# Madeira: map, what to do and when to go

Capital of the island of Madeira, Funchal is the base for walking the levadas, climbing from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo and swimming in the lava pools of Porto Moniz.

Canonical: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/
Language: en. Extended author commentary and itinerary notes may remain in Portuguese. Dates below belong to individual sources; this is not live availability.

## Direct answer
- **Madeira: how do you get from the airport to Funchal?** The airport (FNC) is in Santa Cruz, about 20 to 25 minutes by car from Funchal, and the Aerobus costs €6.70 bought on board.
- **Madeira: how do you book the trails, and how much do they cost?** A reservation with an entry time on SIMplifica is mandatory on all trails classified by the IFCN, online only, and the slots fill up.
- **Madeira: how do you do the PR1, from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo?** The PR1 costs €10.50, online only, on SIMplifica, and from Pedra Rija it is one-way, exiting via Achada do Teixeira or the Vereda da Ilha.

## Central Funchal on foot
Start at the Mercado dos Lavradores in the morning, when the fruit stalls and the fish pavilion are full, and ask the price per kilo before accepting samples.
- Mercado dos Lavradores
- Zona Velha
- Blandy's Wine Lodge

## Monte, the carros de cesto and Câmara de Lobos
Ride the cable car up from the Zona Velha (€16 one way, about 15 minutes; opens at 8:45 a.m.).
- Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte
- Carros de Cesto do Monte
- Cabo Girão

## From Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo
As soon as your dates are settled, book the full PR1 (€10.50) on SIMplifica for one of the first entry times, because the slots fill up, and arrange the return taxi at Achada do Teixeira.
- Monte Palace Madeira
- Pico do Arieiro
- Pico Ruivo

## Rabaçal, 25 Fontes and Porto Moniz, by car
Book the Levada das 25 Fontes on SIMplifica and, if you like, the Risco on the same morning; with two routes in a day, the system applies the 1-day rate of €9.
- Levada das 25 Fontes
- Piscinas Naturais do Porto Moniz
- Levada do Caldeirão Verde

