🎟️ Excursions in Madeira: 15 routes and what to choose first

Madeira seems like an island you can drive around in a day. You arrive, look at the map, and want to see everything at once.

Plans get wrecked by the terrain. The west and east of the island are nothing alike, and half the viewpoints are hidden behind switchbacks and tunnels. You lose more time on the road than at the sights themselves.

We've put together 15 Madeira tours: sightseeing trips to the west and east, sunrise at Pico do Areeiro, walks around Funchal, and routes with Madeira wine tastings. Below you'll see what's included in each one, how they differ, and which to choose for your pace.

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How to choose a tour in Madeira

Almost all the routes below go by car with a guide or in a group. The format sets the price and the freedom. In a group you pay for a seat and follow a shared schedule. On a private tour the car and driver work for you: you stay longer where you like and skip what you don't need.

Four things determine the price: duration, group size, number of tastings, and whether lunch is included. An early sunrise departure costs more than a regular daytime tour. It takes up the guide's nighttime hours, and demand for it is higher.

#	Route	Format	What's included
1	West: Câmara de Lobos and Porto Moniz	private	Cabo Girão cliffs, swimming in lava pools
2	East: Machico, Santana, Porto da Cruz	private	rum distillery, Madeira wine tasting
3	Island sightseeing tour	group, up to 8 people	São Vicente caves, Madeira wine factory
4	Rooftops of Funchal	group walk	rooftop views, coffee at a rooftop restaurant
5	Sunrise at Pico do Areeiro	private	live jazz, coffee, viewpoint
6	West coast with tasting	private	winery, market, lava pools
7	Parks and gardens of Funchal	private	Monte Palace gardens, golf club, wine tasting
8	Art walk with a masterclass	private	three galleries, painting lesson
9	Levadas and laurel forest	private	Laurissilva forest, mountain trails
10	Historic Funchal	private	cathedral, market, wine cellars
11	Curral das Freiras and Santana	private	volcanic crater, thatched houses
12	São Lourenço and Porto da Cruz	private	peninsula, rum distillery, Pico do Areeiro
13	Northwest: tunnels and canyons	private	Cabo Girão, waterfalls, pools
14	Véu da Noiva waterfall and caves	private	São Vicente caves, chapel
15	East coast and Pico do Areeiro	private	Machico, Santana, trout farm

💡 In short:

First time on the island: a full-day overview of the west or east.
Flexibility and pace matter: a private tour by car with a guide.
Information about the Laurissilva forest is available on the official Madeira tourism website

1. West route: Câmara de Lobos and Porto Moniz

Panorama of Funchal with tile roofs and cruise ships in the harbor

A drive along the west coast shows you the whole island in one day. In the morning you walk around the fishing village of Câmara de Lobos, where Winston Churchill painted watercolors, and after lunch you swim in the lava pools of Porto Moniz.

The first stop on the route is the Cabo Girão viewpoint. According to the Madeira tourism board (as of 09/2026), it's the highest sea cliff in Europe: 580 meters of rock, with a glass platform extending out over the water.

After that the road climbs into the mountains. You pass banana plantations, eucalyptus groves, and the Paul da Serra plateau, where the weather changes every half hour. The north coast greets you with waterfalls, and the switchback road to the Encumeada pass opens up a panorama of the Ribeira Brava valley.

Format: private drive by car with a guide.
Duration: full day.
Price: calculated per car, not per person.
Who it's for: those who want to cover the west in one trip and not think about transfers.
The catch: most of the day is spent in the car, and swimming in Porto Moniz depends on the ocean and weather.

2. East route: from laurel forests to black sand

Ribeiro Frio trout farm among ferns in the mist

The eastern trip starts in the mountains and ends at the ocean. You climb to Pico do Areeiro, look down at the rocky ridges, and then descend to beaches with black volcanic sand.

Along the way you'll visit Santo da Serra park with its English-style lawns and the town of Machico with a viewpoint and a local love legend. Near the golf club there's a view of Porto Santo and the Desertas Islands.

At the eastern tip you reach the São Lourenço peninsula (Ponta de São Lourenço). From there you can see both coasts of the island at once, south and north. Further along the route there's a black sand beach: the water is clear, and small tropical fish swim near the shore.

The day ends in Porto da Cruz, where a market and a lunch of fresh fish await you. Then a short stop at an old sugarcane factory that makes rum the Madeiran way, and a Madeira wine tasting in a Santana wine cellar.

Format: private drive by car with a guide.
Duration: full day.
Price: calculated per group, lunch is paid separately.
Who it's for: those who want ocean, swimming, and tastings in one route.
The catch: lots of stops, so you spend less time at each place.

