Out of Funchal, into Madeira.
Which jeep day actually reaches Fanal while the mist is still in the trees. Whether the wicker sledge is worth the queue at Monte. Where the levada starts, and how you get back. Every tour that leaves the city, ranked by the travellers who took it.
The cable car up, the wicker sledge down.
Fifteen minutes of glass and rooftops carries you from the seafront up to Monte, high above the city. Coming back down is the part people book for: two men in white cotton and straw boaters run a wicker basket on greased wooden runners down the hill road, steering with their boots. The tropical garden at the top is the reason to go early and stay a while.
- 1Guided Tuk Tuk Tour to Toboggan Rides & Old Townfrom $88
- 22-Hour Tuk-Tuk Tour with Cable Car Finalefrom $94
- 3Madeira Highlights: Toboggan, Garden & Cable Car (All-Inclusive)from $199
Everything on this island is a day trip from Funchal.
Madeira is barely fifty kilometres end to end and the capital sits on the sunny corner of it, so nothing is out of reach before dinner. These are the six days most trips get built around.
The levadas start where the buses stop.
All levada walks →Centuries of hand-cut irrigation channels double as the best footpaths in the Atlantic, and they are not interchangeable. Three of them take most of the walking traffic out of Funchal.
25 Fontes
The walk almost everyone books first. A levada winds through tree heather and hydrangeas from Rabaçal, up on the Paul da Serra plateau about ninety minutes from the city, to a mossy amphitheatre where two dozen springs come out of the rock at once. The last stretch is narrow enough that the queue matters, which is the whole argument for an early departure.
- 125 Fountains Levada: Hiking Tour in Madeira Rabaçal Valley (PR6)★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 187 reviews
- 2Rabaçal – 25 Fonts★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 152 reviews
- 3PR6 & PR6.1 25 Fontes & Risco Levada Self-Guided Hiking Rabaçal★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 80 reviews
Caldeirão Verde
From Queimadas above Santana, a near-flat channel runs several kilometres through laurel forest older than the settlement of the island, then through four unlit tunnels, then to a waterfall that drops into a green cauldron. Bring a torch and expect to get dripped on. It eats a full day out of Funchal, and it is worth the day.
- 1PR 9 – Levada do Caldeirão Verde Hike Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 620 reviews
- 2Achadas Teixeira- Pico Ruivo -& Pico pedras/Queimadas forest walk★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 100 reviews
- 3Levada do Caldeirão Verde Self-Guided Hike in Madeira★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 62 reviews
Ponta de São Lourenço
The eastern tip is the one place Madeira stops being green: bare red and ochre rock, sea on both sides, wind the entire way and no shade anywhere. Roughly three hours out and back at a comfortable pace. This is the walk to keep in reserve for the morning the mountains are buried in cloud.
- 1Full Day Jeep Safari East – Pico do Areeiro – Santana – Ponta de são Lourenço★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 819 reviews
- 2Caniçal Ponta São Lourenco Hiking Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 756 reviews
- 3PR8 -Ponta de São Lourenço Natural Reserve Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 392 reviews
The tours Funchal fills first.
Every review →More travellers take these than anything else leaving the city — and what each one is actually like once you are on it.
1
Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Hiking Transfer
Sunrise hike from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo and Achada do Teixeira, with Funchal and Caniço pickup, van transfer, and self-guided route setup.
From · $38
Read our review →
2
Porto Moniz, Seixal, Fanal Forest, Cliff Skywalk in Open Roof 4X4
from $75
3
Madeira Funchal:East Tour Pico Arieiro & Santana&Laurissilva
from $37
4
Madeira Dolphin and Whale Watching on a Ecological Catamaran
from $42
5
Pico do Arieiro & Pico Ruivo Hiking Transfer
from $37
6
VipDolphins Luxury Whale Watching
from $95
7
Whale and Dolphin Watching Tour in Madeira
from $83
8
Full-Day Jeep Safari West: Fanal, Porto Moniz, Seixal, Cabo Girão
from $74
9
Jeep Tour Amazing West to Natural Pools -Full-Day
from $78
Half of Madeira only opens up in a 4x4.
The north coast road, the forestry tracks above Curral das Freiras, the plateau crossings that hire-car insurance quietly excludes. An open-top Defender with a driver who knows which viewpoint is above the cloud that morning is the single most-booked day out of the city.
What a day out of Funchal costs.
Every tour on the site sorted by what it actually charges. The cheapest genuinely good morning here is under twenty dollars.
Toboggan runs, tuk-tuk hours, the Old Town on foot and a tasting in a wine lodge — the everyday best of the city.
The standard Madeira day out: a jeep over the mountains, a guided levada with transfers both ways, a catamaran past the cliffs.
Private drivers, sunrise on the peaks before anyone else is up, and canyoning days with every piece of kit included.
The deep water starts just off Funchal.
The seabed falls away within sight of the harbour wall, which is why pilot whales and bottlenose dolphins here are a short trip rather than a full day at sea. Catamarans leave the marina most mornings; the rigid inflatables are faster, wetter and much better for photographs.
- 1Madeira Dolphin and Whale Watching on a Ecological Catamaranfrom $42
- 2VipDolphins Luxury Whale Watchingfrom $95
- 3Whale and Dolphin Watching Tour in Madeirafrom $83
When Funchal is under cloud, drive above it.
All Pico do Arieiro trips →The island makes its own weather. The city can sit under a flat grey lid all morning while Pico do Arieiro, an hour up the road at 1,818 metres, stands in full sun with the cloud lying below it like a second sea. The rule locals use: if the seafront is grey, go up, or go east where it rains least.
Madeira Funchal:East Tour Pico Arieiro & Santana&Laurissilva
Read our review →The Funchal days that will not wait for you.
Most of Madeira can be booked from your hotel the night before. These cannot. They leave before dawn, they size equipment to the person, or they run on whatever the Atlantic is doing that morning.
- 01Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Hiking TransferIt leaves the city in the dark to be on the ridge before first light, and the minibuses are small.
- 02Madeira Canyoning Beginners – Easy & Fun Waterfall AdventureWetsuit, harness and helmet are fitted per person, so the group is capped and the day closes early.
- 03Madeira Dolphin and Whale Watching on a Ecological CatamaranThe boats sail on the sea state rather than the calendar — book it early in your stay so a blown-out morning can still be moved.
- 04Guided Tuk Tuk Tour to Toboggan Rides & Old TownThe queue at Monte builds with every cable car that arrives, and an early car up is the whole trick.
- 05PR 9 – Levada do Caldeirão Verde Hike TransferTrailhead parking is tiny and gone by mid-morning; a guided day is how most people solve it.
By where the day takes you
Funchal & the Old Town16 tours
East of the city61 tours
West along the coast50 tours
Up in the mountains52 tours
Out at sea15 tours
Curral das Freiras19 tours
Câmara de Lobos10 tours- Every tour out of Funchal →
By what kind of day it is
A first week, run out of Funchal.
Monte
The north
A levadaNew Funchal reviews, newest first.
All recent →
Enchanted Vineyards, Wine 4×4 Tour and Sea Cliff Cabo Girão
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Madeira in one day: Funchal & Eastern Highlights
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Do Funchal – Câmara de Lobos Fishing Village Tuk Tuk Tour
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Private Jeep Tour up to 3 People: Amazing West Natural Pools
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Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Tour with Local Breakfast from Funchal
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Madeira Airport (FNC) Departure Transfer (Funchal Hotels to Madeira Airport)
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Madeira Sweet Rituals: curd cheese, queijadas and herbal tea
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