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What’s on MadeiraWHAT’S ON MADEIRAIndependent planning notes for Madeira
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A mountain road below a rock face, with a hazard sign in frontPracticalHiking transfers and shuttlesThe island's least glamorous category — and for walkers the most useful. 23 transfer options from around €16, plus four water taxis.8. September 2026The view from Cabo Girão along the south coast, 580 metres above the AtlanticNature & ViewsCabo Girão, cable cars and viewpoints345 tours include at least one viewpoint — on Madeira that is not a category, it is the default. This page sorts out what charges admission, what is free, and where booking makes any sense.8. September 2026The view from Cabo Girão along the south coast, 580 metres above the AtlanticCoast & OceanOut to the Desertas IslandsThree uninhabited, desert-like rock islands about 25 km south-east of Madeira, a nature reserve since 1990. From Funchal's seafront they are visible on clear days as a long bare silhouette on the horizon — which is exactly the appeal: you sail out to the thing you have been looking at from the balcony all week.8. September 2026The nine-kilometre sand beach on Porto SantoCoast & OceanTrips and activities on Porto SantoPorto Santo is Madeira's opposite: flat instead of steep, yellow instead of green, and with nine kilometres of unbroken sand it has the thing Madeira does not. About 40 km to the north-east, two hours twenty by ferry or fifteen minutes by air.8. September 2026The west coast at Jardim do Mar below a sheer rock faceCoast & OceanSunset tours on Madeira43 options from around €35. Two completely different kinds: on the water or on the mountain. Both work, for different reasons.8. September 2026The view from Monte across Funchal and the bayCulture & FestivalsFunchal walking toursFunchal is small enough to walk and old enough that a guide has something to say. 136 tours from around €16 — the cheapest way into anything on this island.8. September 2026Funchal from above: the bay, the harbour mole and the city on the slopeCulture & FestivalsMonte toboggan and tuk-tuk toursTwo men in white trousers and straw hats push a wicker basket on runners down the tarmac road from Monte, braking it with the rubber soles of their boots. About two kilometres, roughly ten minutes, since 1850. It is the Madeira cliché — and it still works.8. September 2026Anonas — custard apples — at the Mercado dos Lavradores in FunchalFood & WineFood and wine: tours, tastings and cooking classesMadeira has three culinary things that exist nowhere else in quite this form: Madeira wine, poncha, and the Mercado dos Lavradores with fruit you will not recognise. A solid set of experiences has grown around all three — priced between €25 and just under €100.8. September 2026The lava pools at Porto Moniz under an overcast skyCoast & OceanSurf lessons on MadeiraNine courses from around €65, mostly two to four hours. A small category with uniformly good ratings — Madeira is known as a surf destination, but mainly for experienced surfers. There is exactly a handful of beaches suitable for beginners, and the lessons concentrate there.8. September 2026The view from Cabo Girão along the south coast, 580 metres above the AtlanticCoast & OceanSnorkelling and kayaking on Madeira56 options from around €19 — the cheapest serious water activity on Madeira, and for a lot of people the best one. The standard tour combines both: paddle out, anchor off a headland, get in.8. September 2026