Four Days in Madeira: Funchal, Walks and Coast

Four full days let you pair Funchal and Monte with two contrasting walks and the northwest coast, without driving around the island every day. Stay centrally in Funchal, use a hire car for the three outings, and return each evening for a break before dinner. Arrival and departure time sit outside these sightseeing days.

Before the four days

Base

Central Funchal, between Sé and the Old Town

Car outings

Three full days

Workable order

Monday: city; Tuesday: Rabaçal; Wednesday: northwest; Thursday: east

Reserve first

PR6 and PR8 entry slots through SIMplifica

Four full sightseeing days are enough for this selection, not every part of Madeira. The central seafront is relatively flat, with the cathedral, market and Old Town within easy walking reach, but Monte is the uphill exception. Keep the car in a paid central garage such as Santa Luzia, São Tiago or Almirante Reis rather than relying on street spaces.

Admission	Adult price	Booking
Monte Palace	€18	Groups by phone
PR6, 25 Fontes	€4.50	SIMplifica: reserve and pay
Managed Porto Moniz pools	€3	Entry ticket
PR8, São Lourenço	€4.50	SIMplifica: reserve and pay
Madeira Whale Museum	€10	Phone/email recommended
Five-admission subtotal	€40	Per adult

For an ordinary Whale Museum visit, advance booking is optional, but you can arrange a reservation on +351 291 961 858/9. Put the city day on a non-holiday weekday, and the eastern day on Tuesday–Sunday. The PR6 reservation carries no additional charge beyond admission.

Leave high-peak traverses and Porto Santo for separate stays. Weather may change the order of the four days, so favour suitable walking conditions over following the numbering rigidly.

Day 1: Funchal and Monte

Monte Palace’s terraces, Rua de Santa Maria’s painted doors and the civic square make this a varied city day, ending with the waterfront and dinner around Rua da Carreira. If the market day falls on Sunday or a public holiday, move this day to a weekday.

Mercado dos Lavradores brings flowers and produce together. Browse before taking bus 022 towards Monte. On Fridays, the market stays open until 20:00.

Monte Palace rewards time among landscaped terraces and collections. Wear grippy shoes for the many steps and sloping paths. The optional Nossa Senhora do Monte church adds its striking twin staircase, and lunch follows around Largo da Fonte. Bus 022 connects the Monte lunch area back towards the Old Town.

Rua de Santa Maria’s Painted Doors project turns local artists’ painted doors into an open-air gallery. The optional São Tiago fort gives a waterfront exterior stop before Funchal Cathedral, whose decorated wooden ceiling merits attention. Sightseeing pauses during Mass and Adoration. Saturday morning access begins at 09:00 and Sunday afternoon access at 16:00. On civil public holidays, visit between 09:00 and 12:00 instead of following the afternoon stop.

Praça do Município brings the town hall and Jesuit church exteriors around a patterned square. Return to your accommodation before Avenida do Mar. For dinner, try espetada, skewered beef usually seasoned with garlic, salt and bay. Bolo do caco is a round flatbread commonly served with garlic butter.

Day 2: Rabaçal and Câmara de Lobos

Set off again from Funchal for 25 Fontes’s watercourse and waterfall basin, Calheta beach and Câmara de Lobos’s working harbour, ending with a garden evening and Old Town dinner.

At Rabaçal, park in the official upper car park and take the paved pedestrian road to Casa do Rabaçal. A levada is an irrigation channel. PR6 follows one over uneven ground, with steps and narrow sections beside steep slopes. Allow roughly 3–4 hours for the trail outing with pauses by the watercourse and waterfall basin. Carry water and rain protection, and wear grippy footwear. Pause at the basin to look at the falling water.

Swap this outing with the city day in unsuitable walking weather. Calheta beach offers a seated pause after the climb back to the car, followed by lunch near the marina. Continue directly to Câmara de Lobos, where colourful fishing boats, nets and other gear reveal the harbour’s working role. The optional Nossa Senhora da Conceição chapel adds blue-and-white ceramic tilework.

Back in Funchal, rest at your accommodation before Jardim Municipal’s planted paths, then walk to Rua de Santa Maria for dinner.

Day 3: Fanal and the northwest coast

From your Funchal base, Fanal’s laurel trees and Porto Moniz’s pools make a slower northwest day, with coastal stops before a park evening and Rua da Carreira dinner.

