Things to do in Madeira worth pre-booking
Most of what is worth doing on Madeira happens outdoors and much of it is free to walk into — but three things reward booking ahead: anything that floats, anything that needs a guide with a rope, and the transport that gets you to a trailhead if you are not driving. The classified walking routes have their own layer of admin, described below. We link Viator first and GetYourGuide as a backup; compare price and departure point before you commit.
Levada & laurel-forest walks
The levadas are irrigation channels begun in the 16th century and extended into the 1940s, turned into a walking network, and they are the reason most people come. The classic run: 25 Fontes and the Risco waterfall from Rabaçal, the Caldeirão Verde from Queimadas above Santana, and the short, near-flat Vereda dos Balcões at Ribeiro Frio for a first taste. The forest they run through — the Laurissilva — has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999, and the regional tourism board puts it at some 15,000 hectares, around a fifth of the island.
IFCN, the regional forest and nature agency, manages the classified PR routes, publishes a schedule of fees for them and closes routes after storms and rockfall. Check IFCN for the current charge and the day’s closures on the morning you walk, not the week before. Several levada routes pass through unlit tunnels — bring a real torch, not a phone.
Pico do Areeiro, Pico Ruivo & the mountain ridge
Pico do Areeiro (1,818 m) has a road right to the top, which is why it is Madeira’s sunrise ritual — you are usually above the cloud. The ridge walk from there to Pico Ruivo (1,862 m), the archipelago’s highest point, is the island’s signature hike: staircases cut into rock faces, tunnels, and long exposed sections.
The Areeiro car park fills well before dawn in good weather; a guided sunrise transfer removes both the parking problem and the drive back down in the dark. Sections of the ridge close for repair after rockfalls — confirm the route is open before you plan a day around it.
Whale & dolphin watching and the sea
The water drops away steeply just offshore, so resident dolphins and several whale species are found within a short run of the coast — trips leave from Funchal marina and from Calheta. The same boats run coastal cruises to the Cabo Girão cliff and to the Desertas islands nature reserve.
This is the most weather-dependent booking on the island. Put it early in your trip so a cancellation still leaves you a spare day to run it again.
Canyoning, coasteering & the 4x4 forest routes
The combination of hard volcanic rock and year-round water makes Madeira one of Europe’s better canyoning destinations, and the guided 4x4 routes are the low-effort way to reach Fanal’s fog-bound laurel trees and Paul da Serra — the island’s only real plateau, high on the western massif — without driving mountain roads yourself.
Madeira wine, poncha & the Funchal food trail
Madeira wine is a fortified wine deliberately heated during ageing, which is why a bottle survives being opened for months — the Funchal lodges run tastings that walk you through the styles from dry Sercial to sweet Malmsey. Pair it with the Mercado dos Lavradores, and with poncha, the aguardente-and-honey drink the bars of Câmara de Lobos are built around.
Funchal to Monte by cable car, and the toboggan down
The Teleférico do Funchal climbs from the old town to Monte for the best cheap view on the island — the operator lists €16 one-way and €22 return for adults, running 08:45–17:45 daily except Christmas Day. At the top are the tropical gardens and the carros de cesto, the wicker toboggans steered downhill by two men in straw hats, a 19th-century tradition that began as transport and stayed on as spectacle.
Buy one-way up and walk or toboggan down; the walk back to town through Monte and the Levada dos Tornos is far pleasanter downhill than up.
Porto Santo by ferry — the beach day
Madeira’s sister island is the beach Madeira itself does not have: around nine kilometres of fine golden sand, with a long-standing local reputation for therapeutic properties. Porto Santo Line runs the Lobo Marinho from Funchal across roughly 71 km of open Atlantic, and it sells the same-day “one-day cruise” at roughly the price of a standard adult return; there are also short flights.
Check the timetable and the return sailing before you commit. The crossing is long enough that a same-day return leaves you a compressed few hours on the sand, and the schedule varies by season — an overnight makes far more of the island.
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Booking tips (so you don’t lose a day)
- Book the hire car before the room. Madeira’s fleet is overwhelmingly manual and automatics sell out first; on an island of severe gradients and blind hairpins, that matters if you do not drive a stick.
- Check IFCN for trail fees and closures the morning you walk. Classified PR routes carry a per-person charge and are closed without warning after storms and rockfall.
- Put boat trips — whale watching, Desertas, Porto Santo — early in your itinerary. Wind cancels them, and you want a spare day left to re-run.
- Do not trust one island-wide forecast. Funchal can be in full sun while Santana sits under cloud and Areeiro stands above it; check by area and altitude and reorder your days rather than writing one off.
- Prefer free cancellation on tours, then re-check nearer the date — outside the New Year and festival weeks, Madeira rarely sells out and prices tend to soften rather than spike.
Want these slotted into a day-by-day plan? See Madeira in 3 days.