Madeira itinerary5, 7 or 10 days, with or without a car, and with kids

Checked on 10 October 2026. Bus lines are being renumbered and levada status changes daily; check SIGA and the IFCN trail list before each day out.

The short answer: for 5 days, stay in Funchal and use buses plus one tour or car day; for 7, split Funchal and the west coast with a car for the second half; for 10, add the north coast and a spare day for weather. The mountains decide your plan more than the calendar: Visit Madeira shows an open or closed status for each trail and advises not to go on, or to turn back, in heavy rain or strong wind [13], so put the peaks on the first clear morning and move the rest around them.

A hire car adds a regional fee of €2 for each full day on top of the rental, for at most 10 days per contract, so at most €20; €1 a day for a zero-emission car [1]. Deposits and the rest: Madeira car hire. Everything worth a day, area by area, is in things to do in Madeira.

Funchal or the west?

	Funchal	West coast (Ponta do Sol, Calheta)
Without a car	Works: city buses, the cable car, lines to most of the island	Check before choosing a base: the 2023 Ponta do Sol overview lists direct and connecting options, but does not verify current frequency or connections [14]. For Calheta, check line 80 and your exact stop [3]
Closest days out	Monte, the old town, Cabo Girão, the east and São Lourenço, Pico do Areeiro by bus [2]	Rabaçal (25 Fontes, Risco), Porto Moniz, Fanal, Calheta beach
Drive to Porto Moniz	about 1 h by car [9]	shorter, along the coast
Best for	A first visit, no car, nightlife and restaurants	A second week, sunsets, families with a car

Bases in detail: where to stay in Madeira and Funchal or Ponta do Sol as a base. All bus lines, passes and the Aerobus: Madeira without a car.

Which days need a car

Day out	By bus from Funchal	Notes
Monte (cable car, gardens, toboggan)	Yes, city buses and the cable car	Things to do in Funchal
Pico do Areeiro	Yes, a dedicated bus up early in the morning and early in the afternoon, daily except 25 December [2]	Check whether PR1 to Pico Ruivo is open first [7]
São Lourenço peninsula (PR8)	Yes, the Caniçal line towards Baía d’Abra [5]	No shade, often windy
Porto Moniz natural pools	Yes, lines 80 and 139; a few hours in Porto Moniz, longer on line 139 [3][4]	Porto Moniz natural pools
Calheta beach	Yes, line 80, limited services [3]	Check the time back
Rabaçal: 25 Fontes and Risco	No bus found; council minibus from the ER105 car park to the trailhead [8]	Car or tour
Fanal	No bus found	Car or tour
Ribeiro Frio (PR11 Balcões), Santana	Yes, CAM’s Santana buses stop at Ribeiro Frio, about 40–50 min from Funchal: out on weekdays at 08:10, 09:00, 10:00, 13:45 and 18:30 (fewer at weekends), back from Ribeiro Frio at 11:40, 13:15 (13:45 in school holidays) and 18:12 on weekdays, 18:30 on Saturdays and Sundays [15]	The 18:12/18:30 is the last bus back; about 42 min to Santana by car [11]

Levada booking (every walker books a time slot on SIMplifica) and the fees are in Madeira levada walks [6]. Deposits, airport desks and the Areeiro car park: Madeira car hire.

Madeira in 5 days (Funchal base, no car needed)

1. Arrive, Funchal old town. Mercado dos Lavradores, the old town, the seafront. Aerobus from the airport (see the no-car guide). Flights: flights to Madeira.
2. Monte. Cable car up, Monte Palace garden, the toboggan down to Livramento, bus back; afternoon at the Lido pools.
3. Pico do Areeiro. The early bus for sunrise at the summit, or the afternoon one [2]; times in the no-car guide. Walk only the stretches of PR1 that the IFCN list shows as open that day [7].
4. West by bus: Porto Moniz. Line 139 round the north via São Vicente, or line 80 along the south coast via Calheta; line 139 leaves more time at the pools [3][4]. Or swap for a tour that adds Rabaçal or Fanal.
5. East: São Lourenço. PR8 in the morning by the Caniçal line [5], then Machico beach on the way back, or a quiet last day with the Botanical Garden and Cabo Girão.

Madeira in 7 days (Funchal, then the west with a car)

Days 1–3 in Funchal, as days 1–3 above (old town, Monte, Pico do Areeiro).

Day 4: pick up a car, drive west. Cabo Girão on the way, then check in at Ponta do Sol, about 27 minutes from Funchal on the routing model [10], or a little further at Calheta. Sunset on the coast.

Day 5: Rabaçal levadas. PR6.1 Levada do Risco to the waterfall, or the longer PR6 25 Fontes; book both on SIMplifica [6].

