Best of the West Full-Day Tour Madeira with Hotel Pickup

Câmara de Lobos, Madeira's fishing village

The first stop west of Funchal is Câmara de Lobos, a fishing village set around a small, sheltered harbour where brightly painted wooden boats are pulled up on the pebbles. Its name recalls the monk seals, lobos marinhos, that early settlers found basking here in the fifteenth century. Fishermen still go out at night for black scabbardfish, the deep-sea fish that appears on almost every Madeiran menu.

Your guide gives you time to walk along the harbour, look up at the houses stacked on the cliff and photograph the boats against the headland. The village is also surrounded by steep terraces of bananas and vegetables, a first glimpse of the island's farming landscape. It is a gentle start before the drive climbs to one of the most dramatic viewpoints in Europe.

Cabo Girão skywalk

Cabo Girão is a sea cliff that drops around 580 metres almost vertically into the Atlantic, among the highest in Europe. In 2012 a glass-floored platform was built at its edge, and standing on it you look straight down to the waves and to the fajãs, small farm plots on the fallen rock at the foot of the cliff, reached today by a cable car.

From the skywalk the view sweeps east along the coast to Câmara de Lobos and Funchal, and on clear days to the Desertas islands. Entry to the platform is paid on site and is not included, so keep a card or some cash ready; Cabo Girão tickets are sold at the entrance and queues are rarely long. Is Cabo Girão worth visiting? Even for people uneasy with heights, the view from the edge is unforgettable.

Ribeira Brava and the Paul da Serra plateau

The road continues to Ribeira Brava, a riverside town on the south coast whose white parish church dates from the sixteenth century. From here the tour heads north through Canhas and the farming villages above Ponta do Sol, climbing hairpin roads lined with eucalyptus, pine and terraces until the vegetation gives way to open moorland.

This is Paul da Serra, Madeira's highest and largest plateau, a flat tableland around fifteen hundred metres up formed by ancient lava flows. Cattle graze among heather and bracken, and the plateau often floats above a sea of clouds. Crossing it, you suddenly see the rugged north coast below, where Atlantic rollers break in white surf against dark cliffs, a complete change from the sunny south.

Porto Moniz and its volcanic pools

The road descends in sharp bends to Porto Moniz, the village at the northwestern corner of Madeira. Here cooled lava has formed natural rock pools that the ocean refills with each tide, and the village has turned them into a much-loved bathing area, with walkways and terraces beside the crashing waves. Offshore, a small islet with a lighthouse guards the old harbour.

The tour stops here for about an hour, the lunch break of the day. Lunch is not included, and the seafront has several restaurants serving fresh fish, soups and grilled dishes. Use the remaining time to walk around the pools or along the promenade; if you plan a Porto Moniz day trip from Funchal on your own, this tour saves the long mountain drive and the parking hunt.

Seixal, the Bridal Veil waterfall and São Vicente

Heading east along the north coast, the route reaches Seixal, a village of terraced slopes, black sand and clear natural pools tucked between cliffs. From the viewpoint nearby you see the Bridal Veil waterfall, Véu da Noiva, a slender ribbon of water falling from the clifftop straight into the sea, one of the classic images of the north coast.

The last stop is São Vicente, a neat valley village with white houses, a richly decorated church and a tiny chapel carved into a rock at the river mouth. From here the road climbs through the valley to the Encumeada pass and back down to the south coast, arriving in Funchal in the late afternoon. It is the most complete west Madeira tour for travellers with only one day to spare.