One Week in Madeira: The Classic Island Road Trip

The route in outline

Seven days is enough to drive the full circuit of Madeira once — the volcanic peaks, the laurel-forest west, the black-lava north coast, the sunburnt east — without doubling back. It’s not enough to do it slowly. This itinerary sacrifices two things on purpose: it doesn’t attempt the long Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo traverse, which needs a dedicated hiking trip, and it doesn’t cross to Porto Santo, which needs at least an extra night. What’s left is the classic loop: a night’s base in Funchal, a hire car, and a different corner of the island each day.

Expect the weather to differ by altitude and coast on the same afternoon rather than to change day to day. The south around Funchal runs mild and dry most of the year, the north is greener and wetter, and anything above 1,500 metres — Pico do Arieiro included — can sit in cloud, wind or near-freezing air while the coast below is warm in a t-shirt. Pack for all three, every day, and check car rental and mountain-road advice before you set out.

Day	Focus	Overnight
1	Funchal orientation	Funchal
2	Pico do Arieiro sunrise	Funchal
3	Rabaçal and the west	Funchal
4	Porto Moniz and Santana	Funchal
5	Ponta de São Lourenço	Funchal
6	Curral das Freiras	Funchal
7	Flex day in Funchal	Funchal

Basing every night in Funchal keeps luggage out of the equation and puts you back near restaurants each evening; every day trip above returns within two to three hours’ drive.

Day 1: Funchal

Start in the capital before the car comes out of the equation for the rest of the day. Walk the old town, where the doors along Rua de Santa Maria have been painted by local and visiting artists since 2010, then head to the Mercado dos Lavradores for the flower stalls downstairs and the fish hall upstairs, where the black scabbard fish — espada — sits alongside tuna and tropical fruit. Be wary of stallholders who hand out free samples of fruit and then weigh and charge for what you tasted; it’s a known routine, not a generous one.

In the afternoon, take the cable car up to Monte for the view back over the bay, visit the church where the exiled Emperor Charles I of Austria is buried, and either walk down through the Monte Palace gardens or ride a wicker toboggan partway back down — note that the toboggan run ends at Livramento, not in the centre of Funchal, so budget for a taxi or bus onward. Finish with an early dinner in the old town; this is also a good evening for a first taste of poncha, Madeira’s rum, honey and lemon drink, muddled with a wooden caralhinho.

Day 2: Pico do Arieiro at sunrise

This is the earliest start of the week and the one day worth setting more than one alarm for. Leave Funchal around 4:30am to reach Pico do Arieiro — at 1,818 metres, the only one of Madeira’s three highest peaks with a road to the top — before first light. On a clear morning you’ll stand above a sea of cloud with the sun coming up over Pico Ruivo; on a cloudy one you’ll be inside the cloud instead, which is part of the gamble. It is genuinely cold up here even in summer, so bring a proper jacket regardless of how warm Funchal felt the evening before.

a guided sunrise hike at Pico do Arieiro takes the parking, the timing and the short walk to the best viewpoint off your hands, which matters when you’re arriving in the dark for the first time. For background on what makes this spot so photographed, see our sunrise guide.

Come back down by mid-morning and spend the rest of the day on the south coast: stop at Câmara de Lobos, the fishing village Winston Churchill painted in 1950, for a late breakfast, then continue to Cabo Girão for the free glass-floored skywalk over one of Europe’s highest sea cliffs. Both sit within twenty minutes of Funchal, so there’s no pressure after an early start.

Day 3: Rabaçal and the west

Drive up onto the Paul da Serra plateau and down into Rabaçal, where a shuttle from the car park (private cars aren’t allowed on the access road) drops you at the start of the 25 Fontes and Levada do Risco walks. These are two of the most-photographed levada paths on the island — a waterfall behind a semicircle of ferns at 25 Fontes, a taller single drop at Risco — and both are walkable in a morning without committing to a full hiking day.

a guided walk to 25 Fontes with transfer included covers the shuttle and the route-finding, which is useful if you’d rather not manage the logistics yourself. Remember that both are official PR trails, so the walk requires the small paid permit booked online in advance — see our guide to the fees before you go, since it’s the detail most itineraries leave out and it can’t be bought on the spot. Full background on the route is in our 25 Fontes guide.

In the afternoon, if the light and the weather allow, push on toward Fanal — the gnarled til trees at the edge of the plateau are one of Madeira’s best-known images, but only when the fog that gives them their atmosphere actually rolls in; on a clear day it’s simply a windswept pasture, so treat it as a bonus stop rather than the plan.

Day 4: Porto Moniz and Santana

Two very different coastlines in one day. Start on the north-west coast at Porto Moniz, where volcanic rock pools fill and refresh with the tide; swim in the natural pools if the sea is calm, or the adjacent paid pools if the ocean is up, since Atlantic swell closes the natural ones regularly. Along the way, the black-sand village of Seixal and the lava tubes at São Vicente are easy add-ons if you have the morning to spare.

a guided 4x4 tour of the north coast is a good option if you’d rather not drive the narrower stretches of this route yourself.

