January Fun in Funchal: 3 Days in Madeira

Everyone seems to think that I have 6 months of annual leave each year, and that I’m always on holiday. Not so. In fact, thanks to some clever use of my leave in 2025 I found myself with three spare days to carry over into 2026. With “use it don’t lose it” in mind, Mr Fletche and I booked ourselves a little January getaway. Seeking some sunshine, we booked ourselves 3 days in Madeira, dubbed the “Island of Eternal Spring” due to its mild winter climate.

Basing ourselves in Funchal, we planned to enjoy time not only in the port city, but also to explore a little bit of the spectacular landscape that the region is known for. Here’s how we spent our long weekend in Madeira in January.

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Getting to Madeira from Birmingham

Jet2 flies from Birmingham International to Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira Airport (FNC), which made it nice and convenient for us. Our flights with carry-on luggage were £180 per person. Direct flights from the UK are around 3 and a half hours. Madeira’s airport is famous for its challenging approach which requires special pilot training (you probably DON’T watch to search Madeira landings on YouTube before you fly…)

🛳️ Funchal is also a popular cruise ship port – in fact Ma and Pa Lee will be paying a visit in December on their Christmas cruise! You can check out CruiseMapper to see whether there are any ships in port during your visit – it can make Funchal significantly busier.

We arranged a taxi transfer via Booking.com for £13.50, simply to make our arrival simpler. Except the new border control checks meant long delays, which resulted in me begging our driver by phone to hang around just five minutes more. Something to bear in mind if you’re a non-EU passenger arriving into Madeira. Thankfully, she did wait, although we would have changed our plans and caught the Aerobus if there had been any issues.

We returned to the airport using the aforementioned Aerobus. The schedule on the website is a little odd – Mr Fletche and I both found different versions from the same site – and the location of the bus stops vague. We managed to scope out the correct bus stop prior to departing, thanks to information from the front desk at our hotel. This was the bus stop we used, on Avenida do Mar, close to the Nelson Mandela memorial. The Aerobus is €6,50pp and takes about 25 minutes to reach the airport from this stop.

Getting around Madeira

With just 3 days in Madeira we decided not to hire a car. There’s a decent bus network though, and I definitely recommend letting the professionals take on those challenging twisty-turny roads. Mr Fletche was happy not to be in the drivers seat for a change, with memories of Kotor’s Serpentine still lingering. Funchal itself is easily walkable, although if you’re planning on heading to the upper neighbourhood of Monte you’ll definitely want to take the bus or the cable car.

🚡The Teleferico or Madeira Cable Car is one of the highlights of a visit to Madeira, taking passengers from the seafront to Monte in 20 minutes. Sadly the teleferico was closed for maintenance during our visit, and until April 2026. A round trip is €20 per adult, €10 for children aged 7-14.

Where we stayed

We wanted to be in the centre of things as much as possible. Most of the large hotels are based in the Lido area so instead we opted for the central boutique Hotel Caju. Most of the main sights in Funchal were within a 25 minute walk. Apart from climbing uphill to the Fortaleza de São João Baptista do Pico, which required at least 25 minutes of breaks.

Hotel Caju opened in 2019, and is beautifully designed with hints in the walls and windows of the building’s history as the first supermarket on the island. We had a standard double room, and there was plenty of room and plenty of storage space. The staff were friendly and helpful; the highlight here though were the breakfasts, served in the highly photogenic Prima Caju cafe bar. It wasn’t the cheapest option – unbeknown to us we were staying on Funchal Marathon weekend – and cost £520 for 4 nights.

To be honest, we drove through the Lido area – where most of the resort-style hotels are located – on our tours, and we were mighty glad we decided to stay in Funchal itself. It all felt a little bit soulless, and we would have constantly been spending money on buses and taxis to enjoy the Old Town by night. The centre is definitely better for first-time visitors and for foodies who want to explore different places to eat and drink.

Our 3 days in Madeira in a nutshell

• Day 1: Exploring Funchal and Monte
• Day 2: Full Day Best of the West tour, covering Cabo Girão Skywalk, Paul da Serra plateau, Porto Moniz and São Vicente
• Day 3: More Funchal in the morning. Half day Nuns Valley tour ending at Camara da Lobos

Arrival Day and checking out Funchal’s food and drink offering

Once we’ve checked in, opened every drawer and cupboard in our room and checked that the TV/Air-con/loo flush works, we waste no time and head out for a quick walk to find an ATM and check out our local area. Our local area includes Mercearia Dona Mécia for our first beer on Madeiran soil. It feels a little cheeky having an al fresco drink on a Thursday afternoon in mid-January, but we don’t feel too guilty for too long.