Day 6: Porto Moniz and the north-west. The natural pools, Seixal’s dark beach, Fanal if the cloud allows.

Day 7: Calheta and back. Calheta beach or a whale-watching trip, then return the car at the airport.

Madeira in 10 days

Days 1–7 as above, then:

8. North coast (car). Santana and the PR11 Vereda dos Balcões at Ribeiro Frio. The north is wetter and cloudier than Funchal; pick the clearer day.
9. A long levada. Caldeirão Verde from Queimadas for keen walkers, or PR8 São Lourenço if you skipped it.
10. Spare day. For the peaks or a walk that was rained off, then fly home.

Or swap days 8–10 for Porto Santo. The Lobo Marinho ferry from Funchal, or the short flight, for the long sand beach Madeira itself doesn’t have. The ferry has gaps in its calendar [12]; check Madeira to Porto Santo before you plan around it.

With kids

Swap the long walks for shorter, gentler ones (PR11 Balcões, 1.5 km each way; the accessible PR6.8, 1.2 km; PR6.1 Risco, 3 km each way from Rabaçal, where the council minibus saves the steep 2 km road down from the ER105 car park) [7][8] and plan pools rather than sand: the Lido in Funchal, the natural pools at Porto Moniz, Calheta’s beach. Children need a levada booking too; fees and exemptions are in Madeira levada walks [6]. A good rhythm with small children is one long drive or walk, then a pool day. Child seats, aquariums, rainy-day options and doctors: Madeira with kids. Pools and sand compared: best beaches in Madeira. Adding Madeira to Lisbon and Porto: Portugal itinerary with kids.

• Toddlers: base in Funchal or Calheta and skip the sunrise bus to Pico do Areeiro; the afternoon run avoids the early start [2].
• Teenagers: add PR8 São Lourenço, the Monte toboggan and a whale-watching trip.

When it rains

Rain on the south coast and cloud in the mountains are the usual reasons to swap days. Visit Madeira says not to go on, or to turn back, in heavy rain or strong wind [13]; move the peaks and the long levadas, and keep indoor Funchal (museums, the market, wine lodges) for those days; swim only if the local weather, the sea and the pool’s opening allow. The month-by-month picture: Madeira weather by month; when to go for what: best time to visit Madeira. Over New Year: Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Madeira. Still choosing the island: Madeira or Tenerife, Madeira or the Azores.

Sources

Numbered references match the source list on this page. Read on 9–10 October 2026.

1. JORAM I Série n.º 90, Portaria n.º 214/2026 (21 May 2026), arts. 6 and 9: rental-car usage fee €2 per full day, max 10 days, €1 for zero-emission cars (art. 6); contracts from 1 June 2026 (art. 9)
2. Horários do Funchal: Pico do Areeiro service (up 06:00 and 13:30 from the cable car terminus, at the summit 06:45 and 14:15; down 12:15 and 19:00, 18:00 in winter time 25 Oct 2026 to 27 Mar 2027; €3 a trip on board; daily except 25 Dec)
3. SIGA: line 80 Funchal–Calheta–Porto Moniz timetable PDF (Rodoeste; new numbers 380/381)
4. SIGA: line 139 Funchal–São Vicente–Porto Moniz timetable PDF (Rodoeste; new 340/341)
5. SIGA: CAM line 113 / new 702, Caniçal–Baía d’Abra (route page, not the Machico or Expresso index)
6. IFCN: FAQ, fees and reservations for classified walking routes (€4.50 per trail, SIMplifica booking for every walker; last updated 2 Jun 2026)
7. IFCN: classified walking routes, status list (part of PR1 closed on 9 Oct 2026)
8. Câmara Municipal da Calheta: PR 6 Levada das 25 Fontes (Rabaçal shuttle from the ER105 car park; page undated)
9. OSRM demo router (OpenStreetMap): Funchal to Porto Moniz 49.1 km, 57 min (free-flow model)
10. OSRM demo router: Funchal to Ponta do Sol 24.2 km, 27 min (free-flow model)
11. OSRM demo router: Funchal to Santana 39.5 km, 42 min (free-flow model)
12. Porto Santo Line: timetables October 2026 (no sailings 15–22 Oct) and homepage notice (crossings 3 h 15 min)
13. Visit Madeira: Advice to walkers (live trail status; heavy rain or strong wind: don’t go)
14. Rodoeste: timetable by locality, Ponta do Sol (PDF created 2 Feb 2023): historical overview of direct and connecting options; current frequency not verified, historical PDF reread 12 October 2026
15. SIGA / CAM: Rede Santana timetable (PDF, July 2026), read 11 October 2026