Parque de Santa Catarina

• Outdoors
• Ages 1-12
• Children free
• Just turn up

Funchal's main city park: 36,000 square metres of lawn above the harbour with a playground, a lake with fountains, two cafés, public toilets and real shade.

This is the reliable middle of a Funchal day with children - grass you are allowed to sit on, benches, and wall lizards everywhere, which a four-year-old will chase for as long as you let them. Reviewers across four different years all use the word clean. The playground is mentioned in passing rather than raved about: this is a park with a play area, not a play destination.

Worth knowing: Hours shift with the season - it shuts at 20:00 from 23 September and does not go back to 22:00 until 22 March, so in winter the park closes before dinner. Aim for the Santa Catarina Café by the playground; the other one draws the complaints.

Opening hours

Mon

07:00-22:00

Tue

07:00-22:00

Wed

07:00-22:00

Thu

07:00-22:00

Fri

07:00-22:00

Sat

07:00-22:00

Sun

07:00-22:00

Prices

Free, and the public toilets are too - rare in a Funchal park.

Season

07:00-22:00 from 22 March to 22 September, 07:00-20:00 from 23 September to 21 March.

Getting there

Prices and opening times change without notice, and on this island they change often. Everything here carries the date it was checked in our research notes; if a place has moved or closed, tell us and we will fix it.