4 days in Madeira: what to see, eat and drink

Hello hello hello! I just came back from my Erasmus in Portugal and I am beyond excited to tell you about all the amazing things I have seen, done and eaten! This post is about the beautiful island of Madeira.

I have been in Madeira at the end of January and I have to admit that it really surprised me. It had been a while since I was truly amazed by a destination and this island surely carved a place for itself in my heart! Madeira is a group of islands off the coast of Morocco that belongs to Portugal. The main island is Madeira, then there’s Porto Santo, which is much smaller, and the Desertas, two, you might have guessed it, deserted islands. These last two are a nature reserve and you need a permit to visit them. During the 4 days I spent in Madeira I only stayed in the main island and I explored mainly the Eastern part.

Madeira is famous for hiking and for walking on the levadas, irrigation channels that bring water to the island. If I have to be honest that’s really not my thing, I prefer to relax, enjoy nature and eat! I’m not a sporty person, so just know that before reading this post.

DAY 1: exploring Funchal and trying local food

We arrived in Madeira around lunchtime, so we figured it’d be best to start trying some of the local food. The most typical thing, which you’ll find everywhere, is the bolo do caco. It’s a Madeiran bread made with sweet potatoes and has sort of a disk shape, it’s slightly sweet and soft on the inside. The traditional way to eat it with some parsley and garlic butter and it’s seriously addicting. Other ways are in a prego, a steak sandwich, with ham and cheese, chouriço or Nutella! You’ll find them in lots of shops around Funchal and everywhere else, basically. It’s the perfect quick and cheap lunch or snack (2€ for a bolo do caco with garlic butter, 3€ for other variations).

After lunch, we explored Funchal by foot. From the market, in the city center, you arrive on the seaside and then you can either walk to the left, towards the old town or Cidade Velha, or to the right, towards the cathedral, city hall and the Funchal marina. If you’re interested in Cristiano Ronaldo (I wasn’t), you can visit the CR7 museum in the marina. Then I suggest you visit Santa Catarina park and stop for a coffee or a snack at the lovely cafe with a beautiful view of the sea. Nature in Madeira is amazing so enjoy every bit of it!

On the other side, in the old town, you can find lots of snack bars and restaurants where you can try other local dishes, such as the espetada madeirense (beef skewer), lapas (limpets) or the picado (beef stew with fries). Before dinner, you can explore the old town and find all the famous painted doors of Funchal. It’s an art project all around the old town, mainly in rua Santa Maria.

For dinner, my friends tried the espetada madeirense, a beef skewer served in a very peculiar way! I tried another peculiar dish, the espada com banana e maracujá, scabbard fish with banana and passionfruit. Careful, espada is often mistakenly translated in menus with swordfish, but it’s actually a black scabbard fish, which is very different. I have to be honest, this dish wasn’t my favourite, but if you’re a foodie like me I suggest you try it as it’s a very interesting flavour combination.

After dinner, you must try the famous poncha, the traditional Madeiran drink made with rum, honey and fruit juice. I suggest you go to Madeira Rum House and try the poncha do pescador, the original version with lemon, honey and Madeiran rum.

DAY 2: whale and dolphin cruise and Mercado dos Lavradores

On the second day we booked a whale and dolphin cruise. You can find lots of options here. We managed to see the dolphins, but unfortunately no whales. I’d definitely recommend it though. Maybe don’t forget that you get sea sickness and suffer for the whole excursion like I did.

After the cruise, we went to the mercado dos lavradores, aka the exotic fruit market. I won’t lie, it is a tourist trap. HOWEVER, I still recommend visiting it. Just keep your eyes open and don’t be fooled by the vendors. Fruit here is extremely expensive, so I suggest to take advantage of the free samples. Of course, if you taste the entire stall, they’ll expect you to be something. Be smart!
If you do want to buy fruit though, I recommend buying it at the Pingo Doce nearby or in other supermarkets or small fruit shops that you can find in the city.

Having said that, the market is beautiful. The variety is astonishing and Madeira has the best exotic fruit. Did you know that there are about 500 varieties of passion fruit (or maracujá)? My favorites were the maracujá limão, the anona and the fruto delicioso!

After lunch, we decided to head to the Monte Palace and Botanical Garden. You can get there by bus or with a Bolt, but bus is cheaper. The botanical garden is amazing and they also have a Japanese garden with torii and koi fish.

DAY 3: tour of East Madeira

On the third day we booked a tour of East Madeira with a company called Summer Anatomy. I highly recommend it! Dino, our guide, was a very funny and knowledgeable guy and we had a great time. The pickup is in Funchal and the first stop is Pico do Arieiro, one of the highest peaks of the island. Unfortunately, it was very foggy and it had snowed the night before, so we couldn’t see much from the top. If you go in summer you probably won’t have this problem. The tour then takes you to Ribeiro Frio, a fish farm, and to the traditional houses of Santana! With Dino you’ll be able to visit an authentic one, because the ones in the center are actually souvenir shops.
The next stop was Ponta da Cruz, where we visited a rum factory and tasted a few types of rum. We ended the tour in Ponta de São Lourenço, the most eastern point of the island. The view is amazing, but careful, the wind is very strong.

For dinner we then went to a Cuban restaurant in Funchal which I highly recommend. Try the passion fruit mojito!

DAY 4: Nuns’ Valley and return to Lisbon.

We didn’t have much time the last day, so we opted for a short tour. We liked Dino so much that we booked this with him too! He took us to his cousin’s factory, where they produce traditional Madeiran sweet such as candy, molasses cake and cookies. They were making rebuçados, the traditional candy, and they also let us have a shot at it. We weren’t great at it, but we loved the experience!

Dino then took us to the Valley of the Nuns, a valley where nuns hid to escape the pirates in the 16th Century. Now it’s a picturesque village in the mountains, where they make traditional sweets with the sweet chestnut of Madeira.

After the tour we went back to Funchal, collected our bags and hopped on the bus for the airport. There’s a lot that I haven’t seen in Madeira, like the natural lava pools of Porto Moniz. Because it was winter, it didn’t seem worth. But I’ll definitely come back to see them and explore the western side of the island. This was 100% my favourite trip of my Erasmus and also one of the best I’ve taken lately.

I’m beyond excited to travel freely again and share with you so many memories! Make sure to follow me on Instagram and to check out my future travels and food recommendations on the blog here!