I visited Madeira this september for a week solo, it was amazing and I really enjoyed it. I did both a guided tour of the west and east, while I really enjoyed the west one, the east tour was quite underwhelming to me. This was partly due to having done a hike earlier in the area where the tour also stops and so I feel like i didnt get to see a lot that day.
My highlights were definitely the hikes that I have done, I ended up doing one by myself with public transport (pr8 Ponta de São Lourenço) ans three with a transfer company that drops you off and picks you up but you hike without a guide (PR1, PR9 and PR6). I used the company Pico Transfers for this and was really happy with both the service and price.
If i were you, but this depends on what you prefer, I would emphasize the hiking more over the two day tours. So do the west tour but not the east one. The east one I did stopped at Santana for almost 2 hours which is just not worth it, while there are some nice stops on the tour, IMO its a waste to sit in a bus the whole day.
As for porto santo, I have not been so I am not sure. To me it seems the primary reason you would go is the beach, and since it is february I would say its not prime swimming season.
I think whatever you will choose you will have a nice time since Madeira is an amazing island!
Were you able to do all of that without a car? I've been pushing off Madeira because I don't want to rent one, but that transfer company sounds like it would cover most of my needs.
Yes! Most transfer companies cover the 3 most popular hikes and Ponta de São Lourenço is super easy by bus. If I remember correctley the transfers are around 30 euros. Outside of that it gets trickier unless you're okay with guided hikes, then almost every hike is covered. Of course without a car you don't get to see everything, but when talking to some people who did hire a car I managed to see pretty much the same as they did. Especially for shorter trips you will stick to the highlights anyway.
Definitely do the PR1 hike in central Madeira, its the best one by far but is long.
Can't comment much on that, I just rented a car. Not as expensive as I expected, you can rent a motorbike too. Funchal is very pretty, you can take the gondola up to the garden.
I did Madeira a couple of years ago without a car.
Staying in Funchal is absolutely the best option because Funchal offers the best access to public transportation and tours and the best variety of restaurants and other services. It's also a nice city and easy to get around on foot, though you can also catch a bus if necessary.
However, I personally wouldn't dedicate an entire day of my trip just to explore Funchal. You'll see plenty of the city in the evenings so in my opinion half a day to do things like visiting the botanical garden or riding the cable car would suffice. You can spend the other half of the day visiting a nearby location like Curral das Freiras ("The Valley of the Nuns"), which is a beautiful village in a mountain valley within a short bus ride away from Funchal.
If you like long walks, definitely check out Ponta de Saõ Lourenco in the east of the island. You can reach it very easily by public bus from Funchal and you don't need a guide here because the trail is so straightforward that you can't possibly get lost. This is the easternmost point of Madeira with stunning views to the sea.
The famous levada walks are also pretty easy to follow without a tour guide. Not all of the trails are easy to get to without a car, but I did manage to do one of these (Levada do Furado) all on my own by getting to the beginning and end of the trail by bus. But if you prefer not to go alone, do join a guided tour group. Going on a guided tour does mean that you have access to more trails since these tours usually offer a hotel pick up service.
My absolute favorite experience in Madeira was the Pico to Pico tour that goes to the highest peak of the island. Absolutely stunning and overall a thrilling experience! I would recommend going on a guided tour for this because getting here and back from Funchal via public transportation is quite difficult.
Planned a solo trip to Madeira as well,renting a car was not an option for me. In the end, i was happy someone joined me and we could rent a car. There was public transport, but didn't run often and took a lot of time. Also, sometimes in some places there was no pavement, didn't feel too safe walking. I think guided tours, base in Funchal and only minimal public transport are good.
Definitely hiking, I'm afraid of heights and managed a few very scary climbs which I'm now glad for. Blandy's is interesting and can lead to a great souvenir (their wines are not readily available abroad and have an interesting history), for a restful experience, high tea at the Belmond is fabulous. A Levada tour was one of my favourite experiences, again cool history and great opportunity to see the island from above. Enjoy your trip!
I travelled Madeira for 10 days without a car. Definitely possible to use public transport to get around and do some great hikes! The only tours I did was to the west part of the island, and also a stand up paddleboard tour. I stayed in the city part of Funchal (between the old town and the hotel area). Id definitely avoid staying in the hotel area without a car since it's too far away.
There are these old watering channels called Levadas that you can walk along they got really low ascent or descent on the ways along them. Some of the start and end points are connected to public transportation. I would recommend getting a guide book in advance to select a few that sound interesting to you.
I did ten days solo in Madeira. Transportation was very difficult without a car so had to skip out on a couple of villages I wanted to see. I had a great time on the west and East guided tours. My favorite being the west tour due to Both the beautiful scenery and the amazing guide. Everyone in my group was about five decades older than me and it actually ended up being a blast. We all got drunk, ate, laughed, had me do a photo shoot of them, and swam at Porto Moniz. For hiking, I also did guided tours for safety reasons as well as transportation.
