Madeira Tourism and Tourist Information


This Madeira tourism and tourist information guide should help you to plan your vacation, get the most out of your stay on the Island and have a trouble free experience.

How to get to Madeira

By Plane

There are two airports in Madeira, one on the Madeira Island (Aeroporto de Madeira), situated east of Funchal, at Santa Cruz. A flight from London lasts around 4 hours and one from Lisbon around one hour and 30 minutes. The other airport is situated on Porto Santo Island, but you can get there by plane only from Madeira or Lisbon.

By Ship

Madeira Tourism and Tourist InfoMadeira Tourism and Tourist Info

The ports from Funchal and Porto Santo are common stops for cruise ships across the Atlantic, but you can also get to Madeira by ship and travel to other places from the archipelago. The shipping company Naviera Armas has regular ferryboats for passengers and also vehicles and you can get to the Canary Islands and to the South region of Portugal, Algarve, in Portimão. Also, from the Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, there is a boat leaving to Morocco, in Laayoune.

Every day, the Porto Santo Line has ferryboats making trips between the main islands of the archipelago, Madeira and Porto Santo, allowing transport of vehicles.

Documents

The Madeira archipelago is part of Portugal, so all the rules which apply when you entre Portugal apply also to Madeira. Visitors coming from the European Union and belong to the Schengen Agreement have unrestricted entry.

Getting Around on the Island

Transport From the Airport

You can choose to take the taxi and you will pay around 30 euro to get to the centre in 20 minutes. Another option is the bus, which runs on a fix schedule (you can ask at the tourist information office the list with all the hours to check when the next bus will be there) and for 7 euro you can buy a return ticket. Also, you can rent a car directly from the airport.

Transport in Madeira

You can use the taxi, most of them Peugeot or Mercedes, and the taxi rate is around 90 euro per day, but don't forget to negotiate. The bus costs 0.80 cents once you buy the GiroGiro card and charge it in the bus stops or a little more if you buy the ticket from the bus driver. If you want to get outside Funchal, the ticket price for the bus can cost until 4 euro. If you want to use a rented car, which can help you to visit more places on the island, take care on the old, narrow, winding roads. Otherwise, you can enjoy the newer Via Rapida, which connects almost all the important towns and can get you in a few tens of minutes from one part of the island to the other, thanks to many tunnels. The speed in cities and villages is limited to 50 km/h and outside to 100 km/h. It’s also recommended to fill up before leaving Funchal, although there are gas stations in other places on the island.

General Madeira Tourism Information

Banks and Currency

The Euro is the currency used in Madeira, as Portugal is part of the Economic and Monetary Union.

Banks are open from Monday to Friday from 8.30 to 15.00 and exchange offices are open all the days between 9.00 and 13.00 and from 14.00 to 19.00. Most ATM's are found in the capital and are available non-stop.

Shopping

The usual schedule for shops is from Monday to Friday from 9.00 to 19.00, with a lunch break from 13.00 to 15.00. On Saturdays they are open from 9.00 until 13.00 and on Sunday they are mainly closed. You can go to supermarkets, which are open every day until 22.00.

Time

Madeira uses the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT/UTC) as summer time and uses a system of 24 hour clock that can be confusing for those used to the am/pm one.

Madeira Tourism and Tourist Information Office

By calling 800.296.296, available from 9.00 until 21.00, you can access the Tourist Green Line.

There are 10 Madeira tourism offices on the Islands:

  • Funchal Centre Tourism Office: Arriaga Avenue. Opened from 9.00 to 20.00, from Monday to Friday and from 9.00 to 18.00 during weekends and public holidays. Tel: +351 291 211 902
  • Monumental Lido: Shopping Centre Monumental Lido. Tel: +351 291 775 254
  • Canico: Canico de Baixo. Tel: +351 291 932 919
  • Machico: Nossa Senhora do Amparo Fort. Tel: +351 291 962 289
  • Airport: Tel: +351 291 524 933
  • Camara de Lobos Office: Camara de Lobos Town Hall. Tel: +351 291 943 470
  • Ribeira Brava: Sao Bento Fort. Tel: +351 291 951 675
  • Santana: Sitio do Serrado. Tel: +351 291 572 992
  • Porto Moniz: Porto Moniz Village. Tel: +351 291 852 594
  • Porto Santo: Henrique Vieira e Castro Avenue. Tel: +351 291 982 361

Safety and Dangers

Madeira can generally be considered a safe place, with little crime, especially if you compare it with the mainland. Anyway, protect your valuable things from pickpockets.  

Medical issues

You don't need special vaccines for getting to Madeira. The drugstores are open from Monday to Friday, starting 9.00 until 13.00 and from 15.00 to 21.00.  There are some drugstores open also during the night. The island's hospital is Hospital Distrital do Funchal, situated on Crus de Carvalho (tel: +351.29/170.56.00). For emergencies you can call 112 as a general number.

Area Code

The area code for Portugal is +351 and the one for Madeira is 29.

Newspapers and Magazines

You can find all the important international newspapers and magazines in English, German, French and Spanish. Newspapers are available on the island one day later.

Lost Property

The office can be found on Rua da Infancia, 28 in Funchal. Tel:+351.29/120.82.00.

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