Madeira at a slower pace: Funchal, the North Coast and Calheta

Arrive in Funchal

Madeira Airport to Funchal

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Funchal
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

The rest of the afternoon is free to unpack, rest after the journey or take a slow stroll along the seafront promenade, which is flat, lined with benches and a short walk from the hotel.

Soir

In the early evening your guide meets the group in the hotel and talks through the week: how far we walk each day, where the seats and cafés are, which afternoons are free and how we read the mountain weather. Then we go together to a welcome dinner in the Old Town, by vehicle there and back, so the first evening asks nothing of your legs.

Compris

• Pick-up at Madeira Airport (FNC)
• Welcome briefing at the hotel
• Welcome dinner in the Old Town

Monte by cable car, and Madeira wine

Funchal to Monte and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Funchal
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

After a relaxed breakfast our vehicle drops you at the cable car station by the seafront, and the cabin lifts you about 15 minutes up over the roofs and terraces to Monte, a hillside village above the city. The Monte Palace Tropical Garden fills a steep valley with plants from around the world, lakes and old tile panels; your guide leads the gentlest loop, with benches along the way, and the lower terraces are there for anyone who wants them. Then comes Monte's famous ride: a wicker toboggan, steered down the lanes by two drivers in white with straw hats. You sit the whole way. If you would rather not, ride the cable car back down with your guide to the Old Town station.

Après-midi

Our vehicle collects the toboggan riders at the bottom of the run and we all meet for lunch in the Old Town, then a seated tasting of Madeira wine at a wine lodge in the centre before an early return.

Compris

• Cable car from Funchal to Monte
• Monte Palace Tropical Garden with your guide
• Wicker toboggan ride down from Monte
• Sit-down lunch in the Old Town
• Madeira wine tasting at a wine lodge in central Funchal

The market, Câmara de Lobos and Cabo Girão

Funchal to Câmara de Lobos and Cabo Girão, and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Funchal
• Environ 1 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is fish by the harbour, and you are back in Funchal by mid-afternoon.

Compris

• Mercado dos Lavradores with your guide
• Câmara de Lobos harbour
• Cabo Girão skywalk
• Sit-down fish lunch in Câmara de Lobos

Activités en option

• Whale and dolphin watching from Funchal marina

Pico do Arieiro and Balcões, on to the north coast

Funchal to Pico do Arieiro, Ribeiro Frio and Santana

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Santana
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

We check out after breakfast, bags in the vehicle, and drive about 45 minutes up through the eucalyptus and the moorland to Pico do Arieiro, at 1,818 m the island's third highest peak. The road goes almost to the top; the summit viewpoint is a short walk from the car park, with the café terrace for anyone who prefers to stay level. On a clear day the jagged ridge to Pico Ruivo stands out above the clouds. If the summit is in cloud, we drive back up tomorrow morning instead; the walks keep their days and you sleep near Santana both nights either way. Then we drop 20 minutes to Ribeiro Frio, a hamlet with a trout farm in the laurel forest, and walk the level, wide path to the Balcões viewpoint, about 1.5 km each way, which looks across a deep valley to the peaks.

Après-midi

Lunch is trout at Ribeiro Frio, and we reach the north-coast hotel near Santana by late afternoon.

Compris

• Pico do Arieiro by vehicle (day 5 morning instead if today is clouded)
• Guided walk to the Balcões viewpoint (PR11)
• Sit-down lunch in Ribeiro Frio
• Transfer to your north-coast hotel
• Trail fees

Santana, Queimadas and Porto da Cruz

Santana to Queimadas and Porto da Cruz, and back

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Santana
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Matin

We leave about an hour and a quarter before sunrise for Pico do Arieiro, about 50 minutes away, to see the sun come up over the clouds, and are back for a late breakfast. The rest of the group sleeps in. Mid-morning we drive up to the Queimadas forest park, where the Levada do Caldeirão Verde sets off through the Laurisilva, the laurel forest that UNESCO lists as World Heritage. We walk the first level stretch of the channel, about 1 km out and back the same way, with picnic tables at the park; if the path is closed on your date, your guide swaps in another level stretch, checked before you travel. If yesterday's summit was clouded, everyone drives up again first, mid-morning.

Après-midi

Then we visit Santana's traditional thatched A-frame houses, painted white with red doors and blue trim, and drive down to Porto da Cruz for lunch and a visit to its sugar cane mill and rum distillery, with a tasting. You are back at the hotel by mid-afternoon.

Compris

• Optional sunrise on Pico do Arieiro, with a packed breakfast
• Guided walk on the first stretch of the Levada do Caldeirão Verde (PR9)
• Santana's traditional houses
• Sit-down lunch in Porto da Cruz
• Rum distillery visit and tasting in Porto da Cruz
• Trail fees

Porto Moniz and Fanal, to Calheta

Santana to Porto Moniz and Fanal, then Calheta

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Calheta
• Environ 3 h de route

Matin

We leave after breakfast and follow the north coast west through tunnels and past waterfalls to Porto Moniz, at the island's north-west tip, about 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 30. Here the sea fills pools in the black lava rock; the main pool complex has steps and handrails into calm water, and the café terrace above is a fine place to watch the waves break on the rocks.

Après-midi

Lunch is by the sea. Then we climb 30 minutes to Fanal, an open, gently sloping pasture where centuries-old til trees stand among grazing cows, often in drifting mist, and the walking is on grass and short. A last 45 minutes across the Paul da Serra plateau brings us down to Calheta for two nights.

Compris

• Porto Moniz sea pools, with entry for anyone who wants to swim
• Sit-down lunch in Porto Moniz
• Time among the til trees at Fanal
• Transfer to your Calheta hotel

The Risco waterfall and a Calheta afternoon

Calheta to Rabaçal and back

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Calheta
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Après-midi

We are back in Calheta for lunch near the marina, and the afternoon is yours: the small sandy beach and its calm water, a slow coffee or the Mudas art centre on the hill.

Soir

We end the week with a farewell dinner.

Compris

• Minibus down and up the Rabaçal road, when it runs
• Guided walk on the Levada do Risco (PR6.1) to the waterfall
• Sit-down lunch in Calheta
• Farewell dinner
• Trail fees

Departure

Calheta to Madeira Airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

Your last morning is free and unhurried. There may be time for a final walk along the Calheta seafront, a swim in the sheltered beach by the marina or a coffee in the sun, depending on your flight time.

Soir

Your guide checks your flight with you the evening before and sets the departure from the hotel to suit. We drive you about 55 minutes along the south coast on the fast road, past Ribeira Brava and Funchal, to Madeira Airport in Santa Cruz, whose runway is partly built out over the sea on tall columns. For a flight before noon we leave right after breakfast; if your flight is late in the day, ask your guide about keeping your room or leaving bags at the hotel. Allow two hours at the airport for international flights.

Compris

• Drop-off at Madeira Airport (FNC)