Funchal
Now a museum, the Quinta das Cruzes is a quintessential old Madeiran manor house complete with gardens and a private chapel. Originally the home of João…
Must-see attractions in Madeira
Funchal
Once a run-down area between the Mercado dos Lavradores and the Fortaleza de Santiago, in recent years the 'Old Zone' of merchant's houses and 19th…
Funchal
Built in 1940 by architect Edmundo Tavares, Funchal's art deco market is one of its top attractions as well as still serving as the island's best fresh…
Funchal
Funchal's 16th-century cathedral once oversaw the world's largest diocese – all of Portugal’s overseas territories from Madeira to Brazil to Angola – and…
Funchal
Anyone who says Madeira has no beaches should hop on bus 1 or 43 to the boulders and browny-black sand of this wild strand in Funchal's western suburbs…
Madeira
Camacha is the epicentre of Madeira's wicker industry, showcased at the O Relógio (The Clock) building in the centre of the village. The complex has three…
Funchal
One of the island's top tourist attractions, Madeira's famous botanical gardens are a must for most visitors. Extending over 80,000 sq metres, the gardens…
Madeira
Top billing on Madeira's north coast goes to this two-for-one attraction just south of São Vicente. The first part of the experience is a guided tour of…
Funchal
Run by the fifth generation of the D'Oliveira family, this is Funchal's most easily accessible wine experience. Anyone can enter the strongly aromatic…
Madeira
Dramatically set at the bottom of a mammoth cauldron of rock, the village of Curral das Freiras is one of the most popular daytrips from Funchal. Some…
Madeira
Once a minor exhibition housed in small seafront building, Caniçal's Whale Museum was moved to a large multi-million-euro, ultra-modern complex in 2012,…
Madeira
Around 3km west of Câmara de Lobos, Madeira's highest sea cliffs rise 580m to loom high over the village and the Atlantic's sapphire expanse. The panorama…
Casa da Luz – Museu de Electricidade
Funchal
Decommissioned in 1989, Funchal's old power station, still the headquarters of EEM (Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira – Madeira Electric Company), has…
Funchal
This interactive museum tells Madeira's story in an easily digestible way, from the moment the first volcanic rock seethed through the Atlantic's waves to…
Funchal
If after a few days in Funchal, the fact has escaped your attention, now you know: the world's greatest footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo was born and grew up…
Funchal
IBTAM is the organisation that oversees Madeiran embroidery production – anything bearing their hologram label is guaranteed to be the genuine, locally…
Casa-Museu Frederico de Freitas
Funchal
Built by the counts of Calçada in the 17th century, this tasteful mansion was purchased by a local lawyer, Frederico de Freitas, in the 1940s. An avid…
Funchal
Housed in the former 16th-century bishop's palace dominating the south side of Praça do Município, Madeira's most fascinating art collection is a major…
Funchal
High above Funchal, the villa neighbourhood of Monte is one of the most popular half-day trips from Funchal seafront. The Igreja da Nossa Senhora and the…
Funchal
This toy museum occupies seven rooms at the Armazém do Mercado and is essentially made up of the 20,000-piece private collection of one José Manuel Borges…
Madeira
The waterfalls, springs and hiking trails at Rabaçal are an easy-going highlight of Madeira's outdoor world. You can spend all day cooling off in the…
Funchal
Some 68 stone steps climb dramatically to the doors of one of Madeira's finest churches, Monte's Igreja da Nossa Senhora. Rising in eye-balancing baroque…
Funchal
One of the highlights of any visit to Monte is a wander round the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens. This former hotel began life in the late 18th century as…
Funchal
This old-fashioned museum, housed (in classic Funchal fashion) in a surplus palace, has an ageing aquarium on the ground floor, and stuffed local fauna,…
Funchal
Set up by Vicente Gomes da Silva in 1865, this exquisitely preserved photographic studio, above a shady cobbled courtyard, was in use until 1982. The…
Madeira
Originally dating from the 15th century, one of the most attractive churches on Madeira occupies a pebble square in the very centre of Ribeira Brava…
Funchal
Easy to spot, but taxing to reach, it's worth the slog up to this rock-top fortress northwest of the city centre for the stupendous views, possibly the…
Madeira
One of Madeira's most interesting museums, the collections here look at every aspect of the island's traditional life, from espada (scabbardfish) fishing…
Madeira
A 1.5km easy and well-signposted climb out of the village of Ribeiro Frio brings you to one of the most spectacular viewing points on the whole of Madeira…
Madeira
The Casa Museu Colombo, just off Largo do Pelhourinho in Vila Baleira, was once, it is claimed, the home of Christopher Columbus in the late 1470s…
Universo de Memórias João Carlos Abreu
Funchal
Housed in an elegant 19th-century mansion, this museum–arts centre is another repository of knick-knacks donated to the city by an avid collector, this…
Madeira
For those in the know, this tiny beach east of Caniçal is the best outside Funchal. A romantically secluded suntrap, this wild arc of black sand is backed…
Funchal
The ochre and dark-pink fortress that caps the Zona Velha seafront was built in the first half of the 17th century, when Funchal was vulnerable to pirate…
Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport
Madeira
Few airports could be counted as true places of interest, but Madeira's runway sticking out on stilts into the Atlantic and hemmed on two sides by…
Madeira
This now-ageing centre covers a wide range of scientific topics in a hands-on way. The focus is on Madeira's Unesco-listed laurisilva forests, their…
Funchal
This undervisited attraction ambitiously promises 'the island's history in 30 minutes' and, it must be said, doesn't disappoint. With a soundtrack in…
Funchal
This impressive clifftop church at the eastern end of the Zona Velha is a 1750 rebuild – the original was destroyed in the earthquake of 1748. Slightly…
Madeira
Widely regarded by those in the know as the island's best wine producer, Henriques & Henriques only uses grapes from its own vineyards in Quinta Grande…
Funchal
Borges is the smallest of Funchal's Madeira wine operations and its diminutive, timber-rich tasting room feels like the furthest away from the tourist…
Madeira
The fishing village of Ponta Delgada, 30km west of Santana, is worth a brief halt for its authentic remoteness and to visit the baroque Igreja do Bom…
