Madeira itinerary – road trip ideas

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On our recent Madeira family holiday we stayed in Funchal but wanted to also explore the island. We were only there for a week and there was a lot we wanted to cram in to our Madeira itinerary. We wanted some relaxation time by the pool at our lovely hotel as well as time to explore the sights of Funchal. To manage all this in a week we hired a car for two single days throughout our week. We tried to see as many different sights and walking trails around the island as we could in those days.

For us it worked well to spread out our Madeira road trip days so that we had a quieter day with some pool time after each driving day. Since we were staying in Funchal both our road trips started in Funchal. Funchal is a great base since it is close to the airport and the largest town on the island. There are lots of other pretty smaller towns on the island too. Check out our post on the best places to stay in Madeira if you need some ideas.

Driving in Madeira

Like mainland Portugal, in Madeira you drive on the right. The roads have improved vastly in recent years. Lots of tunnels have been built under some of the mountains meaning highways can be straighter and faster. There were places were we could see what used to be the main road clinging to a sheer cliff that dropped into the ocean. We were very thankful for the newer roads!

Obviously the main highroads don’t go to all the best, most beautiful locations so you will need to veer off onto the smaller roads. In our experience, although some of these roads can be quite winding they were mostly in great condition. We didn’t come across many single track roads, but the roads can be quite narrow. If possible I would avoid hiring a really large car for your Madeira road trip!

Madeira Itinerary 1 – The West

From Funchal head West on the main highway VR1. Follow signs towards Camara de Lobos. Continue past here and then follow signs for Cabo Girao. If you have satnav, the exact location is pinpointed here. It’s about a 20 minute drive from Funchal. The last part is more tricky climbing slowly up the twisty roads.

Madeira itinerary 1 – Cabo Girao

Cabo Girao viewpoint is one of the most popular sights in Madeira and so is likely to be busy! When we were there, attendants were directing cars to find parking. There is a small car park but most of the parking is on side roads.

Once you have parked wander down to the ticket office. At the time of writing it is €2 (free for under 12s). This impressive promontory is the highest in Europe, standing proudly at 580m tall. Despite the crowds we thought it was absolutely worth the small fee to check out the incredible views. It should definitely be in your Madeira itinerary.

After admiring the view from the glass platform, we had a coffee at the small cafe. We were lucky enough to get a seat at the edge so could continue to soak in the views over our morning coffee.

Madeira Itinerary 1 – Central Mountains

From Cabo Girao we headed back down the winding roads to rejoin the VR1, continuing West (follow signs for Ribeira Brava). As soon as you exit the Ribeira Brava tunnel head inland on the VE4, following signs for São Vicente. This was one of my favourite routes for scenery as you start to ascend into the verdant mountains looming on either side of you. The road directly to São Vicente on the north coast cuts under the mountains for a direct route straight to the coast. If you are short on time continue following this road.

Side trip to Encumeada

Encumeada is little more than a small collection of houses at the top, with a small shop selling souvenirs and drinks/ snacks. As you reach the top of the hill, there is restaurant on the right with beautiful views. You can park here if you want to eat/ drink in the restaurant. If not turn left just after the restaurant and then park on the road. You’ll find view points and some picnic tables. We enjoyed some pre-packed snacks- you’ve got to keep the kids fed, right! There are also Levada walks from here.

After pausing to take in the views, continue your Madeira itinerary by heading to the North Coast.

Madeira Itinerary 1 – The North Coast

Once you have admired the mountain views from Encumeada you can head back down the mountain towards São Vicente. Confusingly the signposts at the top have São Vicente in two different directions! If you turned off the road to stop at the viewpoint you should turn back to rejoin the road you were on. If you had parked at the restaurant, you would continue on the road you were on.

After winding back down the mountain you will join back on to the main road, VE4 in the small town of São Vicente. From here at the roundabout take the VE2 following signs Northwest towards Porto Moniz. You’ll follow the coast now and in-between the frequent tunnels you’ll be able to marvel at the spectacular coastline. As you approach many of the tunnels look to your right and you’ll be able to see the old coast road clinging precariously to the cliffs.

