Tell me about Madeira

[iwantavuvezela]

I am going with DD for a week to Madeira over summer and then heading to Lisbon. I have never been but I am excited about the lovely walks and hikes and scenery.
I have found a hotel for us outside of Funchal in Ponte de Sol(that offers buses into Funchal daily and also to the walks/levadas).

Thought was that DD and I could do either a hike, beach or go into Funchal daily. The hotel has an awesome pool with views, and access to yoga and other actives that we could do later in day or something like that So hoping it will work for both of us.

Would love to know any recommendations, things you loved (I did a search but nothing much came up)

We’ve been recently.

I definitely recommend the day hikes by minibus. We did four, quite different ones, and really enjoyed them. I think if/when we go again we’d use the buses more, but the tours were so convenient. We’re fairly experienced hikers so the length and pace was less than we would normally do, but they were still excellent with gorgeous scenery and plant life. I guess in the summer heat you’d want something less energetic anyway!

There aren’t really many beaches - I think some hotels may have man-made ones - but the hotels we saw had lovely sea front pool areas which will probably fit the bill.

Funchal is very pretty, and it seems to be a friendly place. Prices also seemed quite reasonable. We failed twice to go up the cable car to Monte because the queues were too long, but we took a bus up instead, then the cable car to the botanic gardens, and a bus back. Very enjoyable.

I can’t tell yo7 anything but have always wanted to go and do the walks but wasn’t sure how to work the logistics out. I think some people I’ve read about have got a taxi to walks…..I’d love the hotel recommendation please

I've been 4 times, & obviously love it !
I can't do the walks/hiking unfortunately, but there's a lot to see in Funchal.
A comment from a PP about queues in the town, check when the cruise liners dock & avoid the main attractions until it's "all aboard" time !
Our hotels have had this information in the lobby to help guests avoid the crowds.
There's a lot of good restaurants in town, prices are good compared to UK

Off there again at the end of the week. We really like Funchal, get a Tuk,Tuk ride round the town really worth it and helps to get your bearings. Loads of lovely restaurants and cafes. We did the walking food trail around Funchal, book on line before you go. It was really worth it, but don’t eat before!
Have a great time.

@SnakesAndArrows was their a company you used? I have read up quite a bit on the trails, and will pick ones around 2-3 hours to keep Dd interested! Then with waterfalls looks amazing as well as the sunrise one.

@Georgyporky that's a good tip about the cruise ships - is Funchal walkable , a smallish town (trying to imagine it) - would you say having a few afternoons or morings to mooch around and browse is enough?

@CormorantStrikesBack I found it on a review in the Guardian of Madeira and where to stay - its this one https://www.pontadosol.com/wellness-spa
I can find the link of the article if you would like as it had quite a few recommendations. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2024/jan/21/raise-a-glass-to-madeira-10-great-places-to-stay

@Beebumble2 a food trail - that would be my daughters idea of heaven - do you have a link for that?
Thanks for tip on tuk tuks as well

We booked it through Trip Advisor, ( things to do in Madeira) not cheap but definitely worth it.

It’s completely beautiful. We hired a car and drove round the island. Some of the deserted beaches (sexial) and rock pools (Porto moniz) are amazing.

The lido is really nice (and cheap) and an alternative to rocky beaches. Has a great cafe / restaurant there so you stay and have lunch and it has swimming areas in the actual sea as well as the pool.
We took a cab up to the botanical gardens which are nice to wander round and then got the cable car down to funchal - you can also take the rickety sled thing 😂 doing it this way avoided the crowds
We did a private hire tour of the west of the island one day which was worth it as we saw loads - deffo worth a stop off at porto moniz etc

Funchal itself is relatively small but walkable with nice restaurants and bars, and we found it v reasonable price wise for eating out

I love Madeira, and have been twice. The first time we stayed near Reids hotel, and the second time in the old town. There are loads of lovely restaurants in the old town, and a lot of stray cats who are well looked after by the restaurant owners.

We were also given the advice not to try getting a cable car if a cruise ship wss in. Luckily, we could see the port from our hotel and managed to avoid the queues.

Madeira had changed a lot between our two visits - more fast roads, extended runway at the airport and the cable car.

We took the cable car up to Monte and had a look round the fabulous gardens there. They are much more interesting than the botanical gardens. We didn't bother with the downhill sledge though.

