Madeira on €37/Day: 9 Days of Levadas, Cliffs and Carnival

AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

Small rental cars in Madeira start from €7.55/day at the time of writing, and the government caps fuel prices. Here’s what 9 days driving the full loop cost:

ITEM	COST (3P)	NOTES
Car Rental	€236.50	€26.28/day. GO CAR Directly, insurance included. Check against DiscoverCars.
Fuel	€90.00	€10/day
Parking	€18.00	Trailheads and Funchal
Stay	€433.00	9 nights of Airbnb in Campanário (€48.11/night, tourist tax included)
Food	€174.00	€6.44/day per person Shopped at Pingo Doce Cooked at the Airbnb
Activity	€42.00	€5/person – CR7 Museum €9/person – hiking and skywalk fees
TOTAL	€993.50	9 days at €36.80/day per person

How €36.80/day per person compares to my other trips: Budget Travel Cost per Day.

---

Getting There

We flew from Lisbon to Madeira Airport (FNC) for €23 with Ryanair and back for €25 with easyJet. Ryanair, easyJet and TAP Portugal all fly the route (around 1 hour 45 minutes).

At the time of writing international flights under €25 to Funchal are available within the next month to Ireland, France, the UK, Portugal and Belgium.

---

Car Rental at Funchal Airport

• Cost: We paid €236.50 for 9 days (€26.28/day) booked directly with GO CAR, insurance included. Split three ways, that’s €8.76/day per person. Check the prices against DiscoverCars (my review) before booking.

• Current Prices: Small cars from €52.87/week (€7.55/day) at the time of writing. I’ve seen them as low as ~€20/week in off-season and as high as ~€120/week in high season. Check European Car Rental Price Comparison for other cheap car rental destinations in Europe.
• Excess: To only pay the advertised rate, decline the desk insurance. Cover it with an independent policy like Cover4Rentals instead. Full process: €3/Day Rental Car Guide.
• Provider: GO CAR. 5/5. No issues, smooth process. Booked directly with insurance included – no credit card required. We returned the car at Funchal Airport on March 11.
• Vehicle: Volkswagen Up. Too weak. It struggled on steep inclines, frequently requiring first gear. For hilly destinations or multiple passengers, opt for a higher-torque vehicle – a lesson I’ve now learned.
• Tolls: No toll roads in Madeira.
• Fuel: €90 for the trip (€10/day). Prices are capped by the Regional Government and reviewed weekly, so stations charge almost the same. Stations can go below the cap, but not above it.
• Parking: €18 for the trip, spent at trailheads and in Funchal. Trailheads get very busy, so arrive early.

---

Accommodation in Madeira

• Booking.com: They offer the widest selection of accommodation. Sort by lowest price and filter to 7.0+ to clear out the junk listings.
• Our Stay: 9 nights at the Airbnb in Campanário. €433.00 for three (€48.11/night, €16.04 per person per night, tourist tax included).
• Consider Off-Season: Less crowded and cheaper.
• New Listings: We secured a great deal by booking an Airbnb listing with zero reviews that was running a promotional launch. It carried risk, but the cancellation policy was active until 24 hours before arrival. I monitored reviews weekly – by the time we arrived, the listing had received multiple positive reviews. More accommodation tricks: Budget Travel Tips.
• Tourist Tax: Campanário is in the municipality of Ribeira Brava, which charges €2 per night for guests 13 and older, up to 7 nights (€14 per person).
• One Base: Madeira is compact. We stayed in Campanário all 9 nights and drove out from there, from Ponta de São Lourenço in the east to Ponta do Pargo in the west. No repacking, and cheaper.

---

Food

€174 for three people over 9 days. €6.44/day per person. We shopped at Pingo Doce and cooked at the Airbnb. Pingo Doce and Continente are the two main supermarket chains on the island. There is no Lidl, unlike mainland Portugal.

