A Six-Day Madeira Honeymoon: Funchal to Porto Santo

Why this pace suits a honeymoon

Madeira has a reputation as a hiking island, and most itineraries are built around it — a levada before breakfast, a mountain traverse, boots drying on a balcony every night. This one deliberately isn’t that. Six days, one hire car, no early alarms for a trailhead, and nothing on the plan that needs a walking pole. If you want the version with the Pico do Arieiro sunrise and a full day on the PR1 traverse, our hiking week is built for that couple — this one is built for the couple who wants a glass of Madeira wine on a terrace at 6pm more than a summit.

The route stays almost entirely on the south coast and finishes on Porto Santo, skipping the wetter, more dramatic north of the island on purpose. That trade-off is deliberate: the north rewards effort, and this itinerary is built around comfort instead.

Day 1 — Arrival and Funchal’s old town

Fly into Madeira Airport and settle into a hotel in central Funchal — the city has several genuinely historic addresses, and choosing well matters more here than on a normal city break; our where to stay guide breaks down the areas. Take the afternoon slowly: a walk along the marina, then into the old town, where the Rua de Santa Maria’s painted doors have turned a once-shabby street into the best evening address in the city. Dinner here, outside if the weather allows, sets the tone for the week.

Don’t try to pack anything else into day one. Jet lag or not, arrival day in Funchal is for adjusting, not sightseeing.

Day 2 — Funchal properly, then Monte

Start at the Mercado dos Lavradores, Funchal’s 1940s Art Deco market — flowers on the ground floor, fruit stalls with samples pushed at you (agree a price before you taste anything, or you’ll be billed at the premium rate), and the fish hall upstairs where the black scabbard fish, espada, sits alongside the tuna. It’s a twenty-minute visit that’s worth an hour.

From the market, take the cable car up to Monte — fifteen minutes over the rooftops and ravines of Funchal, arriving 560 metres above the city. Monte’s own church holds the tomb of the last Habsburg emperor, exiled here in 1922, and the Monte Palace Tropical Garden is worth the entry fee for its azulejo tilework alone. If you want the famous wicker toboggan down, know before you queue that it isn’t transport — the carreiros push you about two kilometres to Livramento, and you’ll still need a taxi from there back into town. Treat it as a five-minute novelty ride, not a way home.

Round out the afternoon at the Quinta do Palheiro, one of two distinct gardens locals will mention (don’t confuse it with the municipal botanical garden across town), then find a table for espetada — beef grilled on a laurel skewer and still one of the best meals on the island.

Day 3 — The west coast and a sunset at Cabo Girão

Collect the hire car this morning. A small manual is the right choice for Madeira’s narrow lanes and steep gradients — this isn’t a road for a large automatic. Head first to Câmara de Lobos, the fishing village where Winston Churchill painted in 1950, for a mid-morning poncha — Madeira’s honey, lemon and sugarcane rum drink, properly stirred with a wooden caralhinho, not the fruit-syrup version sold to coach tours.

For something more active than sightseeing but nowhere near a real hike, book a private, easy-paced levada walk near Cabo Girão, guided and paced for two — flat, short, and nothing like the exposed cliff-edge routes the island is known for. Then drive up to Cabo Girão itself for the free glass skywalk over one of Europe’s highest sea cliffs, at around 580 metres. Time the visit for late afternoon: the light on the cliff face and the ocean below is the best of the day, and it’s worth timing dinner in Câmara de Lobos or Funchal around getting back down after.

Day 4 — Calheta’s beach and a private charter

Calheta is the honeymoon detour most itineraries skip. Its gold-sand beach was imported in 2008 — worth saying plainly, because it isn’t a natural Madeiran beach, but it’s genuinely one of the most comfortable stretches of sand on the island, sheltered and calm. Spend the morning there.

In the afternoon, book a private afternoon boat charter along this stretch of coast — no shared decks, no fixed schedule, just the two of you and the water. It’s the single most honeymoon-shaped booking on this itinerary, and the calm south coast makes for an easy afternoon on the water even for guests who don’t love boats. Overnight back in Calheta or return to Funchal, depending on how the rest of your week is routed.

