Madeira is steeper than it looks.
Which sunrise transfer actually reaches the ridge in time. Which levada is a stroll and which is a five-hour day. What a jeep to the north coast really costs. Every tour on the island, reviewed and ranked.
By place — around the island
Funchal59 tours
Porto Moniz & the north75 tours
The west85 tours
The east82 tours
Santana60 tours- Câmara de Lobos29 tours
Porto Santo9 tours- Every corner of the island →
By kind of day — how hard do you want to work?
Three things Madeira does that nowhere else bothers with.
Volcanic islands come with cliffs and boats. The irrigation channels you walk along, the forest that survived the ice age and the wicker sledge down a public road belong to this island alone.
The Levadas
Farmers cut channels into the cliffs from the fifteenth century onward to carry rain from the wet north to the dry, sunny south. Roughly 2,000km of them survive, and the maintenance path beside each one is now the island's footpath network. That is why a Madeira walk is flat, hangs off a rock face, and ends at a waterfall.
- 1Enjoy a Guided Levada Walk in the Rabaçal Valley★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,197 reviews
- 225 Fontes & Risco Levada Hiking Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 1,670 reviews
- 3Levada Caldeirao Verde Hiking Transfer★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 1,071 reviews
The Laurisilva
The laurel forest covering Madeira's north once carpeted southern Europe; the ice ages wiped it off the mainland and it survived out here. UNESCO listed it in 1999. Up on the Fanal plateau the thousand-year-old til trees stand in cloud most mornings, which is exactly what people come to photograph.
- 1Skywalk, Porto Moniz, Seixal, and Fanal 4WD Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 7,905 reviews
- 2Enchanted Terraces, Porto do Moniz & Fanal 4WD Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 4,930 reviews
- 3Porto Moniz, Seixal, Fanal Forest, Cliff Skywalk in Open Roof 4X4★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,631 reviews
The Monte Toboggan
Two men in white cotton and straw hats push a wicker basket on wooden runners two kilometres down the public road from Monte towards Funchal, steering with their boots. It began as a way of getting downhill fast before cars, and nobody ever stopped. It lasts about ten minutes and is faster than it sounds.
- 1Nuns Valley, Monte and Sleigh Ride Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 1,829 reviews
- 2Guided Tuk Tuk Tour to Toboggan Rides & Old Town★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 690 reviews
- 3Monte Tropical Garden & Toboggan Ride by Tuk Tuk★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 227 reviews
Pico do Arieiro: the one that needs an alarm.
The island's third-highest point has a road to the top, which is why the car park fills before dawn. From there the PR1 ridge path runs to Pico Ruivo through tunnels and stairs cut into the rock. Transfers leave Funchal in the dark; the walk back is the hard part.
- 1Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Hiking Transferfrom $38
- 2Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo Hikefrom $54
- 3East Tour Pico Arieiro & Santana&Laurissilvafrom $37
A Madeira day, by what you spend.
Every tour on the island sorted by price. The cheap end is not the weak end here — a levada transfer costs less than lunch in Funchal.
Trail transfers, levada walks, old-town wanders and tuk-tuk hours — most of the island's best walking days live here.
- 1Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Hiking Transferfrom $38
- 2Old Town Walking Tourfrom $19
- 3West Madeira Waterfalls and Fanal Forest Tourfrom $33
The full-day standards: jeep runs to the north coast, catamarans out of the marina, wine and poncha afternoons.
Canyoning with a guide to yourself, private drivers for the day, and the boats that go further out.
- 1Half-Day Off-Road Buggy Tourfrom $159
- 2Taste Funchal: food, wine & cultural tourfrom $112.46
- 3Taste Funchal: food, wine and cultural tourfrom $109
The far side of Madeira is a jeep day, not a bus day.
Seixal's black-sand pool, the lava tunnels at Porto Moniz, the waterfall you drive under on the old coast road, and Fanal in cloud on the way back. The roads are narrow, steep and slow, and an open-top 4x4 is genuinely the right tool.
What travellers on Madeira actually book.
Every review →Ranked by the number of people who have been and come back to say so — and what each one is really like on the day.
1
Ecological Catamaran Dolphin Whale Watching
Eco-friendly dolphin and whale watching from Funchal on a hybrid-electric catamaran with silent cruising, big viewing nets, and expert spotting.
From · $41
Read our review →
2
Skywalk, Porto Moniz, Seixal, and Fanal 4WD Tour
from $73
3
Dolphin and Whale Watching Catamaran Cruise
from $41
4
Enchanted Terraces, Porto do Moniz & Fanal 4WD Tour
from $74
5
Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Hiking Transfer
from $38
6
Porto Moniz, Seixal, Fanal Forest, Cliff Skywalk in Open Roof 4X4
from $75.1
7
Best of Madeira’s West Tour
from $42
8
Best of the East Tour from Funchal
from $42
Six days that make a Madeira week.
Between the peaks, the levadas, the north coast and the water, most trips here are built from the same handful of days. Here is the best version of each.
Madeira's whales never left.
The seabed drops to two kilometres within sight of the marina, so bottlenose and spotted dolphins are resident year-round and pilot whales pass through most months. Boats run from Funchal and Calheta; the catamarans are steadier, the RIBs get closer.
- 1Ecological Catamaran Dolphin Whale Watchingfrom $41
- 2Dolphin and Whale Watching Catamaran Cruisefrom $41
- 3Dolphin & Whale Watch Luxury Catamaran Cruisefrom $47
Four Madeira bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of this island can be arranged from your hotel the night before. These four cannot — they run on park permits, one daily sailing, licensed boat numbers and kit that has to be sized before you turn up.
- 01Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Hiking TransferThe ridge path needs a paid park permit bought online in advance, and the transfer leaves Funchal in the dark to beat the car park.
- 02Porto Santo: 90 Minutes Off-Road Buggy TourThe ferry is a single sailing a day and the crossing takes over two hours each way — summer dates and car spaces go early.
- 03Canyoning in Madeira Island- Level 1Groups are small by law and the operator has to size wetsuits, harnesses and helmets before the morning starts.
- 04Ecological Catamaran Dolphin Whale WatchingBoat numbers are capped by licence and the calm-sea sailings out of the marina fill days ahead in summer.
When Funchal is grey, the north is worse — and the peaks are above it all.
The mountain spine splits Madeira in two. The north catches the Atlantic and stays wet and green; the south sits in its shelter and stays dry. Cloud usually sits between 600m and 1,200m, so the summits are often in sun while the coast is under a lid. Check which side of the island your day is on before you cancel it.
Madeira, west to east, in six stops.
Fanal
Rabaçal
Cabo Girão
São LourençoThe newest Madeira tour reviews.
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Wine & Cabo Girão Jeep Safari : Unveiling Madeira’s Treasures
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Funchal Shore Excursion:Private Stunning and scenic Nuns Valley Tour
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Full-Day Tour: Santana Houses, Pico do Arieiro, Free Rum Tasting
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