---

Route

Update: trail fees have changed since our trip. The €3 fee for non-residents over 12 applied from January 1, 2025. In 2026 it is €4.50 per trail (€3 through a tour operator), and you book a 30-minute entry slot through the SIMplifica portal. Hikers without a ticket face fines of up to €50. Cabo Girão went from €3 in 2025 to €5 on January 1, 2026.

Arrival

We flew from Lisbon to Madeira, picked up the Volkswagen Up from GO CAR at Funchal Airport and drove to the Airbnb in Campanário. That was our base for the whole trip.

Day 1 – Fanal, Câmara de Lobos

On March 3 we drove up to Fanal and walked the PR13 Vereda do Fanal through the ancient laurel forest. It was totally foggy and rainy, and the old trees kept appearing out of the mist, which added to the charm.

We then drove to Miradouro do Véu da Noiva, a coastal viewpoint.

In the evening we went to Câmara de Lobos for the carnival parade. Madeira’s Carnival ran February 26 to March 9, 2025, and each municipality held its own parade. It was a really cool event to witness, and we arrived without planning any of it.

Day 2 – Ponta de São Lourenço, Cristo Rei, Pico dos Barcelos

We hiked Ponta de São Lourenço (PR8), one of the seven trails that already charged the €3 fee before 2025. The parking was tricky, as it was full of people and cars were parked on the roadside up to 1 km before the trailhead. The weather was good on the way in, with sun over the cliffs, but we got caught in a very strong downpour on the way back and were soaked by the time we reached the car.

We then visited the Cristo Rei monument in Caniço and stopped at the Pico dos Barcelos viewpoint for views over Funchal.

Day 3 – 25 Fontes, Porto Moniz, Ponta do Pargo

The next day we hiked the PR6 Levada das 25 Fontes and the Levada do Risco, with a lovely waterfall at the end. The Risco trail was among the original seven with the €3 fee. The weather stayed consistent in the Madeira way: rain, then sun, then rain again.

Later we stopped at the Porto Moniz Natural Swimming Pools. The sea was rough, but we still saw some people swimming. We finished the day at the far western cliffs at Miradouro Farol da Ponta do Pargo.

Day 4 – Balcões, Pico Ruivo, Santana

We hiked the PR11 Levada dos Balcões, then the PR1.2 Vereda do Pico Ruivo to the summit of Pico Ruivo, the highest peak on the island at 1,862 m. PR1.2 starts at Achada do Teixeira and is 2.8 km each way. The official estimate for the round trip is 1.5 hours.

We then saw the Casas Típicas de Santana, the thatched A-frame houses (palheiros) unique to Madeira, and stopped at the Miradouro da Beira da Quinta.

Update: the longer PR1 crossing from Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo was closed after the 2024 wildfire when we went. It reopened in late April 2026. It is now one-way only, from Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo, and costs €10.50 per person (€7 with a tour operator). You book a time slot through the SIMplifica portal.

Day 5 – Funchal, Monte

We spent the day in Funchal, a break from hiking after four days of trails. We managed to find free parking using Google Maps, about 20 minutes’ walk from the center. We visited the cathedral, the CR7 Museum on the waterfront (€5 per person), and spent a couple more hours in the city. Then we drove up the hill to the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte.

Day 6 – Cabo Girão, Levada Nova

Next day we went to the Cabo Girão Skywalk, a platform with a glass floor high above the sea.

We then walked the beginning of the Upper Levada Nova trail and the Levada do Moinho. The weather kept changing, as on most of the trip. Blue sky, and then soon after a downpour.

Day 7 – Levada Fajã do Rodrigues

We walked the tunnels along PR16 Levada Fajã do Rodrigues in São Vicente. The trail starts at Ginjas and is 3.9 km each way (7.8 km round trip), which the official page estimates at around 3.5 hours. The longest tunnel was 1 km, around 15–20 minutes of walking. It was really narrow, and passing people was a challenge, so we had to hug the walls.

