10 things to do in Madeira - from swimming in natural pools to one of Europe's best beaches

23.12.2024 - 21:05 / lonelyplanet.com

Dec 23, 2024 • 8 min read

A rocky, remote, formerly uninhabited island located off the coast of western Africa that belongs to Portugal, Madeira seems to relish in the extreme. Home to hardly a flat patch of land, otherworldly black pebble beaches and high-altitude trails (even the local wine is a result of challenging conditions), there’s little that’s typical or ho-hum about Madeira.  

It’s a lot to take in, and so to help you navigate this world, we’ve put together a list of the 10 best things to do on Madeira. 

Madeira’s rugged terrain has led to some of the world’s most astonishing infrastructure. It’s thought that the island is home to more than 150 tunnels, and even the airport runway is essentially a bridge. But one of the most unique ways to get around Madeira is via cable cars, known locally as teleféricos. 

Originally, cable cars served as a way to shift goods from some of Madeira’s more isolated coastal communities inland. Today, they serve mainly to shift tourists. There are seven cable cars on Madeira, and one of the more dramatic is the Teleférico das Achadas da Cruz in Porto Moniz, said to be the steepest in Europe. The Teleférico Rocha do Navio in the north of the island, being renovated at press time, packs some utterly astounding views of the Rocha do Navio Nature Reserve. And the cable car at Praia de Garajau is an easily accessible option that escorts visitors to a handsome black pebble beach.

Madeira’s signature dish is espetada, chunks of beef that have been seasoned with coarse salt, garlic and crushed bay leaves, skewered (traditionally on bay leaf branches) and grilled over coals. The centerpiece is absolutely delicious, but we also love the sides: milho frito, deep-fried cubes of polenta and bolo de caco, a type of flatbread that’s slathered with garlic butter. To serve, the espetadas are suspended on nifty devices, and pros know to position their bolo de caco below the hanging skewer so as not to lose out on any of those delicious dripping juices. 

Madeira’s most famous espetada restaurants are located in and around the town of Câmara de Lobos. Viola is our favorite, and serves local beef on bay leaf skewers, as well as vinho seco, a tasty locally-made wine. O Polar is inexpensive and casual, while Santo António is probably the most upscale-feeling option.

Planning tip: If you’re based in Funchal, Câmara de Lobos is 10km away – an easy taxi ride. 

Centuries ago, locals on Madeira needed a way to shift water from the fecund northern half of the island to the arid southern half. To do so, they built a series of aqueducts called levadas, and today there is an estimated 2500km of canals across the island. For maintenance purposes, the levadas are paralleled by walking paths, many of