East Madeira tours on GetYourGuide

3. Island sightseeing tour with tastings

View from Cabo Girão viewpoint over the ocean and terraces

This route runs as a group, so you pay per seat rather than per car. The itinerary is packed: the glass platform at Cabo Girão, the ancient laurel forest of Laurissilva, the stalactite caves of São Vicente with an old chapel.

Next up is the Véu da Noiva waterfall and the Encumeada pass with a panorama of both coasts. In the Rabacal nature reserve the road winds through laurel thickets, heather, and cascading water.

The food part starts in Câmara de Lobos: here they serve scabbard fish in batter with banana. In Porto Moniz you swim in seawater pools formed by lava and try espetada, a Portuguese skewer. At the Madeira wine factory they show you the entire process of making fortified wine.

Format: group of up to 8 people.
Duration: full day.
Price: per person, restaurant lunch not included.
Who it's for: those traveling solo or as a couple who want to lower the cost of the day.
The catch: the schedule is shared, so you can't linger at a place you like.

Group tours of Madeira on GetYourGuide

4. A walk across the rooftops of Funchal

Panorama of Funchal with red roofs and hills

Funchal is best viewed not from the street, but from above. The route takes you across the rooftops of the historic center: you climb to the tallest building in the quarter and take photos of the city from above.

Next, the group visits a gallery on the roof of the Jesuit church at the local college, and then a rooftop parking lot at an old embroidery factory. The guide explains why locals spent decades building on rooftops and how astronomical instruments ended up there.

The walk finishes at a rooftop restaurant. With live music playing, you are served coffee and a cocktail while the city stays below.

Format: group walking tour with rooftop climbs.
Duration: a couple of hours.
Price: per person, drinks at the restaurant included.
Who it's for: photographers and those who have already seen Funchal's main streets.
The catch: some rooftops are accessible only by stairs, with no elevator.

5. Sunrise at Pico do Arieiro with live jazz

Sharp mountain peaks and a trail on the slope

This is the island's earliest excursion. You're picked up well before dawn so you can make it up to Pico do Arieiro and greet the sun above the clouds.

At the top, musicians play jazz while you're served coffee brewed on the spot. You spend about two hours at the viewpoint as the sky shifts from deep blue to pink, and only then head back down.

Format: private car tour with a guide.
Duration: early morning, about two hours at the summit.
Price: per group, pricier than a regular daytime tour because of the pre-dawn departure.
Who it's for: those willing to get up in the dark for a view above the clouds.
The catch: you start the ascent well before sunrise, and in cloudy weather you may not see the sun at all.

Sunrise tours to Pico do Arieiro on GetYourGuide

6. West coast with Madeira wine tasting

Lava pools and Ilhéu Mole islet in Porto Moniz

The west coast is easy to cover in a single trip: the road leads from the fishing towns of the south to the cliffs of the north. In Câmara de Lobos you taste four types of Madeira right at the winery and see the full production cycle.

In Ribeira Brava the route stops at a seventeenth-century church, and at a local bar you're served a cocktail of sugarcane rum with lemon and honey. In São Vicente the market sells cork products and bordado embroidery.

Swimming awaits you at Seixal's black sand beach, and in Porto Moniz you spend about an hour in a natural lava pool. After a lunch of scabbard fish with green wine, the road climbs to the Paul da Serra plateau with a panorama of the island.

Format: private car tour with a guide.
Duration: full day.
Price: calculated per group, lunch is paid separately.
Who it's for: those who want to combine wine, a market, and swimming.
The catch: the tastings come one after another, so you can't do this route driving your own car.

West Madeira tours with tasting on GetYourGuide

7. Funchal parks and gardens

Waterfall in Monte Palace garden with a pond

Funchal is lush with greenery, and this walk presents the city as one big garden. It starts in Monte Park, where you have coffee under rare trees, then follow the golf club paths to a pond and "weeping" pines.

A separate stop on the route: an avenue of blooming camellias. In the Old Town the group pauses at an unusual musical instrument in the middle of a flower bed.

The walk ends with a tasting of local wine at a bar. The guide explains how the island treats its plants and why they are so carefully looked after.

Format: private walking tour with a guide.
Duration: half a day.
Price: calculated per group, park entry is paid separately.
Who it's for: those who love botany and don't want to travel far from the city.
The catch: Monte Park has steep terrain, and the climbs go uphill.

Funchal garden walks on GetYourGuide

8. Funchal art walk with a workshop

Painted door with abstract art on Santa Maria Street

This route is for those interested not in nature but in urban art. You start in an old tasting room with wall panels by German artist Max Römer, then walk along the street of painted doors, a local conceptual project.

Next, the group visits three galleries in Funchal. You see alternative art and talk with local artists.