Day 8 – Pedra Rija, Eira do Serrado, Curral das Freiras

We started at Pico do Areeiro and walked the first stretch of PR1 to the Miradouro Pedra Rija, the “Stairway to Heaven” stairs. It was foggy up there. Later, after some driving, we looked down from the Miradouro da Eira do Serrado, then dropped into Curral das Freiras (the Nuns’ Valley), an isolated village surrounded by steep mountain walls. We finished with a section of the Levada dos Tornos trail.

Day 9 – Caldeirão Verde, Departure

We hiked the PR9 Levada do Caldeirão Verde from Queimadas Forest Park. The trail passes through four tunnels and ends at a waterfall of around 100 m.

In the evening we returned the car at Funchal Airport. After that we waited a few hours for our night flight.

---

Season

Madeira works year-round. We went in March and got rain and sun on the same day, nearly every day.

• Our Trip (March): Fog at Fanal, a very strong downpour at Ponta de São Lourenço, and snow patches on Pico Ruivo (1,862 m) on March 6. Funchal daytime highs are around 18°C in March, and it gets colder with altitude. Pack a rain jacket and a warm layer for the peaks.
• Rainy Season (October–April): Rain is most frequent in these months, mostly on the north-facing slopes and in the mountains. Funchal on the south coast is drier and more sheltered. Check the forecast for where you’re hiking, not just for Funchal.
• Summer (June–September): Funchal highs are around 27°C in August, and the sea is above 23°C. We didn’t go in summer, but it’s the best window for swimming.
• Crowds: Christmas, school holidays and Easter are the busiest times. Even in March, the Ponta de São Lourenço parking was full and cars lined the road up to 1 km from the trailhead. Carnival falls in February or March, and the dates move every year.

---

Practical

Currency

Euro. Cards are accepted almost everywhere. If you’re coming from a non-euro country, use Revolut to avoid conversion fees. There’s a 1% weekend markup, but you can avoid it by exchanging currencies in the app beforehand.

SIM

Any EU SIM works under Roam Like at Home – no need to buy a local one. If you don’t have one, check eSIMDB, filter by the amount of data you need and your trip length, then sort by price.

Lyca Mobile Portugal periodically runs a 50GB for €4/month promo – worth checking before buying anything else.

Language

Portuguese. English is widely spoken in hospitality and tourism, but not reliably outside of it. Learn a few basics: bom dia – good morning, boa tarde – good afternoon, olá – hello, obrigado/obrigada – thanks (male/female).

---

Tips Summary

• Rental Car Price: Check DiscoverCars before booking direct. Small cars started from €52.87/week (€7.55/day) at the time of writing.
• Desk Insurance: Decline it to pay only the advertised rate and cover the excess with Cover4Rentals instead. Full process: €3/Day Rental Car Guide.
• Higher-Torque Car: Pick a stronger engine for hills or multiple passengers. The Volkswagen Up struggled on steep inclines and frequently needed first gear.
• Fuel Prices: Skip comparing stations. Prices are capped by the Regional Government and reviewed weekly.
• Off-Season: Travel outside high season. Small rental cars ran as low as around €20/week then and as high as around €120/week in high season, a gap of around €100/week on the car alone.
• One Base: Madeira is compact, so stay in one place and drive out daily. We spent 9 nights in Campanário at €48.11/night (€16.04 per person), with no repacking.
• New Airbnb Listings: Check new listings running a launch promotion, but only with a cancellation policy that stays active until 24 hours before arrival. Ours had zero reviews when we booked and several positive ones by the time we arrived.
• Tourist Tax: Add it to the budget. Ribeira Brava (which includes Campanário) charges €2 per night for guests 13 and older, up to 7 nights. That’s €14 per person.
• Groceries: Shop at Pingo Doce or Continente and cook where you stay.
• Trailhead Parking: Arrive early if you can. At Ponta de São Lourenço, cars were parked along the road up to 1 km before the trailhead.
• Rain Gear: Always pack a rain jacket and a warm layer. We had rain and sun daily in March, plus snow patches on Pico Ruivo.
• Carnival: Time the trip for it if it fits. The street parades are free, and it usually falls in February, sometimes March.

---

---

---