Miradouro do Véu da Noiva

Keep an eye out on the right for a sign for the Veu da Noiva viewpoint, the next stop on your Madeira itinerary. You will see a sign just after one of the tunnels. If you’re using satnav this is the location. It should take just less than 30 minutes to get here from Encumeada. There is a small road that turns sharply back right but just past this is a small carpark directly off the main road. We parked here, and then just walked down the hill to the viewpoint. Your reward, the spectacular view of a waterfall tumbling off the cliffs directly into the ocean.

Swimming at Seixal natural swim pools

Continuing along the coast from the Miradouro do Veu de Novia it is only a 5 minute drive to the small town of Seixal. Seixal’s most famous destination are its natural swim pools and that is where we headed. Continue past the first signs into Seixal and instead turn right just after the Seixal tunnel. The point indicated on this map is where the steep, narrow road heads down towards the sea pools. It’s a sharp left turn, so go slowly and look out for it. We drove down this road, it’s only a couple of minutes drive to get to a rough car park on your right. Park here as there is no parking further down the hill.

If you don’t fancy driving down the steep road there is some parking at the top, near the toilets. After parking walk down to enjoy the Seixal natural swimming pools. There are two main pools, and plenty of space on the rocks to soak up the sun. We had a pre-packed picnic lunch here in-between dips in the ocean. There’s also a small snack bar if you don’t have any supplies with you.

It’s a great place for a family swim in the ocean, since it feels much safer for the kids. Some kind of sea shoes/ footwear is a good idea when navigating the rocks to get in and when standing on the rocky ocean floor.

Madeira Itinerary 1 – Crossing Paul de Serra

After our lunch and swim we headed back to the car to continue our Madeira road trip. From Seixal we headed back to the main road and continued Northwest up the coast towards the town of Porto Moniz. When you get to the roundabout as you approach Porto Moniz, turn left up the hill to continue on the ER101. This road meanders up the hill through numerous hairpin bends. Towards the top of the hill you’ll see a turn-off to the left signposted Paul de Serra and Funchal. This road is the ER105 which travels across the centre of the island. I really enjoyed this drive, as the scenery opens out into open moorland. It’s is very different to all the other scenery you will have experienced on this Madeira itinerary.

PR6 Levada das 25 Fontes

It’s around 45 minute drive from Seixal to reach the beginning of the 25 Fontes hike. There is lots of parking just off the main road. You’ll recognise that you’re in the right place by the volume of cars there! If in doubt put ‘Rabacal’ into your satnav. Once parked it is around 2km walk downhill on a single track road to get to the trailhead. You used to be able to drive down this road but no more. If you don’t fancy the walk there is a shuttle-bus for a small fee to take walkers down and back. We found the walk down was fine but managed to get a bus back.

This 4.5km walk was one of my highlights of our Madeira itinerary. The whole thing was stunning. It is a VERY popular walk so gets really busy. We found that going later in the day was perfect. We passed lots of walkers on their way back towards their cars but once we got towards the waterfalls it was fairly quiet, which was fantastic. If you do go later in the day just bear in mind that the last shuttle bus up the hill leaves at 7pm. We were there just before 7 but it seemed that shuttle bus had already finished for the day. Thankfully we managed to get a lift with some workers from the cafe that were going up. The children had definitely had enough walking by that time of day!

If you plan on hiking, check out our post covering details of this and other Madeira hiking trails.

Return to Funchal

On returning to our car after our hike the drive back to Funchal took around 50 minutes. The best route back is to go back in the direction of Porto Moniz for a few minutes and take the first road on your left, the ER211. This road is quite narrow and steep but is the quickest way to rejoin the main highway, the VE3. When you get down the hill look out for the signs to Funchal to join the main road. At Ribeira Brava you will rejoin the VR1 to transport you back to Funchal.

This is a busy Madeira road trip, you could easily tailor it to your preference by swapping some of our stops, alternatively you could combine with some of the stops in our second Madeira road trip.

