See all the best places in Madeira in just one week with this master plan. Incredibly colourful landscapes, unique turquoise lagoons, a lava river cave, huge waterfalls and uncountable canyons are waiting to be discovered. With this plan you won’t miss any great spots and see everything in just one week.

Trip overview:

• 1 week
• 600 km (by car)
• 60 km (by foot)
• 3 mountains to mountaineer
• 3 waterfalls to visit
• 1 canyon to explore

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Day 1 (Eastside of Madeira)

Starting from the airport with a rental car you can head east and stop at the most eastern place called Ponta de São Lourenço. It’s a moderate hike and takes around 3h in total (from the car park to Ponta do Furado and back). Detailed information about this hike can be found under this link. You’ll get this scenery already after 15min walking at Ponta de vista. It’s a very popular hiking spot, so you will meet many tourists.

Following the path and you come along such volcanic formations.

We recommend to also do the last part of the path and walk up the hill to the point called Ponta do Furado.

Make sure you stay there long enough to see the countless lizards showing up all of a sudden when they see refreshments.

Next stop is called Miradouro do Guindaste.

Next on the list is Pico Ruivo which you can reach fastest from the parking spot called PR1.2 Vereda do Pico Ruivo. Detailed information for the hike can be found here.

On top of Pico Ruivo you’ll have an incredible colourful panorama like this. Pico Ruivo is the highest point of Madeira at 1’862 m.

Last stop for the day is back in the south near Funchal and called Christo Rei Cablecar. Stop there and check out the statue.

Last stop for the day is Funchal. The streets offer best shopping and dining possibilities.

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Day 2 (North of Madeira)

First stop on this day are the São Vicente Caves. You’ll visit a lava river cave which is over 1km long. Some of the chambers are fantastic. There’s regular guided tours and a museum (which is interesting but not overwhelming).

Next point to stop at is the restaurant called São Cristóvão. You can take a snack at the restaurant and enjoy the view onto the ocean and the tropically looking cliffs like this.

If you’re up for the hike from Boaventura to Arco de Sao Jorge (fully recommended) drive to the next point on the map (32.825081, -16.969561). The hike to Arco de Sao Jorge and back to the car park takes around 1.5h and offers these incredible views.

Next spot on the list is Miradouro do Véu da Noiva. It’s right next at the streets and very easily accessible.

Last place to visit for the day is Seixal. You’ll find natural pools at the very left of the beach and some good bars.

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Day 3 (South of Madeira)

One of the most famous hikes while on Madeira is called Levada das 25 Fontes and starts at the point Gazebo Rabaçal, ER110. The first part of the hike follows a paved road for around 2.2km and around 230m height difference that you can speed up by taking the bus from the car park to the trail head. We recommend to take this bus ride (hours: 9.30AM – 6:30PM) for Euro 2.50 at least for the way up. Detailed information to this hike can be found here. First you hike to the Risco waterfall, a unique cascaded waterfall.

Following the path along Madeiras famous Levadas brings you to the 25 Fontes waterfall.

After this strenuous hike, make a stop at the old sugar cane factory Sociedade dos Engenhos da Calheta. There is open access to the factory and you can taste different types of rum and other products made from the local sugar cane.

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Day 4 (West of Madeira)

On the way to the west side of Madeira if the weather is good, you might see the cloud waterfall of Madeira at the coordinates (32.733687, -17.053049, also marked in the map on top).

A little further comes the place Posto Florestal Fanal or forest of the fairies.

The area is right within the right altitude where the clouds accumulate which gives it a mystical air.

On the way to Porto Moniz you can stop at Ilheus da Janela. In Porto Moniz visit the natural pools and have some nice local food.

Further west comes a place with probably the cheapest cable car ride in Europe called Achadas da Cruz Cable Car. The cable car ride costs only Euro 3.- per person for the round trip and takes you down to a very small village with a fantastic beach. Ride down is quite dizzying but it’s worth to visit the uninhabited village.

Last stop for the day is the waterfall Miradouro Garganta Funda.

You need to walk maybe 5 min to get there and see this.

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Day 5 (Center of Madeira)

First stop for the day is Pico do Arieiro. We recommend to go there at sunrise to have the best atmosphere, no crowds and reasonable temperature for the hike.

You can hike along the path that leads to Pico Ruivo and then turn back. The views from there are just unbelievable.

After this hike make a stop at Balcões Viewpoint. The path is really easy and follows a Levada (so no elevation gain).

Another touristic place on Madeira is the Monte Palace Tropical Garden. Included in the ticket is a small Madeira Wine tasting. If you park in Funchal and the the cable car up to the Garden you can take the adventurous sleds back down.

Last place to visit for the day is Cabo Girão, one of the highest cliffs in Europe. The glass floor lets you see and feel the height of 589 m going straight down.

End the day with some really good fresh local sea food.

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Day 6 (East of Madeira)

Another great hike is Levada do Caldeirão Verde. The hike starts at Queimadas Parking Lot and takes around 3-5h for the round trip (14km, almost no elevation).

You will follow the ancient water supply system of Madeira for a couple of kilometres through tunnels high cliffs.

At the end you’ll finally get to the breathtaking tall and colourful waterfall.

Or if you’re interested in diving here are some impressions you can get.

Hexagonally shaped volcanic rock columns at 20m below sea level.

Sand eels looking for food.

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Day 7 (North of Madeira)

Another very cool activity in Madeira is canyoning. We went for canyoning with the guys from EPIC Madeira. The guided tour comes with all equipment and is reasonably priced and just pure fun and a adrenaline kick is guaranteed.

The intermediate level tour comes with some nice jumps from gradually increasing heights up to 13m and rappelling from up to 25m waterfall.

At the last tip, try the local Lapas (Limpets).

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