I owe the lovely Caroline from PACK THE SUITCASES huge thanks for her detailed Madeira blogs – and especially recommendations for her favourite spots to eat and drink. Mr Fletche became quite used to me referring to my “Pack the Suitcases” list 😂

Rather than aimlessly strolling the streets of Funchal on our first evening, I’ve reserved a table at Taberna Madeira for 7pm. We take probably the least interesting route from our hotel but it is well worth the walk alongside a main road. The food and the service are amazing; at the advice of our host we opt for just two “small” dishes and sides and we still end up leaving food because we’re just too stuffed to continue. The carne de porco à alentejana – pork stew with clams – was the star, and we get our first taste of the local scabbard fish, lightly tempura battered. We actually decide to re-book for our final night; sadly Taberna Madeira is closed on a Sunday.

We finish off our first evening with a beer at Funchal Taproom and a lurid looking cocktail at MadCuba. I think we’re going to like Madeira.

Day 1 – Exploring Funchal

Oh, how wonderful to wake up to blue skies and sunshine. A January getaway is definitely recommended. We head to the hotel restaurant for breakfast before heading out to explore Funchal by day.

Our first stop is Parque de Santa Catarina, which has beautiful views across the bay of Funchal. There’s a moment of panic when we get trapped in a children’s playground and can’t get out. Why so many locked gates and high fences?

🚻 There are toilets at the cafe in the park but these do have a fee. There are free toilets if you’re descending from the park towards the waterfront

As we descend – finally free from the playground – we hear the honking of taxi horns. It’s incessant. This is no gentle traffic incident. Turns out there’s a taxi driver protest on Avenida Sá Carneiro, right outside the cruise terminal.

A stroll along the seafront

The honking of horns still ringing in our ears, we descend from Santa Catarina to the waterfront. I’m eager to add another Bórdalo II sculpture to my collection. But first another statue. The bronze “likeness” of Cristiano Ronaldo designed by Ricardo Velosa is located outside the CR7 Museum. Yes, a museum dedicated to the Portuguese footballer who was born and raised in Santo António, 3km northwest of central Funchal. Like many statues, there’s a certain area that visitors rub for good luck. I’ll let you decide which area that is:

Yes. His hands.

The Bórdalo II is much more wholesome. No-one’s rubbing the recycled plastic waste grouper – a symbol of overconsumption – for good luck.

We continue our stroll, under a striking walkway of hanging jellyfish decorations, past the Marina do Funchal. It’s a beautiful walk along Avenida Do Mar, the tree-lined boulevard running from the port to Forte de São Tiago. There are plenty of cafes and food trucks along the way if you fancy a snack. We peel off just after the bus station, to purchase our combined shuttle and admission tickets for the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens from a well signposted kiosk.

Mercado dos Lavradores

We have a little time to kill before our noon bus. We head round the corner, to explore Mercado dos Lavradores. This lively farmers market is open every day apart from Sunday, and is located in a beautiful two-storey open air art deco building decorated with the traditional azulejo tiles. We battle our way through the flower and fruit stalls downstairs to the loos – our first and most important stop.

🚻 There are also toilets – much bigger toilets! – on the top floor of Mercado dos Lavradores. These are located near the Madeira Beer Lab rooftop bar.

At the rear of the market hall you can peer down on Praça do Peixe – the fish market. It’s the perfect place to see for yourself just how ugly the poor black scabbard fish is 🤣. Trigger warning: we saw plenty of fish gutting action going on so consider carefully whether the fish market is for you 🤢

On the top floor you do run the gauntlet of slightly pushy sellers encouraging you to sample their fruit/vegetables/spices/sweets. We politely decline all. Instead a wine store catches our eye. It’s 11:15. Is it too early to sample the local Madeira wine? We decide that paired with the local Madeira cake it’s the local equivalent of elevenses. Our server recommends we try a medium sweet and a medium dry so we can both sample each. I thoroughly enjoy both but we both have a preference for the medium dry.

It’s tempting to linger over a second glass, but we have a bus to catch.

Mercado dos Lavradores is open every day apart from Sunday. It is open from 7am, until 7pm Mon-Fri and 2pm on Saturday.

Monte Palace Tropical Gardens

One of the most recommended sights for our trip to Madeira was the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens. Our combined ticket (€23pp) included entry plus the return shuttle bus.

These stunning gardens are definitely worth visiting, although they’re not particularly accessible for those with mobility issues. They span 70,000sqm, tumbling down the hillside in a jungle of lush vegetation, exotic plants, Japanese bridges and torii gates, and sculptures. I was a particular fan of the flamingos and could have happily spent hours watching them whip their heads maniacally from side to side. I’m amazed more flamingos don’t suffer from whiplash.