Madeira Itinerary 2 – The East

From Funchal head East on the main highway, VR1. We enjoyed looking at the airport as we drove past. You get a great view of the runway which is partially built on pillars as the island is just too mountainous to find much flat land!

Madeira Itinerary 2- The North East

It was around 40 minutes by car following the highway to reach the small village of Faial. This tiny village has a fort to explore and fantastic views of the impressive coastline.

Faial

We parked next to the Fort. If you navigate to Camino do Fortim de Faial, you’ll find a small car park at the end of this road, right next to the fort.

The main draw here are the spectacular views. You can look down on the pretty village and above it, dominating the landscape is the impressive Penha d’Águia rock.

Faial Coffee Stop

After taking in the views we went for a short walk into the village. Near the car park is a small footpath that heads downhill and cuts onto the road below. There is a small cafe and shop here. This was the only place we went on our Madeira road trip where no English was spoken. We got by fine with pointing/ sign language to order a couple of coffees and some cool drinks for the kids.

After a refresh we headed back up the pathway we had come down to the car and returned to the highway.

Achada de Teixera

Achada de Teixera is the start point of the PR1.2 trail to the summit of Pico Ruvio, Madeira’s highest mountain. It should be less than a 30 minute drive from Faial to Achada de Teixera. Join back on the main road continuing north to Santana and then turn left to head up into the mountains. There is a large car park at the top, although it was full when we got there and we had to drive back down the road a little to park on the road.

Near the car park is a large restaurant which could make an excellent lunch spot. We had brought a packed lunch so set off up the PR1.2 trail to the top of the mountain. The trail is 2.8km to the top and the return is back on the same trail. Our children managed the trail fine, with a few snacks along the way and we had our picnic lunch on the way back down. It is definitely achievable for most people and the views from the top are just stunning.

Santana

After our adventure to the top of the highest mountain in Madeira we hopped back in the car and drove 20 minutes down the hill to the town of Santana. This pretty town is home to one of Madeira’s iconic images the Casas de Santana.

Madeira Itinerary 2 – Central Moutains

From Santana we headed back inland again on the ER103 to Ribeiro Frio. There are a few restaurants here but the main draw is the short Levada walk on PR11 to the Balcoes viewpoint. The official parking for the PR11 viewpoint is here but we parked in the main village before we got to that point. There are some steps up from the road that join on to the Levada walk and meant the walk was slightly shorter.

Balcoes viewpoint

The Balcoes viewpoint should definitely be in your Madeira itinerary. I could have sat there all day admiring the views! It is probably one of the easiest Levada walks on the island to get there, under the shade of some cooling trees. When you arrive the landscape opens up to 360 degree mountain views. There are barriers that also make it feel safe for small children.

Once I could tear myself away from the stunning landscape we retraced our steps and had a cooling drink in one of the Ribeiro Frio restaurants before heading back to the car.

Pico de Areeiro

Back in the car, continue along the E103 for around 20 minutes to the Pico Areeiro viewpoint. At this time of day you should be fine to park in the main car park with easy access to the stunning views. This is the start point for the PR1 walk, which had been top of my list of activities for us to do in Madeira. It’s a hiking trail that starts from Pico Areeiro and traverses the three highest peaks of the island to finish at Achada de Teixera. However for us, our youngest was a little too young. I think he would have made the distance of the walk but I didn’t trust him not to run off a cliff!

Our second Madeira itinerary had enabled us to at least to see the start and end point views of this famous walk. If you are able to park in the top car park you don’t really have to walk anywhere hardly to admire the scenery.

Return to Funchal

From Areeiro it’s less than 40 minutes back to Funchal for dinner. It’s well signposted so just follow the road down.

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We hope you find our itineraries useful. If you need further help with planning your Madeira family holiday or working out where to stay, our other Madeira posts can all be found on our Portugal page. If you have any questions please contact us, we love to hear from people and would be happy to try and help you plan your trip.