The south between Funchal and Ribeira Brava is the most liveable strip of Madeira and therefore the most densely built. The slopes are packed with banana terraces, and between them Câmara de Lobos, Estreito and Campanário cling to gradients that would pass for ski runs in the Alps.
The one landmark is Cabo Girão: 580 metres straight down to the Atlantic, the highest sea cliff in Europe, fitted with a glass skywalk since 2012. The view drops onto the fajãs — cultivated aprons of land at the foot of the wall, reachable only by cable lift.
Câmara de Lobos, 15 minutes by car from Funchal, is the town with the red fishing boats that Winston Churchill painted in 1950. The harbour still works: espada, the black scabbardfish, is brought up here at night from depths of 800 to 1,200 metres.
Ribeira Brava closes the section to the west and doubles as the gateway inland — the road climbs from here to the Paul da Serra plateau in about 40 minutes.
Weather: the south stays dry while the north sits in cloud. That is the rule, not the exception.