The second half of the day is given over to a workshop: under an artist's guidance you paint your first oil painting. You take the finished work home with you.

Format: private walk with a workshop.
Duration: half a day, with most of the time spent on painting.
Price: calculated per group, including materials and the lesson.
Who it's for: those who want to bring home their own painting from the island.
The catch: the workshop takes several hours and won't suit everyone.

Creative tours in Funchal on GetYourGuide

9. Levadas and the Laurissilva laurel forest

Forest trail along the Caldeirão Verde levada

Madeira’s laurel forests were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 (as of 09/2026, whc.unesco.org). This trip goes straight through them.

You drive along mountain roads past heather-covered slopes, stone walls, and streams that in places turn into waterfalls. The forest air smells of eucalyptus and laurel, and it is noticeably cooler than on the coast.

The guide explains how such a dense forest appeared on bare volcanic rock and introduces you to the levadas, the irrigation channels that were built here over centuries. Part of the route you walk on foot along trails under the canopy of ancient laurel trees.

Format: private trip with a guide and walking sections.
Duration: full day.
Price: calculated per group.
Who it's for: those who want to see the wild, untouched part of the island.
The catch: the forest is damp and often covered in cloud, so you need a rain jacket even in summer.

Madeira forest and levada tours on GetYourGuide

10. Historic Funchal and wine cellars

Stone facade of Funchal Cathedral with a Gothic portal

A short sightseeing tour to get to know the city. You walk through the Old Town and step inside the main cathedral, where Flemish paintings and the Silver Cross have been preserved.

Next stop: the central market, Mercado dos Lavradores. Here you look at exotic fruit, fish, and vegetables, then head to an authentic embroidery factory. The shops nearby sell cork products and ceramics.

In the second half of the route you go down into a winery’s cellars and taste its drinks. In the Monte area the group stops at the church where the remains of Austrian Emperor Charles I are kept. A fresh fish lunch can be arranged on request.

Format: private walk with a guide and tasting.
Duration: half day.
Price: calculated per group, lunch not included.
Who it's for: those with little time who want to see the center without long transfers.
The catch: the route is entirely urban, so you will only see nature from the hills.

Funchal tours with tasting on GetYourGuide

11. The Valley of the Nuns in a volcanic crater

Mountain village of Curral das Freiras in a deep valley

The northeast of the island begins with a winding road to Curral das Freiras, a village on the floor of a crater. Locals call this place the Valley of the Nuns. You walk on solidified lava and listen to the history of the settlement, then step inside the local church.

From the viewpoint high above the valley, the village looks like a toy model. From here you can see Funchal, the ocean, and the old shepherds’ settlement.

Near Santana the route stops at Ribeiro Frio and the ruins of a sugar mill. In the town itself you look at the triangular thatched houses, and at a stop in Calhau you try local cuisine with fish and banana. The last stop is Arco de São Jorge with its rose garden.

Format: private car trip with a guide.
Duration: full day.
Price: calculated per group, lunch paid separately.
Who it's for: those who want to see the inland valleys and traditional villages.
The catch: the roads here are narrow and winding, so if you get carsick it is better to sit in the front.

Valley of the Nuns tours on GetYourGuide

12. São Lourenço and Porto da Cruz

Panorama of Funchal with a rainbow over the city and ocean

The longest tour in this selection: a full day at the eastern tip of the island. The first stop is Garajau, where the viewpoint opens up Funchal and the entire south coast. Nearby stands a statue of Christ, a replica of the one in Rio de Janeiro.

Next you drive to the foot of the São Lourenço peninsula and climb up on foot. The walk is leisurely, with stops at viewpoints and a break for a snack.

After the descent, the route visits the volcanic beach of Prainha, where you can step out to the ocean and walk on the black sand. Then Porto da Cruz awaits, with an old factory where Madeira-style rum is made. In Ribeiro Frio you visit a trout farm and have lunch at a fish restaurant, then climb up to Pico do Arieiro. The day ends with dinner and a glass of wine.

Format: private trip with a walking section.
Duration: full day.
Price: calculated per group, dinner and lunch paid separately.
Who it's for: those ready to give the island a full day.
The catch: there is a lot of walking, and the route can only be shortened by arrangement with the guide.

Full-day Madeira tours on GetYourGuide

13. Northwest: tunnels, canyons and pools

Cliffs and natural pools of Porto Moniz in Madeira

The northwest route starts in the fishing village of Camara de Lobos, where Churchill spent long hours painting coastal landscapes. From there you climb to the glass platform at Cabo Girao and drive along a scenic canyon to Sao Vicente.

The road passes through tunnels cut into the rock, past waterfalls that drop straight into the ocean. In Seixal and Porto Moniz you get out to the water and swim in pools formed by lava.

