Madeira

The best time to visit this Portuguese island is from spring to the end of autumn. During this period, you can expect temperatures between 18 and 25°C, with summer temperatures rising a little higher. Despite the cold, Madeira is pleasant, but a few drops may fall more often.

Madeira is one of the cheaper destinations in terms of accommodation, car hire and food in shops and restaurants. It’s perfectly possible to eat in a restaurant for less than €10 per person and stay for around €2,000 per night for a room.

The most convenient mode of transport is clearly by car. It’s easy to get to all the interesting places on our map and, because the island is not very big, you can get around it in a few hours.

In our experience, we can recommend Madeira Rent, which has a branch right at the airport near Funchal, has new cars at reasonable prices, and offers additional insurance so you don’t have to worry about charges for minor or major scratches.

The minimum number of days we think it’s worth travelling to Madeira is 5. In this time you’ll be able to visit the most beautiful places on the island, such as the mysterious Fanal Forest, the Ponta de São Lourenço area or the town with its iconic pools , Porto Moniz.

However, we recommend that you set aside at least a week on this Portuguese island, during which time you’ll have more time to explore the capital Funchal, for example, or go dolphin-watching in the open sea.

In Madeira, you need to plan a bit with food, as you won’t find a supermarket everywhere. In Funchal, you won’t have a problem, but for example. we’ve been looking for an open shop in Porto Moniz for quite a while. But in the Continente supermarket in Funchal we also found ready meals.

But what you mustn’t miss in Madeira are the sweet cakes Pasteís de nata. These are puff pastry cakes filled with egg yolk cream.

Madeira is famous for its wine, right in Funchalo is Blandy’s Wine Lodge, where it offers tours dedicated to wine production and tasting. Another typical alcoholic drink from Madeira is Poncha, a drink with a high alcohol content.

Our tip: in Funchal, visit the O. Giro restaurant.

You can certainly manage most purchases or transactions with a credit/debit card, but we recommend packing a few tens of euros in case you want to buy snacks or local souvenirs in places that don’t have a card terminal. For example, we bought exotic plant seedlings from an old lady near the beautiful Miradouro da Ponta do Rosto viewpoint.

Tap water in Madeira is drinkable but can taste salty. This is because it is partly made from seawater, which is then purified and treated in a desalination plant. If you don’t like tap water, you can buy bottled water, which is available on every corner.