Last Updated on April 29, 2024 by Sam
The Portuguese island of Madeira offers some incredible day trips, with plenty of great places to visit less than an hour from Funchal. Although Funchal is a lovely place to spend some time, it’s well worth getting out of the city to discover more of what this beautiful island has to offer. Day trips in Madeira offer the chance to enjoy views of the island’s spectacular landscape, swim in natural volcanic pools, spot dolphins and whales in the Atlantic Ocean, and more! All of these trips and more are included on our 5 day Madeira itinerary, which is the perfect guide if you are figuring out how to spend your time on the island. Find out the best day trips in Madeira below!
Although tours are available for many of these great day trips in Madeira, it’s best to rent a car if possible. We suggest reading our guide to driving in Madeira and arranging a rental car through the Discover Cars website to make the most of your time on the island! Click here to get a quote in seconds on the Discover Cars website!
Best day trips in Madeira
Levadas
Madeira is famous for its levadas – a series of small irrigation channels created to transport water around the island for agricultural purposes. These waterways have a total length of over 3,000 kilometres, and they have become popular walking routes for both locals and tourists.
Levadas typically border or run through mountains, which means walking along them can provide some stunning scenery. These levada walks are great ways to discover some of the island’s natural beauty, and the levadas have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
There are a variety of different levada walks that make brilliant day trips in Madeira – including Levada das 25 Fontes, Levada do Barreiro, and many more! The difficulty of the walks varies between the trails, so make sure to pick a trail suited to your level of fitness.
Although the levada trails are maintained, it’s important to take care on these routes as they can be dangerous at times. Make sure to stick to the route and don’t stray from the path.
In some instances levadas can be closed for maintenance and repair, particularly in instances of landslides or heavy rainfall. If the trail you want to hike is closed then you will need to find an alternative walk, as the routes are closed for your own safety. The visit Madeira website regularly updates which routes are closed for repairs in the recommended walking routes section.
Click here to find some of the best hiking routes on the AllTrails website!
Levada Day Trips in Madeira
If you want to take a day trip to one of the levadas in Madeira then you can either rent a car and do it yourself, or alternatively book a trip through Get Your Guide. They offer both guided and self-guided trips depending on your preference, and visit some of the most popular levadas in Madeira.
The guided tour costs just €39 per person and visits Levada das 25 Fontes and Levada do Risco. Return transport from Funchal is included in the price, and your informative guide will share a wealth of information about the levadas. Click here to book this guided levada walk on the Get Your Guide website!
If a self guided walk is your preference then you can book return transport to the Levada do Caldeirão Verde for just €36 per person through Get Your Guide. Click here to book this convenient transfer from Funchal on the Get Your Guide website!
Veredas
Madeira is home to some stunning walks known as veredas, which translates as ‘paths’ in English. There are several veredas around the island, with varying levels of difficulty depending on what you are looking for.
One of the most popular is the Vereda do Pico do Arieiro from Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo. This incredible walk offers some of the most spectacular views of the island’s incredible landscape.
The Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo walk is one of the more challenging veredas, and takes around 4-5 hours in total. Although it is possible to drive to this walking route yourself, be aware that the walk takes 4-5 hours each-way – so you will either have to double this or pay for a taxi back to the start point in order to return to your car.
Thankfully there are easier options available, as you can book a transfer to take you to the start and pick you up at the end or even book a guided walk. We suggest taking the guided walk via Get Your Guide, which costs just €44 per person and includes return transport and an expert guide.
Click here to book this amazing guided vereda walk on the Get Your Guide website!
There are several veredas to choose from when looking for day trips in Madeira – just make sure to pick one suited to how long of a hike you want.
One of our favourite veredas is Vereda dos Balcões – a short 1.5 kilometre hike to a stunning viewpoint. Although this won’t be a full day trip, it’s an easy yet rewarding walk to enjoy some of the best scenery in Madeira!
Dolphin and Whale Watching
Whale and dolphin watching tours from Funchal are some of the best day trips in Madeira. The island is known as one of the best whale and dolphin watching destinations in Europe due to the variety of species that can be seen in the area.
Species commonly seen on whale watching day trips in Madeira include sperm whales, Bryde’s whales, Blainville’s beaked whales, pilot whales, bottlenose dolphins, common dolphins, and Atlantic spotted dolphins. It’s also possible to see some other species like humpback whales and blue whales, but sightings of these are very rare.
On our whale and dolphin watching trip in Funchal we saw a pod of over 100 spotted dolphins playfully jumping all around the boat. We got some brilliant views and it’s one of the best dolphin encounters we’ve ever had – along with when we spotted dolphins in Scotland during our Isle of Skye itinerary.
An added benefit of these whale and dolphin watching boat trips in Madeira is that you get some beautiful views of Funchal and along the island’s south coast. Whale and dolphin watching trips last for approximately 3 hours and are great value at just €30 per person.
Click here to book an amazing whale and dolphin watching trip on the Get Your Guide website!
For more detailed information about these trips we recommend checking out this guide to whale and dolphin watching in Funchal, Madeira.
Natural Pools of Madeira
Madeira is home to some stunning natural volcanic pools, which make for one of the best day trips from Funchal. These coastal pools are constantly filled with fresh seawater from the Atlantic Ocean, and provide wonderful views along the island’s coastline.
There are two sets of natural pools in the town of Porto Moniz – the Cachalote Natural Pools and the Porto Moniz Natural Swimming Pools. Both are wonderful places for a relaxing swim, with the Cachalote Pools being completely free to visit and the Porto Moniz Pools having an entry fee of €3 per person. We cover these unique pools in more detail in our guide to the Porto Moniz Natural Pools!
Approximately a 15-minute drive from Porto Moniz lie the stunning Seixal Natural Pools. These pools are free to visit, and in our experience were more secluded than the pools in Porto Moniz. Find out more about these wonderful pools with our guide to the Seixal Natural Pools.
Visiting the island’s wonderful natural pools was one of our favourite things to do in Madeira, and can easily be done by renting a car in Funchal. Both Porto Moniz and Seixal are less than a 60-minute drive from Funchal, and as the towns are nearby you can visit all of these wonderful natural pools in the same day.
Alternatively, there are tours and day trips available that do visit the natural pools in Madeira, as well as some other points of interest like the Fanal Forest. We cover one of the best tour options in the Fanal Forest section below!
Fanal Forest
A popular day trip in Madeira is to the eerie yet enchanting Fanal Forest. This ancient forest is known for its oddly shaped trees with twisted and crooked moss-covered branches.
The forest is often covered with a layer of fog, which gives a supernatural and slightly creepy vibe to this interesting spot. It tends to be more foggy in the mornings, but the weather in Madeira is somewhat unpredictable – so there is unfortunately no way to be sure it will be foggy on your visit.
Thankfully the forest is still a wonderful place to visit regardless of whether it’s foggy. The Fanal Forest is part of Madeira’s famous Laurisilva forest, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Around the forest you will see lots of the uniquely shaped trees and if it’s a clear day you can get some brilliant views over the forest from one of the nearby hills.
It takes just over an hour to drive from Funchal to the Fanal Forest, and there is plenty of free parking by the Forestry Station. The forest is located in a similar direction to the natural pools in Porto Moniz and Seixal, so all of these spots can combine into an incredible day trip in Madeira.
Get Your Guide offer brilliant tours around the island of Madeira, visiting the Fanal Forest, natural pools, the Cabo Girão Skywalk, and more. If you don’t have a car then this is one of the best day trips to see some of the highlights of Madeira, and costs just €70 per person.
Click here to book this amazing tour on the Get Your Guide website!
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