Fanal is a short forest wander around the forestry station. Expect damp, rooted ground and wear grippy shoes. Optional Praia do Porto do Seixal contrasts black sand with green cliffs, best seen in clear morning light.

Porto Moniz gives you seafront time before lunch around Rua do Forte: choose grilled fish, seafood or snack-bar sandwiches. The managed pools have formed basins, lifeguards, changing rooms, showers and sunbathing space, unlike the separate free rock pools. They open year-round, 09:00–17:00 in winter and 09:00–19:00 in summer. Non-swimmers can spend longer ashore.

São Vicente’s optional stop centres on its small chapel built into a rock outcrop. Ribeira Brava then offers an old-centre and seafront walk: park outside the signed pedestrian core, where vehicle access is restricted, and continue on foot. Drop Seixal and São Vicente first when poor weather or short winter daylight shortens the outing.

After resting at your accommodation, Parque de Santa Catarina offers planted grounds and a harbour view in late light. Daily access is 07:00–20:00 from 23 September to 21 March, and 07:00–22:00 from 22 March to 22 September. Leave dinner for Rua da Carreira.

Day 4: São Lourenço and Machico

Set out again from Funchal for São Lourenço’s cliffs, Machico’s old streets and the Whale Museum, pairing an exposed walk with an indoor afternoon before waterfront time and Old Town dinner. On Monday, exchange this with the northwest day, as the museum is closed.

PR8 shows the Atlantic on both sides, with rugged cliffs and offshore rocks before Casa do Sardinha. Morning light suits the outward walk, and optional Ponta do Furado adds a higher panorama over Madeira’s eastern tip. Allow roughly 3–4 hours for the out-and-back with pauses to enjoy the views. Park in the open car park at Baía d’Abra, arriving early for a space near the start.

Bring water, sun protection and a windproof layer: there is little natural shelter. Use the city day instead in unsuitable wind or weather. Machico’s waterfront gives you a substantial pause before lunch around Largo da Praça.

Madeira Whale Museum in Caniçal explores whaling history and cetaceans through its permanent displays. Arriving by 16:30 is recommended to leave enough time to enjoy them. Afterwards, return to Machico for the Capela dos Milagres, parish church and Forte de Nossa Senhora do Amparo, linked by old streets and the seafront.

Rest at your accommodation before Praça do Povo’s waterfront and Rua de Santa Maria dinner. Keep this as a full sightseeing day, not a walk squeezed around arrival or departure.

Shorter stays and partial days

• Cut optional Monte church and São Tiago fort before shortening the garden visit.
• On Rabaçal day, lose the viewpoint and harbour chapel first.
• On the northwest circuit, omit Seixal and São Vicente first, and on PR8, omit Ponta do Furado and Machico church.
• With three full days, keep Funchal and the northwest coast, and choose either Rabaçal’s levada or São Lourenço’s exposed coastal walk, leaving out the other complete day.

After the final Funchal evening, shorter stays need subtraction, not faster circuits. Keep meals and accommodation rests when starting late. Use nearby Old Town lanes, the civic square or waterfront on a partial arrival or departure day, and keep regional drives and walks for full days.

The three-day Madeira itinerary offers a different selection, including a mountain-viewpoint morning rather than both walks. High-peak traverses and Porto Santo still belong to separate stays.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: opening hours, closures, services, and fares and charges. Route times and distances were calculated from geolocated stops.

• Funchal City Council — opening hours
• Funchal City Council — closures
• Monte Palace Madeira — opening hours
• Monte Palace Madeira — closures
• Funchal Cathedral — opening hours
• Madeira Regional Secretariat for Tourism and Culture (Visit Madeira) — service
• Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation (IFCN) — service
• Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza (IFCN), IP-RAM — service
• Municipality of Calheta — service
• Direção Regional do Património — opening hours
• Direção Regional do Património, Região Autónoma da Madeira — fares and charges
• Madeira Promotion Bureau (Visit Madeira) — service
• Porto Moniz Municipal Council — opening hours
• Madeira Promotion Bureau (Visit Madeira) — opening hours
• Municipality of Ribeira Brava — service
• Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza (IFCN) — service
• Museu da Baleia da Madeira — opening hours
• Madeira Whale Museum — fares and charges
• IFCN, IP-RAM – Instituto das Florestas e Conservação da Natureza, IP-RAM — fares and charges
• Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation (IFCN Madeira) — fares and charges