Funchal itself is lovely with some really attractive buildings. The market is worth visiting as is the Sao Tiago fortress.

Either hire a car or book a taxi for a day or an afternoon and go to Pico do Ariero. It is the third highest peak on the island and absolutely beautiful.

We hired a car the first time we went and drove all over, but didn't fancy it this time so we booked a taxi for the day. The driver took us to Pico do Ariero, Santana (which was underwhelming), a rum distillery, a beautiful valley that had a trout farm and where we managed a walk along a levada and various other places I can't remember the name of.

The best activity we did was a dolphin and whale watching trip, which was absolutely brilliant. We saw whales, dolphins and a loggerhead turtle.
The boat is in contact with someone stationed on a high part of the coast and who can spot where there is something to see, so you are practically guaranteed to see some marine life. The guy doing the commentary was a marine biologist and was really interesting and informative. This was the highlight of our holiday.

You might find this website useful:

The airport, or rather the runway approach is interesting . Hope weather is good

We had good flights both times we went, the first time was before the runway was extended.

Monte Palace tropical gardens are sensationally beautiful. Really worth queueing for I'd say (the cable car there) unless you have very little ones

Is there enough to see/do if you aren’t massively into hiking? I don’t mind walking but not a hard core hiker.
Im happy just to chill in beautiful surroundings but DH gets bored sitting around.

It's a beautiful island, there's open top/tour buses that you can get to sight see. Funchal is a nice town, agree with the cable car and gardens recs.

It would be a shame to go there and not to do a bit of walking, honestly some of the levadas are stunning, it would be a shame to miss out. But there is other stuff to do if it's not your thing.

We are just back, stayed here www.threehouse.com/ which was amazing and a great location as within walking distance to most major attractions and the bus station.
It's a wonderful place and Funchal centre has a much more vibrant buzz about it than I anticipated. We did an organised Levada walk to the 25 fountains, it's a good one if you're not overly hardy. Monte is lovely, Botanical gardens a bit meh. Looking to come back, there is so much to do.

@RampantIvy can I ask how it worked with booking a taxi driver for the day? I'd be really interested in doing this when we visit soon. Did you just give them a vague idea of where you wanted to go and they gave a fixed price? Did they just wait around for you at each stop?

We had a tour and tasting at a Madeira wine cellar in Funchal. I think it was Blandy’s Wine Lodge.

We asked at the hotel reception if there were any taxis that couldd rive us around for the day. As it was our second visit we had a bit of an idea of where we wanted to go, but largely left it up to the driver.

I think a lot of people do this kind of thing, and it suited us to do this rather than hire a car. Also, having a local driver makes it much more interesting. We did the same when we were in Bali, and might do the same on our next holiday in Greece.

Had we booked a day trip with Tui it would have cost the same as there were three of us, and not been anything like as enjoyable.

@RampantIvy that;s a great suggestion , will probably do that for a day - get a taxi to take us around.

Can I ask if anyone has stayed out in Ponte de Sol.

will i regret not being in Funchal, or will a daily trip in be enough to knock around for a couple of hours (and either use free hotel shuttle, or can get a taxi)

Thanks for all the feedback, I feel like I am suddenly going to a very special place

@iwantavuvezela If there is a free shuttle bus from the hotel you will be fine. The little streets in the old town have lots of restaurants. The locals are friendly (and don't hate the English, probably because Madeira doesn't tend to attract the kind of visitor they wouldn't like).

I really like Madeira.

We used a tour company (Wake up and live Madeira) via the hotel. They don’t seem to have much web presence at all although they do have an office just beside the Savoy Palace Hotel. We also used Madeira Happy Tours.

I don’t know whether anyone would come out to your resort to pick you up - so taxis and buses might work for you, or your own hotel probably has some tours bookable through them.

Personally I think your location choice is good - I’m not a city fan and Funchal’s hotel zone felt a bit full on for my tastes.

Sorry to post on an old thread @RampantIvy , but I was wondering if you can remember who your whale watching trip was booked with.

I don't remember, but the boat trip companies operate out of containers near the port. We booked on one of the smaller boats. It was an inflatable with a maximum 18 passenger capacity. We just wandered in and booked.

There are bigger boats as well, but you get to see more on the smaller boat as you can see all around.

Thanks!