Lunch can be ordered at a cafe or a small local restaurant. You choose based on your budget and mood.

Format: private car tour with a guide.
Duration: full day.
Price: calculated per car, lunch not included.
Who it's for: those interested in canyons, tunnels and swimming in the ocean.
The catch: the weather in the north is often worse than in the south, and swimming may not happen.

Tours of northwest Madeira on GetYourGuide

14. Bridal Veil waterfall and Sao Vicente caves

Stone walls of the old fortress in Funchal

This route covers the main points of the west coast without long walking sections. The first stop is Camara de Lobos, where Churchill painted watercolors of the surroundings in 1950.

From the Cabo Girao cliff you look down at the Atlantic. In Ribeira Brava the group visits the old chapel of Saint Benedict, and in Sao Vicente you descend into underground caves and grottoes of volcanic origin.

Further along, the road reaches the Bridal Veil waterfall. The guide tells the story behind its name while you photograph the water falling from the cliff to the ocean. The final stop is Porto Moniz, where you swim in natural lava pools and have dinner at a local restaurant.

Format: private car tour with a guide.
Duration: full day.
Price: calculated per group.
Who it's for: those who want to see the west without long walks.
The catch: the caves close when humidity is high, and part of the program is skipped.

Tours to the Bridal Veil waterfall on GetYourGuide

15. East coast and Pico do Arieiro

Trail from Pico do Arieiro among rocky ridges

The eastern route introduces you to the coastal landscape and local cuisine. In Machico you climb to the Pico de Facho viewpoint, which served as a pirate lookout in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Along the way you drive under the airport runway, built on pillars over the ocean. Then comes Ponta de Sao Lourenco, named after the ship of the first explorers, and a sandy beach where the sand was brought in from Morocco.

From the mountain of Santo da Serra you get a view of the Sao Lourenco peninsula, neighboring islands and a golf course. In the village of Poiso you try local poncha, then climb to Pico do Arieiro and have lunch at a mountain restaurant with Madeiran espetada. At the end of the day you can look forward to a walk through the laurel forest in Ribeiro Frio, a trout farm and Santana with its thatched houses.

Format: private car tour with a guide.
Duration: full day.
Price: calculated per group, lunch paid separately.
Who it's for: those who want to cover the east and get up into the mountains in one trip.
The catch: the itinerary is packed, and by evening you spend a lot of time in the car.

Tours of eastern Madeira and Pico do Arieiro on GetYourGuide

⁉️🤔 Frequently asked questions

Do you need a guide on Madeira if you have a car?

Your own car covers the coasts and viewpoints, but it does not replace a guide in the forest and in the tunnels. On the routes to Curral das Freiras and Ponta de Sao Lourenco some roads are narrow, and parking at the viewpoints fills up by morning. With a guide you follow a proven sequence and don't waste the day turning around.

How much does a tour cost and what does the price depend on?

The price depends on the format. A group tour charges per person, a private trip is calculated per car and works out better for a group of three or more. The final amount is affected by duration, the number of tastings and lunch: on most routes in this selection, meals are paid separately.

What should you choose if you only have two days on the island?

Take one western route and one eastern route. The west gives you Cabo Girao, Porto Moniz and the laurel forest, the east covers Machico, Santana and Pico do Arieiro. On the first day add a walk around Funchal on foot, on the second leave the whole day for the trip. That way you don't rush between opposite ends of the island.

What if you don't like walking long distances?

Choose routes where you spend most of the time in the car: the island sightseeing tour, the northwest day or the trip to the Bridal Veil waterfall. The hike to Ponta de Sao Lourenco and the levadas in the Laurissilva forest involve walking sections. On a private tour the route can be adjusted on the spot.

When is the best time to go to Pico do Arieiro for sunrise?

The departure depends on cloud cover, not on the season. It is almost always cool and windy at the top, so bring a jacket even in summer. If the weather turns bad, move the trip to another day: in a cloud you won't see the sunrise and you'll waste the night for nothing.

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In short: what to book

Madeira is divided into two large loops, western and eastern, and the first decision on your vacation is simple: pick one day for the west and one day for the east. After that you can add short walks around Funchal and specialized trips.

First time on the island: a full-day west tour (No. 1) or east tour (No. 2).
Fewest people and maximum freedom: a private car tour with a guide.
Only half a day: Funchal rooftops (No. 4) or the historic center with tasting (No. 10).
For one view: sunrise at Pico do Arieiro with live jazz (No. 5).
With a specific focus: the art walk with a workshop (No. 8) and the Laurissilva levadas (No. 9).

See all Madeira tours on GetYourGuide

Excursions in Madeira: 15 routes and how to choose yours