses tumbling down the hillside. But overlooking the town is a fort with spectacular views.

The large rock of Penha d’Águia dominates the view, standing guard over the coast.

9. Hike to the summit of the tallest mountain in Madeira

Inland from Santana the road snakes upwards to Achada de Teixera. This is the starting point for the hike up the tallest peak in Madeira, Pico Ruvio.

Although the hike is mostly uphill it is less than 3km to the peak so achievable for anyone with a basic level of fitness.

If you don’t fancy the hike, there are some good views from near the car park at Achada de Teixera and there is also a cafe here for lunch or a drink.

10. Swim in natural sea pools

Madeira does not have many beaches- the island is so mountainous that large cliffs are more the norm!

The beaches it does have are mostly pebbly. If you do want to swim in the sea there are quite a few natural sea pools.

Some of these have been amended by humans to give easier access and make them safer for swimming. Amongst the most popular sea pools are the lido at Funchal, Porto Moniz and Seixal.

There isn’t any public parking at the bottom of the hill so you will have to walk the last part but it is only a 5-10 minute walk.

Be warned that the road down to the public car park is very steep and narrow so take care!

Once at the pools there are a couple to choose from or you can do what we did and have a dip in both!

It is rocky so some type of water/ sea shoes is handy to protect your feet. If leaving them on the shore, make sure they are well clear of the water and any waves.

We helped a family recover sandals in the water that got washed out by a sudden wave!

11. Get some beach time

Having said that Madeira is not famous for beaches if you are a family that likes to get some sand between your toes, there are a couple of places that you can get your fix.

The natural beaches in Madeira are all pebbles or black sand. However both Calheta and Machico beaches offer golden sand which has been imported.

Calheta is in the South West of the island and offers a couple of small stretches of golden sand close to the marina. The bay is sheltered for safe for children to play in the water.

Machico is located in South Eastern Madeira close to the airport. This also has a similar golden sandy beach with calm waters.

12. Check out the amazing views at Pico Areeiro

In Madeira there are stunning views pretty much wherever you go but there are some spots that really give you that ‘wow’ moment.

Many of them are well known so you most likely won’t be enjoying the view on your own. But I’m sure you’re going to want to explore at least one on your family holiday in Madeira.

Pico de Areeiro is the start/ end of one of the most famous walks on the island, the PR1.

From the pictures I have seen of this walk it looks amazing, but we decided our youngest wasn’t quite ready for it yet. More to do with the sheer drops at the side of the trail than the distance involved.

At the time of writing the PR1 trail is closed for restoration but is expected to reopen in April 2026.

Achada de Teixera is a really popular spot at sunrise, and I believe it gets VERY busy then. We were there later in the afternoon when there weren’t too many people around at all which was nice.

It also meant that we got a spot in the main car park close to the view point. There is more parking a 15 minute walk down the hill. Parking is free for 30 minutes, which is what we did. If you stay for longer you will have to pay.

13. Visit Ribeiro Frio and the Balcoes viewpoint

Probably my favourite viewpoint in Madeira was Balcoes. I could have stayed there all day looking at the amazing view. There is a short Levada walk to get there from Ribeiro Frio.

What I loved most about this place was that I really felt like I was surrounded by the verdant mountains.

The walk is mostly flat and very accessible. There are also numerous restaurants in the small town of Ribeiro Frio for a refreshing drink or meal.

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Now we have been to Madeira once our main question (to ourselves) was why haven’t we been on a Madeira family holiday before? And I think it’s safe to say that we will be returning in the near future to see more of what the island has to offer.

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