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Real places in Funchal, each made as a small 3D world. A golden lizard hides in every one.
The island's highest-rated guided trips, boat tours and tastings, ranked by the people who took them.
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Travel TipsYou may camp on Madeira in 21 named forest clearings and at one official campsite, and nowhere else. What the IFCN licence costs and how to apply for it, what the Porto Moniz campsite charges per person and per tent, the altitude of each zone, the bus numbers that changed in March 2026, and the rules for campervans.
Travel TipsThe wicker toboggan down from Monte costs 30 euros for one, 40 for two and 60 for three, runs Monday to Saturday from 09:00 to 18:00, and takes no bookings of any kind. The part that catches people out is the finish: it stops at Livramento, above Funchal, leaving you a twenty to thirty minute walk, a line 020 bus or a taxi you should price first. The cable car and bus fares up, what closes the run, what the accident record actually shows, and whether ten minutes is worth the money.
Travel TipsMadeira's lava caves at São Vicente have been shut since March 2020, and the council confirms the Volcanism Centre is closed too. What the valley still offers: the 07:35 bus from Funchal, three classified trails that are open, the basalt chapel at the river mouth, and the black sand at Seixal ten minutes west.
Travel TipsThe north coast levada walk that suits people who do not want a mountain: it stays near the 900 metre contour the whole way, because water does not climb. What catches visitors out is everything around the walking. Since 1 January 2026 you book a timed slot through SIMplifica and pay 4.50 euros, the fee is lost if it rains or your flight is cancelled, no bus reaches the trailhead above Santana, and the far half of the official 17.4 kilometre route to Caldeirão do Inferno has been shut for most of 2026. The walk you can actually do, the four unlit tunnels and the torch they need, the refund rule in full, and the accessible shorter version nobody mentions.
Travel TipsThree gardens above Funchal charge admission, and almost nobody does all three. Monte Palace is 18 euros with under-14s free, Palheiro is 11 euros with bus 37 to the gate, and the Botanical Garden is 10 euros this year, 12.50 in 2027, 15 in 2028 and 17.50 in 2029, because a regional order in force since 1 January 2026 writes the rises into a table. What each costs, which bus climbs where, the 22 euro cable car and the 11 euro one that crosses the valley, the toboggan that does not run on Sundays, and how to do two gardens in a day for 53 euros.
Travel TipsThree things have to be settled before you drive west: a paid time slot, the two kilometres of access road between the car park at 1,280 m and the trailhead, and which of the nine marked paths you are actually walking. The 2026 fee is 4.50 euros a person (free at 12 and under), the day rate of 9.00 euros saves nothing until the third walk, and rain is not a refund. The council's van runs 10:00 to 18:00 at 5 euros one way, no bus of any kind serves Rabaçal or the Paul da Serra, and the two official pages currently disagree about whether the 25 Fontes is still one way out and back along the Bypass.
A September deal between a Funchal service club and a hotel group puts the Pico Ruivo route at Paul da Serra in their care, building on a July protocol with the IFCN.
Miguel Albuquerque says artificial intelligence training will reach every secondary school in Madeira, private ones included, after pilot projects.
Artists born, living or trained in Funchal can apply from 30 October to 30 November 2026 for the council's new IMPULSO grants.
Work on the Salões reservoir leaves parts of Funchal without tap water for a morning. The council has published the list of affected streets.
The council can now rent homes on the open market and pass them on to residents, with 2 million euros set aside. A changed Praia Formosa plan adds parking spaces.
The Porto Santo Line ship is back from repairs in Las Palmas after a propulsion failure in September, with two round trips on 23 October and extra sailings on 5 November.
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