Monte Palace Tropical Garden are open daily from 9am-7pm (6pm October to March). Adult tickets are €18, children up to 14 years old are free with an accompanying adult. We paid €23 each for access and return shuttle bus from Marina do Funchal

Post-gardens, we manage to get to Land Food & Coffee for a spot of lunch before they close for the day. The clouds look a little ominous so we tuck under the awning on the terrace for a beer and a toastie. Enjoying the view, we find ourselves with 5 minutes to make the 8 minute walk to the bus stop. Thankfully, we make it otherwise we’ll be seeking alternative modes of travelling down from Monte. Like toboggan.

One of Monte’s biggest attractions is it’s traditional toboggan ride, where you’re shoved down a steep hill in a glorified wicker basket by men in straw hats. If that’s the kind of thing you’re into.

Old town Funchal

Back in downtown Funchal we continue our stroll though the Old Town (Zona Velha) along Rua de Santa Maria. It’s lined with lively bars and restaurants, but the real reason to traverse along this narrow street is to spot the painted doors, all uniquely decorated by local artists. If you want to properly see the artwork its best to visit in the morning, before al fresco tables and chairs start to block the view. You can find out more about the Painted Doors Project here, including a map and details about the artists.

We weave back onto Funchal’s promenade towards the weather-worn yellow Forte de São Tiago. Mr Fletche and I sit for a while on a jetty jutting out to sea, taking in a few rays. There’s a little “beach” right underneath the fort, although its more for sunbathing on rocks and climbing a ladder into the sea than building sandcastles or paddling.

I’ve been in Madeira 24 hours and haven’t sampled a poncha yet. We manage to nab the last table available on the sea-facing terrace outside Barreirinha Bar Café. It’s a popular spot day and night – in fact, I’d heard the waiter at MadCuba the night before recommend Barreirinha to a group of youngsters looking for somewhere to continue the party. Not us. We were heading for bed.

But back to the poncha. Madeira’s national drink, is like a boozy rum punch that could be knocked back VERY easy if it wasn’t for the high alcohol content. I opt for the seasonal tangerine version; over the course of the next few days I’ll try all versions available at various venues. My favourites are passion fruit (maracuja) and the traditional lemon.

We retrace our path down Rua de Santa Maria and take a meandering route back to the hotel. Via Nata 7 for the obligatory pastel de nata. Our nightlife activities are practically non-existent – a wrap from O Giro which is just steps from our hotel and an unsuccessful trip to Gelataria Italiana Da Lorenzo to find a dairy-free ice cream that isn’t sorbet. It’s been a full day exploring Funchal, and tomorrow we have an early-ish start to discover beyond the city limits.

Day 2 – The Best Of The West with Lido Tours

We’re keen to see more of Madeira than just Funchal. Not wanting to worry about hiring a car this time round, we opt for a Best of Madeira’s West Tour with Lido Tours, booked via Get Your Guide.

To cut this already too-long blog post down, you can find a separate blog post here all about our Best of Madeira’s West Tour! All you need to know to understand the rest of this post is that our driver was called Bruno, and somewhere along the way my beloved blue woolly hat went missing 😭

Cocktails, ramen and craft beer

After another full day sightseeing, we decide to head back out into Funchal for food and drinks. Our first port of call is Revolucion Cocktail Bar. Tucked in a street behind the cathedral, we had walked past in the daytime without even noticing. This is one of the best bars we’ve found – once again, thanks to Caroline from Pack The Suitcases for steering us in the right direction. Both the cocktails and playlist were perfection.

Mr Fletche has a hankering for ramen. Yes, that traditional Madeiran dish. Luckily I’d already noticed a spot near Praca do Municipo, Buga Ramen. And it was as Japanese as any restaurant we’d found in Japan. In fact, our food was served by a robot with a cat face. We didn’t get that in Japan. We even get a snazzy bib to put on. They must have heard how messy I am with food.

Our final stop is FugaCidade for beer – yes, another excellent Caroline recommendation. There’s a great choice of Portuguese craft beers on offer and the owners are extremely welcoming. We pop in for one, stay for two and are very tempted by a third… It’s a little out of the main drag, behind the Plaza Shopping Centre, but definitely worth the detour for beer lovers. Luckily for us it’s just a 5 minutes walk back to our hotel.

Day 3 – Nuns on the Run

There’s no need to rush out early this morning, so we enjoy another leisurely breakfast at Prima Caju cafe. With a free morning ahead, I suggest we head to Fortaleza de São João Baptista do Pico, the fortress at the top of the town. “Top” being the keyword here. The last part is a steep slog. And the fortress itself is closed anyway. But we still get views like this, which sort of makes the work-out worth it.

It’s only when we make our way down via Rua Dos Frias – taking very tiny steps – that we realise we actually took an “easier” route. I didn’t envy the people coming up that way one bit. We spend the rest of the morning strolling around Funchal, stopping for a very fancy tea at Loja do Chá. I wonder if the third cup is a good idea, bearing in mind we’ll be spending the next 30 minutes or so in a minibus.