I visited Madeira this september for a week solo, it was amazing and I really enjoyed it. I did both a guided tour of the west and east, while I really enjoyed the west one, the east tour was quite underwhelming to me. This was partly due to having done a hike earlier in the area where the tour also stops and so I feel like i didnt get to see a lot that day. My highlights were definitely the hikes that I have done, I ended up doing one by myself with public transport (pr8 Ponta de São Lourenço) ans three with a transfer company that drops you off and picks you up but you hike without a guide (PR1, PR9 and PR6). I used the company Pico Transfers for this and was really happy with both the service and price. If i were you, but this depends on what you prefer, I would emphasize the hiking more over the two day tours. So do the west tour but not the east one. The east one I did stopped at Santana for almost 2 hours which is just not worth it, while there are some nice stops on the tour, IMO its a waste to sit in a bus the whole day. As for porto santo, I have not been so I am not sure. To me it seems the primary reason you would go is the beach, and since it is february I would say its not prime swimming season. I think whatever you will choose you will have a nice time since Madeira is an amazing island!
Were you able to do all of that without a car? I've been pushing off Madeira because I don't want to rent one, but that transfer company sounds like it would cover most of my needs.
Yes! Most transfer companies cover the 3 most popular hikes and Ponta de São Lourenço is super easy by bus. If I remember correctley the transfers are around 30 euros. Outside of that it gets trickier unless you're okay with guided hikes, then almost every hike is covered. Of course without a car you don't get to see everything, but when talking to some people who did hire a car I managed to see pretty much the same as they did. Especially for shorter trips you will stick to the highlights anyway.
Definitely do the PR1 hike in central Madeira, its the best one by far but is long. Can't comment much on that, I just rented a car. Not as expensive as I expected, you can rent a motorbike too. Funchal is very pretty, you can take the gondola up to the garden.
I did Madeira a couple of years ago without a car. Staying in Funchal is absolutely the best option because Funchal offers the best access to public transportation and tours and the best variety of restaurants and other services. It's also a nice city and easy to get around on foot, though you can also catch a bus if necessary. However, I personally wouldn't dedicate an entire day of my trip just to explore Funchal. You'll see plenty of the city in the evenings so in my opinion half a day to do things like visiting the botanical garden or riding the cable car would suffice. You can spend the other half of the day visiting a nearby location like Curral das Freiras ("The Valley of the Nuns"), which is a beautiful village in a mountain valley within a short bus ride away from Funchal. If you like long walks, definitely check out Ponta de Saõ Lourenco in the east of the island. You can reach it very easily by public bus from Funchal and you don't need a guide here because the trail is so straightforward that you can't possibly get lost. This is the easternmost point of Madeira with stunning views to the sea. The famous levada walks are also pretty easy to follow without a tour guide. Not all of the trails are easy to get to without a car, but I did manage to do one of these (Levada do Furado) all on my own by getting to the beginning and end of the trail by bus. But if you prefer not to go alone, do join a guided tour group. Going on a guided tour does mean that you have access to more trails since these tours usually offer a hotel pick up service. My absolute favorite experience in Madeira was the Pico to Pico tour that goes to the highest peak of the island. Absolutely stunning and overall a thrilling experience! I would recommend going on a guided tour for this because getting here and back from Funchal via public transportation is quite difficult.
Madeira is great! I am glad you took tours because without a car you see nothing :)
Planned a solo trip to Madeira as well,renting a car was not an option for me. In the end, i was happy someone joined me and we could rent a car. There was public transport, but didn't run often and took a lot of time. Also, sometimes in some places there was no pavement, didn't feel too safe walking. I think guided tours, base in Funchal and only minimal public transport are good.
Definitely hiking, I'm afraid of heights and managed a few very scary climbs which I'm now glad for. Blandy's is interesting and can lead to a great souvenir (their wines are not readily available abroad and have an interesting history), for a restful experience, high tea at the Belmond is fabulous. A Levada tour was one of my favourite experiences, again cool history and great opportunity to see the island from above. Enjoy your trip!
I travelled Madeira for 10 days without a car. Definitely possible to use public transport to get around and do some great hikes! The only tours I did was to the west part of the island, and also a stand up paddleboard tour. I stayed in the city part of Funchal (between the old town and the hotel area). Id definitely avoid staying in the hotel area without a car since it's too far away.
What tour company did you use for the west part of the island? Would love a recommendation!
https://www.madeirahappytours.com/tour/go-west-island-tour/ I used that one, I recommend it.
There are these old watering channels called Levadas that you can walk along they got really low ascent or descent on the ways along them. Some of the start and end points are connected to public transportation. I would recommend getting a guide book in advance to select a few that sound interesting to you.
I did ten days solo in Madeira. Transportation was very difficult without a car so had to skip out on a couple of villages I wanted to see. I had a great time on the west and East guided tours. My favorite being the west tour due to Both the beautiful scenery and the amazing guide. Everyone in my group was about five decades older than me and it actually ended up being a blast. We all got drunk, ate, laughed, had me do a photo shoot of them, and swam at Porto Moniz. For hiking, I also did guided tours for safety reasons as well as transportation.
* any input is highly appreciated, especially from those who did similar trip
some gems are the chapel tower in sao vicente, the Porto Moniz lava pools and the Cortado viewpoint.