Cross the island via Encumeada to Santana on the north-east coast, home to Madeira’s triangular thatched-roof casas de colmo — the handful open to visitors in the village centre are maintained reconstructions rather than lived-in houses, worth a short stop rather than a long one. Head back to Funchal via the coast road or back over the mountains, depending on how the light is holding.

Day 5: Ponta de São Lourenço

Drive east through Machico — Madeira’s first Portuguese settlement from 1419, whose golden-sand beach is imported, not natural — to the volcanic peninsula at Ponta de São Lourenço. This is the one proper walk on the itinerary: around 8km there and back along a bare, red-and-ochre ridge with no shade at all, so bring water, a hat and sun cream regardless of the season, and check the wind before you set out, since gusts on the exposed sections can be strong.

It’s also the least typically “green Madeira” landscape on the island, closer to a volcanic desert than a laurel forest, which is exactly why it’s worth the detour east. On the way back, stop in Canical at the old whaling port — Madeira hunted whales until 1981 and the harbour is now a small museum and a marine sanctuary — before returning to Funchal for the evening.

Day 6: Curral das Freiras

A shorter, closer day built around one dramatic valley. Curral das Freiras — the “Nuns’ Valley” — sits inside an old volcanic crater ringed by peaks, reached by a road that switchbacks down from the Eira do Serrado viewpoint above. Stop at the viewpoint first for the classic panorama over the village, then drive down into the valley itself for lunch; the area is known for chestnuts, and chestnut soup and liqueur both turn up on menus here in a way they don’t elsewhere on the island.

With the afternoon free, this is a good day to add a short easy walk without committing to a full levada day — a guided walk through Funchal’s ecological park on the way back into the city is an easy way to stretch your legs among laurel forest without the logistics of a longer trail, or simply spend the rest of the afternoon back in Funchal.

Day 7: Flex day in Funchal

Keep the last day deliberately open. Weather, flight delays and a cloudy Arieiro sunrise all tend to eat into a tight week, so this is the day that absorbs whatever went sideways — a second attempt at the peaks if day two was clouded out, a slower morning at the cable car and Monte gardens if you rushed it on day one, or simply a wine tasting and a last walk through the old town before an evening flight. If everything went to plan, spend it at the beach clubs along the Funchal seafront or on one of the whale-watching boats that leave from the marina; either way, don’t schedule anything for the afternoon before a late flight, since the airport sits close enough to the city that timing isn’t tight.

Planning notes for a week in Madeira

Car hire. A small manual car is genuinely the right choice — narrow lanes, steep gradients and tight parking in Funchal all favour it over anything larger. See our driving in Madeira guide before booking.

Money. A week at this pace, with a hire car and mid-range meals, runs roughly €150–200 per person per day including accommodation — cheaper on food than the Canary Islands, pricier on car hire in peak season.

What this route skips. Deliberately: the Arieiro-to-Ruivo traverse, any levada walk over about two hours, and Porto Santo. All three deserve a dedicated trip rather than a squeezed-in half-day — see our hiking week itinerary and our ten-day itinerary for both.

Questions about a week in Madeira

Is a week enough to see Madeira properly?

Yes, for a first visit. Seven days with a hire car covers Funchal, the high peaks, the west, the north coast and the east tip without rushing. It doesn’t leave time for long levada hikes or Porto Santo — that needs a second trip.

Do I need a 4x4 for this route?

No. A small hire car handles every road in this itinerary, including the mountain road to Pico do Arieiro. A 4x4 only earns its keep on unpaved tracks, which this itinerary avoids.

Should I book Pico do Arieiro for sunrise or do it later in the day?

Sunrise is the reason people go. The car park and the viewpoint get crowded by mid-morning, and cloud tends to build over the peaks as the day warms up, so the early start is worth the alarm.

Is Porto Santo worth adding to this trip?

It’s worth seeing, but not on a one-week visit. Fitting the ferry or flight, a night away and a beach day onto this route means cutting something else short — see our ten-day itinerary if you want both islands properly.

What should I pack for a week that covers both the coast and the mountains?

Layers. Funchal sits in short sleeves most of the year while Pico do Arieiro can be near freezing at sunrise, and the north coast is wetter than the south on the same afternoon. A waterproof shell and proper shoes for uneven ground matter more than anything else.

Do the trail fees apply to a week like this?

Only if you walk an official PR-numbered trail. This route mostly uses viewpoints, short paved paths and one flagship walk at Ponta de São Lourenço, all free; only the numbered PR trails such as the Rabaçal levadas require the online booking and small daily fee.

Which day is the hardest on this itinerary?

Day 2, simply because of the early start and the altitude at Pico do Arieiro. The walking itself across the week stays easy to moderate — the Ponta de São Lourenço path is the longest on your feet, at around three hours.