Another day, another Lido Tour

A couple of days before our break I decided to book a second tour. By chance, this was once again with Lido Tours. This time it was the half day Nun’s Valley Tour. Our pick-up location is at 1:10pm so we’ve picked up a sandwich to eat on our travels. I hope to see my favourite blue woolly hat make an appearance but it turns out Bruno isn’t back in the Lido Tours office until Tuesday. Today we have Pamela, who, like Bruno, is able to switch between English and German without even a breath in between.

The Valley of the Nuns (Curral das Freiras) is located deep inside a sheer-sided canyon. Rumour has it that nuns from the Santa Clara Convent fled here from Funchal during pirate attacks in the 16th century. The volcanic crater and towering cliffs provided sanctuary and protection. And the best place to see the valley is from Eira do Serrado, the first stop on our tour.

There’s a short walk from the car park to the viewing point, but boy, it’s worth every step. Also, not a bad place for our picnic lunch.

Curral das Freiras

We make our way down into the valley itself. It is actually walkable from the viewpoint down to the village, but at the time of visiting the path was closed for maintenance. Not as though we’d have taken it anyway when we had a nice comfy minibus waiting for us. And Pamela handles the descent with its sheer-sided drop and serpentine turns with ease. Mr Fletche is just happy I’m not making him drive this, and can be a passenger princess for once.

As well as nuns, Curral das Freiras is famous for its chestnuts and its liqueurs. We have the opportunity to try both. They even combine the two into a tasty chestnut liqueur. Mr Fletche and I settle down for beer and chestnut cake, only to discover that I have misremembered the return time to the minibus. It is in fact, well, now. I down two thirds of my beer in one gulp, thankful we hadn’t ordered a large, and return to the minibus with cake stuffed inside my cheeks like a hamster.

It is possible to visit Curral das Freiras and the Eira do Serrado viewpoint from Funchal by bus. The No 81 stops directly in the Valley. Note though that only some of the buses on this route stop at Eira do Serrado so make sure you check the official timetable before you board.

Câmara de Lobos

Our final stop is at the picturesque fishing village of Câmara de Lobos. Named after the monk seals that once resided here (“wolves of the sea”), it’s famed for being a favourite painting spot of Winston Churchill. We spotted bars, restaurants and a hotel named after the former UK prime minister, as well as a statue of him with paintbrush and easel. More of interest to me was the second Bordalo II of the trip – “Lobo Marinho” made out of rubbish collected from the sea at Caniçal Bay.

After double checking the return time to the minibus, we have time for a quick poncha at Bar Filhos do Mar. It’s been another successful tour and I’d happily recommend Lido Tours for anyone wanting to explore Madeira without the hassle of rental cars or public transport.

The Hop-on Hop-off bus from Funchal includes Camara de Lobos on its route, or it’s easily accessed by bus

Our final evening in Funchal

After we wave goodbye to Pamela – and any hope of every being reunited with my hat – we take a stroll along the seafront, taking in a quick drink at the oceanfront BeerHouse on the way.

With Taberna Madeira closed on Sunday nights, we opt for another traditional restaurant on my list; Taberna Ruel on Rua de Santa Maria. Mr Fletche can’t leave Funchal without another go at the black scabbardfish, this time paired with banana. I opt for the espetada, marinated meat skewered and cooked over charcoal on a laurel spit. We take a final stroll through night-time Funchal – very quiet on this January Sunday night.

Day 4 – Homeward Bound and Final Thoughts on Madeira in January

A last morning means a final opportunity to pootle around Funchal. We find where our bus stop back to the airport will be (although the timetable remains a mystery) and we carry on all the way down to Forte de São Tiago. We assist some newly arrived British cruise passengers find their way to the Mercado, feeling like Funchal natives.

January felt like a perfect time to visit Madeira. The mild climate on the island makes it a perfect year-round destination, but you’ll definitely need to pack layers for mornings and evenings. At it’s warmest it was around 22°C, but temperatures dropped to 7-8°C in the evenings. Still warmer than the UK, especially as we’d travelled a week after a sprinkling of snow back home!

3 days in Madeira is barely enough to scratch the surface if you’re planning on getting off the beaten path and fully exploring the island’s dramatic scenery. However, with some perfectly selected tours and the opportunity to fully embrace our time in Funchal, it was still possible for us to make the most of our long weekend. If you’re starting to plan a winter getaway – checks calendar, yes, it’s only May – then I can highly recommend 3 days in Madeira in January.

I try my hardest to keep the information in this travel guide up to date; however if you notice anything has changed please let me know! Happy travels, Emmalene