Where to stay in Madeira

[Mycatsmudge]

So we’ve booked flights to Madeira for July staying 11 nights. Just wondering where to stay, thinking of 6 days in Funchal and 5 nights somewhere else. Activities will be hiking, sightseeing, swimming, snorkelling. Any suggestions as to where to stay for the other 5 nights? also so we need a car for all 11 days or 5-7 days to reach all the main places to see, swim and hike?

It's only twice the size of the Isle of Wight and the longest drive Google Maps can find is about an hour, so it might not be worth the faff of changing hotels. We toured the whole island a few years back and didn't find the driving a problem.

Remember also that sometimes planes just can't land. Three or four times a year there are bad enough crosswinds that they have to divert to Porto Santo or Tenerife or sometimes even back to Lisbon if that's where they came from. Not a reason to not go, but be prepared to entertain the children for a while if that happens, or reassure them in the event of go-arounds (aborted landings).

I've been 4 times, always stayed in Funchal. As PP says, everywhere is within easy reach. There's also good bus services for travelling in & around Funchal, as well as a tourist HOHO.
We've only hired a car once for part of a holiday, to visit the North & middle of the island.

We once spent an unplanned night on Fuerteventura as the 'plane couldn't land, but it is quite rare. We were given excellent accommodation, food & drink by the airline.

I’d second staying in Funchal, as it’s a small island it’s easy to get to other areas. A lot of the island is rural so you could find yourself limited for activities.
It’s easy to research the Islands activities and plan your days.
Were going back in May and can’t wait.

As others say, everything is within reach for day trips from Funchal
But if I were determined to do 2 centres I would go to Porto Moniz up in the north west, wonderful lidos and quite near Sao Vicente where you can do a guided walk through the lava tunnels of the old volcano.

Quinta da casa branca is lovely. Beautiful garden and good food.

We stayed in Funchal and it worked really well because as others have said it's a hub so it's easy to get to where you want to be. If you do any hikes organised by a group eg for the sunrise they pick up from the hotels in Funchal.

There are a few areas to choose from within that - there are smaller hotels in the town itself, a couple of massive ones down by the marina (handy for boat trips and catching buses) and some other massive ones further out up the hill. The big ones are all bells and whistles and spas, the ones in town don't have those amenities but most have rooftop pools/bars and they'll do evening meals if you want - but there are loads of nice restaurants in town anyway. The two best we found were Com Tradicoes and Restaurant Informal.

We didn't bother with a car because even when we went a couple of years ago it was really expensive to do so (much more so than pre-covid according to people we spoke to) while public transport was easy and cheap. Even the airport bus is easy and cheap.

Have a great time - it's lovely for walking, really fascinating diversity of eco systems. I will say though that there's more inequality compared to mainland Europe and a fair amount of vagrancy and so we did notice more sharp practice wrt pricing around activities, taxis and so on.

will say though that there's more inequality compared to mainland Europe and a fair amount of vagrancy and so we did notice more sharp practice wrt pricing around activities, taxis and so on. HauntedBungalow

I must say, we were there last Autumn staying in the centre of Funchal. We felt really safe, I don’t really recognise your description. Especially compared to other European cities.

We've just returned from a week there. We like walking and aren't really into crowds/ sight seeing. We hired a car and stayed Machico(2)-Santana-Ribera de Janela-Camara de Lobos(2) and Funchal. Perfect for off peak when the roads (and parking) were quiet but I don't think I'd have fancied driving those narrow, steep roads in peak tourist season. Parking was only an issue in the south but I expect that could be more difficult everywhere in peak season. Beautiful island and I'd love to return.

@Beebumble2 oh I felt safe enough. There's very little crime. It was more low-level hustling type of thing, necessary because tourists have a different level of income compared to a lot of Madeirans and the only way to make money there is tourism. And the rough sleepers - who looked to be entrenched - were noticeable because it's such a small place.

Thanks for the tips @HauntedBungalow I have bookmarked the restaurants you mention, we are going in May for a week. Looking forward to those volcanic bathing lidos in the north west.

We stayed in 3 different places & it was interesting. Sao Vicente was very different to Funchal.

Lovely island.

It's not really a beachy place tho. Wjere are you planning to swim & snorkel?

Yes swimming in the natural pools and snorkelling. We’re not really fussed about lying around on beaches hiking is more our thing

Great for walking, lots of levadas.