Day 5 — Crossing to Porto Santo

This is the day to build slack into. The Porto Santo Line ferry from Funchal takes around two hours and fifteen minutes, but it is genuinely cancelled by heavy swell often enough that you shouldn’t treat it as guaranteed — this is the one honeymoon-ruining mistake worth planning around. Book a flexible or refundable ferry ticket if you can, check the forecast the evening before, and have the fifteen-minute flight to Porto Santo saved as a fallback if the crossing is called off. Losing a booked boat charter or a hotel night to a cancelled ferry is a bad way to end a honeymoon; losing it to one you’d planned for is just a footnote.

However you arrive, the payoff is nine kilometres of continuous gold sand — the only real beach in the archipelago — running the length of the island’s south coast. Settle into Vila Baleira, the low-key capital, and see the Columbus House, where Christopher Columbus lived after marrying the daughter of the island’s first governor around 1479. Spend the rest of the day on the beach and nowhere else.

Day 6 — Porto Santo, then home

A full day on Porto Santo before heading back. In the morning, take a guided walk through the island’s UNESCO biosphere reserve — gentle terrain, sea views, and a good way to see beyond the beach without any real exertion. In the afternoon, swap the walking pace for a fast inflatable boat ride around the coastline, which covers sea caves and stretches of the shore the beach doesn’t show you.

Build your return around the same caution as the outbound crossing: if the ferry looks marginal, take the flight back to Madeira with enough buffer before your onward flight home. A tight connection through a cancelled ferry sailing is the one thing that can undo six otherwise easy days.

Budget and logistics for this route

Item	What to expect
Hotels	Historic or five-star Funchal address, three nights; Porto Santo beachfront, two nights
Car hire	Small manual, days 3–4 only; not needed in Funchal or on Porto Santo
Porto Santo crossing	Ferry (~2h15) as first choice, flight (~15 min) booked as backup
Daily spend	Around €150–250 per person with a mid-to-high hotel and the tours above
Best months	Late spring and early autumn — warm sea, lower cancellation risk on the crossing

Avoid the very end of December if you specifically want calm: New Year in Funchal is spectacular — the bay’s fireworks display is Guinness-listed as the world’s largest — but it’s also the island’s highest, most booked-up season, with minimum-stay requirements at most hotels.

FAQ: planning a Madeira honeymoon

Is six days enough for a Madeira honeymoon?

Yes, for this pace. Six days covers Funchal properly, one full day on the west coast, a beach day in Calheta and two nights on Porto Santo without ever feeling rushed. Add a day or two if you want to explore the north coast or fit in one real hike.

Do we need a hire car for the whole week?

No. You won’t need a car in Funchal — walk or taxi everywhere — or on Porto Santo, which is small enough to cover on foot or by local transport. A car earns its keep only on days 3 and 4, for Câmara de Lobos, Cabo Girão and Calheta.

Is the Porto Santo ferry reliable?

Not guaranteed. It’s a good crossing in calm weather but is regularly cancelled by Atlantic swell, especially outside summer. Book flexible tickets where possible and treat the short flight as a genuine backup rather than a last resort.

Is Calheta’s beach natural?

No — the sand was imported in 2008 to create a beach where Madeira’s volcanic coastline doesn’t naturally have one. It’s comfortable and sheltered, but it isn’t the same as Porto Santo’s naturally sandy coast.

Do we need to do a levada hike to see the “real” Madeira?

No, though a short, guided, easy-paced levada walk like the one on day three gives you the feel of one without the exposure, tunnels or distance of the island’s serious routes. If you’d rather build a week around proper hiking, our hiking week itinerary is the better fit.

What’s the most romantic single booking on this trip?

The private afternoon boat charter out of Calheta, by a clear margin — no shared schedule, no other guests, just the coastline and each other. The Porto Santo walking tour and boat ride on day six are a close second for variety.

Which is better for a honeymoon, Madeira or Porto Santo?

They’re not really a choice — this itinerary uses both because they do different jobs. Madeira gives you the hotels, restaurants and viewpoints; Porto Santo gives you the one genuine beach holiday in the archipelago. See our comparison guide for more on how the two differ.