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cs / en
MADEIRA
Portugal – Madeira

MADEIRA

  • 6 days
  • singles, couples, w/ kids
  • spring, summer, fall, winter

Madeira will captivate you. Beautiful nature, warm weather all year round, ideal place for hiking. In winter, it's likely to rain more often. In these six days, you will discover some truly wonderful treks. Including the beautiful trek to Pico Ruivo. You'll have the opportunity to drive through the whole island and spend a lot of time in nature. This holiday is a great opportunity for some active relaxation. And what’s more, the Madeira wine is delicious. You don't have to worry about the difficulty of the hiking trips, there are many trekking options, everyone can choose according to their physical abilities.

5 / 5
5
Day

Levada to Alecrim and the island's capital Funchal

Beautiful Levada to Alecrim and afternoon sightseeing in Funchal, or a dolphin and whale watching cruise.

In the morning, start as early as possible, right after breakfast (route). Leave the car in the parking lot and head to the Levada do Alecrim. Be careful not to mistake the Levadadto Alecrim with the other levadas starting at this point, follow the signs. The Levada do Alecrim is very easy, less than 7 km long and practically without elevation gain. It's not a circular trail, so you go back the same way. But for those of you who like walking, on the way back, after about a third of the way, you can join the Lagoa do Vento path and continue along this route for another 5 km or so. There is some elevation gain on this trail. At first you will be descending considerably before you climb again. But it's worth it! In total you will walk a little over 10 km. The Lagoa do Vento route ends at the car park where you left your car. Take a drink and a snack with you. This whole trek can be done easily with stops in max 4.5 hours.

After this trek, have a well-deserved lunch at Restaurante Convento Das Vinhas, the route is here. The route from the restaurant to the hotel is here. Then stop at your hotel, take a shower, grab your city clothes and head to Funchal. The route from the hotel to the Funchal car park is here. The Funchal Parking Garage is right next to the cable car station.

The city of Funchal offers so many things to do or see that I'll leave it up to each of you. One option is to take the cable car to Monte Palace Madeira which has beautiful gardens full of exotic plants from around the world, but unfortunately they close at 6pm. You'll also find The Monte Palace Madeira Museum, which has two floors full of sculptures and a third with a collection of minerals from four continents. While you're up there, just around the corner is the top post of Carreiros do Monte. To get there, take the alley above the Jardim Tropical Garden which you should have to your left. It's a really short walk from the cable car station. You can take a sleigh ride along the roughly 2km long path. It's an old tradition. The price for a couple is 30 EUR, but then you'll still need a taxi to take you down into town. There's always a taxi waiting at the end of the sleigh ride.

The other option is to head out to the ocean to watch the whales and dolphins. Well, you’ll probably just see the dolphins. You'd have to be really lucky to see whales. There are lots of companies leaving from the harbour in town, even in the afternoon. Find out everything in advance and book your seats. One of the companies with good ratings is OceanSee Whale Watching. Afternoon cruises are from 3pm, so if you leave early in the morning and rush through lunch, you can make it.

Feel free to arrange dinner at the hotel so you can have some wine or beer.

Alternatives: you can go on an almost full-day long TRIP – Levada da Ribeira da Janela, or you can go on the difficult TRIP – Caminho do Pináculo e Folhadal (PR17). Football lovers will like the CR7 Museum.

What will you visit?

Customise your route
Morning

TRIP – Levada do Alecrim

An easy and very nice levada. Total length 6.8 km with practically zero elevation gain. Same route there and back. On the way back there is a possibility to go to the Lagoa do Vento and it immediately becomes a more interesting and much more challenging trip. Lots of people come here and the parking lot fills up fast, we were here at 7.45 a.m. and were the second ones here, 4 hours later there were over 80 cars – in February.

1-1,75 hours

TRIP – Lagoa do Vento

A slightly harder trip, not very long though, 6.7 km in total and an elevation gain of less than 400 meters. To me it sometimes felt like the hill is never-ending. You can connect it with the Levada to Alecrim and then go down to the Lagoa do Vento. Anyway, stop at the Rabaçal Nature Spot Café – they have great coffee and desserts. And there are usually lots of birds trying to steal crumbs from your plate.

The start of the route – the local parking lot is the start of several nice trails, meaning it will get full pretty early and pretty quickly. There's plenty of room, but the later you start, the more people will be on the hike with you. If you start your trip before 8am, you'll be pretty much on your own.

3-4 hours
Afternoon

Restaurante Convento Das Vinhas

A normal restaurant. Ordinary food and good prices. It’s not any high modern gastronomy or anything, but for lunch after some physical activity it’s totally fine.

1-1,5 hours

Funchal

Funchal is the capital of Madeira. It is a modern city just like any other in Europe. We came to Madeira mainly for the nature, so we only spent one afternoon in Funchal, but I think it was enough. However, you will find here many great restaurants, a beautiful botanical garden, luxury hotels and of course, for football fans, the CR7 Museum – yes, this is where the phenomenal Cristiano Ronaldo is from.

6-10 hours

Monte Palace Madeira

The Monte Palace Botanical Garden is really beautiful. There are many different parts and areas, and you will need plenty of time to see them all. The Japanese part is especially beautiful. There is also a museum and a restaurant. Beware, if you buy a cable car ticket, they also offer a combination ticket with entry to a botanical garden – but it’s not this one, it’s the neighbouring Jardim Botanico da Madeira.

300-499
2-4 hours

Carreiros do Monte

Here you can take a wicker sleigh ride downhill along a route of about 2 km. The sleigh is operated by two skilled drivers. You just sit and ride. More than 100 years ago, the same sleigh was used to transport goods and people down to the city. Today it is a tourist attraction and an effort to keep a local custom alive. The sleigh is driven by two drivers called “Carreiros”, who are dressed in all white and wear typical hats known as “Straw boaters”. They also use rubber soled boots so they can stop the sleigh if necessary, using their shoes as brakes. The work of the Carreiros is very prestigious and the position is passed down only within the families.

From the lower "station" you can get into town either by taxi or on foot, but it's quite a walk.

500-999
0,5-0,75 hours
  • Caminho do Monte, Entrada 151, Porta 4, 9050-288 Funchal, Portugalsko
    32.6754003N, 16.9025847W
  • limited
  • +351291783919
  • W
  • unknown
  • P
    no

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