## Sé do Funchal
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-se-do-funchal
Sé · Up to half an hour
Construction of the cathedral began around 1493, by order of Manuel I, and finished in 1514, when Funchal received its bishopric. It is Gothic, with the chancel choir stalls carved with saints and apostles in 16th-century dress, and it holds a silver processional cross given by the king. It stands in the center, a few steps from Avenida Arriaga, and the visit is short.
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## Mercado dos Lavradores
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-mercado-dos-lavradores
Santa Maria Maior · Up to half an hour
Inaugurated in 1940, designed by Edmundo Tavares with azulejo panels by João Rodrigues, the market gathers fruit stalls, flower stalls and fish stalls around a central courtyard. It is the best place in the city to see up close what the island produces. At the fruit stalls, some vendors offer samples and charge a lot afterward: ask the price per kilo first.
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## Zona Velha
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-zona-velha
Santa Maria Maior · One to two hours
The historic Santa Maria core, between the market and the sea, is one of the first settled areas of Funchal. Rua de Santa Maria holds a processional passo dated 1733, and at its end stands the Forte de São Tiago, begun in 1614 as part of the walls and used as barracks until 1992. It is also where the lower station of the Monte cable car is.
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## Blandy's Wine Lodge
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-blandy-s-wine-lodge
Up to half an hour
The Blandy family's winery, at Avenida Arriaga 28, holds more than 650 barrels and vats of Madeira wine in a historic building in the center. The tour shows the cooperage and the canteiro aging rooms, where the wine matures only with the natural heat of the attic. The Premium Tour costs €23, lasts 45 minutes and ends with three wines; there are tours in English, Portuguese, German, French and Spanish.
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## Funchal Cable Car
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-teleferico-do-funchal
Funchal · Up to half an hour
Opened in November 2000, it rises from Parque Almirante Reis, in the Zona Velha, to Monte, climbing 560 m in about 15 minutes over the city's rooftops. It costs €16 one way and €22 round trip, runs from 8:45 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. and closes only on Christmas Day; children up to 6 ride free, and ages 7 to 14 pay half.
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## Monte Palace Madeira
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-monte-palace-madeira
One to two hours
A garden of about 7 hectares at Monte, with African cycads, camellias, oriental gardens and a recreation of laurisilva, plus a museum with more than a thousand sculptures and more than 700 minerals, tied to José Berardo's collection. Admission is €18, and accompanied children up to 14 are free. It opens from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from October to March and until 7 p.m. from April to September.
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## Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-igreja-de-nossa-senhora-do-monte
Monte · Up to half an hour
The Monte church was built in 1741. In one of its chapels lie the remains of Charles I, the last Habsburg to rule Austria-Hungary, who died in exile at Monte in 1922 and was beatified in 2004. It is a few steps from the garden and the start of the carros de cesto.
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## Carros de Cesto do Monte
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-carros-de-cesto-do-monte
Monte · Up to half an hour
The carros de cesto are wicker baskets on wooden runners, pushed and steered downhill by two carreiros, a tradition dating from the late 19th century. Today the ride goes from Monte to Livramento, about 2 km. It costs €30 for one person, €40 for two and €60 for three, Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. At Livramento, the city continues farther below, so arrange beforehand how you will get down the rest of the way.
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## Cabo Girão
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-cabo-girao
Câmara de Lobos · Up to half an hour
A 580 m cliff west of Câmara de Lobos, about 14 km by road from Funchal. The viewpoint was renovated in 2012 and gained a glass floor over the void, from which you can see the cultivated fajãs below, at the water's edge.
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## Pico do Arieiro
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-pico-do-arieiro
Madeira · Half a day or more
The third-highest peak on the island, at 1,818 m, about 18 km by road from Funchal, with a viewpoint, a café and an Air Force radar station. It is the starting point of the PR1, the Vereda do Areeiro, which links the peak to Pico Ruivo along ridges, tunnels cut into the rock and stairways. As far as the Miradouro da Pedra Rija the trail is out-and-back; from there on, only in the direction of Pico Ruivo. A reservation with an entry time on SIMplifica is mandatory.
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## Pico Ruivo
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-pico-ruivo
Madeira · Half a day or more
The highest point on Madeira, at 1,862 m, in the municipality of Santana. You reach it at the end of the PR1, from Pico do Arieiro, or by the PR1.2, the Vereda do Pico Ruivo, which leaves from Achada do Teixeira and is 2.8 km each way, passing the rock formation called Homem em Pé and shelters for sudden changes in the weather. Near the summit stands the Pico Ruivo shelter house, where the trails cross.
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## Levada das 25 Fontes
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-levada-das-25-fontes
Madeira · Half a day or more
The PR6 leaves from Rabaçal, on regional road 105, and follows the levada for 4.3 km through the laurisilva, with views of the Ribeira da Janela valley, to a lagoon fed by water that springs from the Paul da Serra at 25 points. The return is by the same path, in about 3 hours in total. It starts at the same point as the PR6.1, the Levada do Risco, 1.5 km to a waterfall.
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## Piscinas Naturais do Porto Moniz
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-piscinas-naturais-do-porto-moniz
Porto Moniz · One to two hours
Volcanic rock pools where the sea flows in on its own and renews the water, about 2 m deep, with lifeguards all year, changing rooms and loungers for rent. Admission is €3 from age 4. They open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in winter and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in summer. Next door, the Cachalote pools are free to enter.
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## Levada do Caldeirão Verde
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-levada-do-caldeirao-verde
Santana · Half a day or more
The PR9 leaves from the Parque Florestal das Queimadas, in Santana, and follows an 18th-century levada for 8.7 km of laurisilva, with four tunnels, to the Caldeirão Verde, a lagoon beneath a waterfall of about 100 m. Out and back is 17.4 km and about 6.5 hours, so it takes the whole day and a flashlight.
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## Ponta de São Lourenço
https://nilopelomundo.com/en/place/madeira/#g-lugar-ponta-de-sao-lourenco
Caniçal · One to two hours
The PR8 covers 4 km of the island's easternmost peninsula, made of basalt, between Baía d'Abra and Casa do Sardinha, with the sea on both sides and seabird colonies. It is about 2.5 hours out and back, and the route has marked temporary detours. At the end, you can swim at the Sardinha pier.
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**Madeira: how do you get from the airport to Funchal?**
The airport (FNC) is in Santa Cruz, about 20 to 25 minutes by car from Funchal, and the Aerobus costs €6.70 bought on board. On a day of strong wind at the airport, expect delays and don't book a tight connection on the same day.

**Madeira: how do you book the trails, and how much do they cost?**
A reservation with an entry time on SIMplifica is mandatory on all trails classified by the IFCN, online only, and the slots fill up. The fee is €4.50 per route and €10.50 for the full PR1, and it is only refunded or rescheduled when the route is officially closed. Children up to 12 and Madeira residents are exempt from the fee, but must also book.

**Madeira: how do you do the PR1, from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo?**
The PR1 costs €10.50, online only, on SIMplifica, and from Pedra Rija it is one-way, exiting via Achada do Teixeira or the Vereda da Ilha. Since the IFCN does not provide the return, I'd arrange the taxi before leaving Funchal.

**Madeira: how many days should I stay?**
I'd stay four days, sleeping in Funchal: the city, Monte and Cabo Girão, the Vereda do Areeiro, and Rabaçal with Porto Moniz. If the trip depended on the PR1, I'd leave a spare day, because bad weather closes the mountain.

**Madeira: how do you get to Porto Santo?**
The Lobo Marinho ship leaves Funchal for Porto Santo, 71 km away, and the day cruise costs from €58.90 for the fare alone. From October 14 to 22, 2026, the ship is out of service for maintenance.


## In the Nilo app
- Plan these 4 days on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/guide/madeira/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-itinerary
- Mark your hotel on the map: https://nilopelomundo.com/en/app/map/madeira/?utm_source=llm&utm_medium=markdown&utm_content=door-stay

## Full editorial guide (Portuguese)
https://nilopelomundo.com/llm/madeira.md