Where to Stay in Madeira – Hiking vs Wineries Decisions

The Best Hiking is in the North

If you are an outdoors lover, enjoying Madeira’s many hiking trails should be on the top of your list. The island is a natural wonder with lush forests, desolate mountain tops, cliffs, and waterfalls aplenty. We are not exaggerating when we say you can drive (or walk) around a bend and be in a completely new landscape and repeat this trend many times over throughout the island.

While you can find many great hiking trails all over the island, we found that most of the best hiking paths, in our opinion at least, are found near the northern side of the island. Paths like Vereda do Larano, Vereda do Pico Ruivo, and Levada do Caldeirao Verde are all found within a modest drive from Sao Vicente along the northern coast. As many of these trails are highly sought after, it should be no surprise that the parking lots fill up quickly, and during our early April visit we found most trailhead parking was completely full at each respective trail by 8:30 or 9 am.

So if you want to get in early, one way to get ahead of things is simply by staying closer to all the action. We stayed outside of Sao Vicente to the north and really liked the location as it gave us a head start on reaching trailheads over those traveling in from further flung areas, like Funchal in the south. A bit more time to sleep, a bit less time in the car, and we were hitting the trails before they got too busy on any given day.

A win-win!

The Best Wineries Are in the South

Madeira is also a wine island, and if you are visiting, you’d do well to check out many of the famous Madeira wineries that make fortified wines of the same name.

Although grapes are grown throughout the entire island, and you can see many vineyard plots virtually everywhere you go, the wineries themselves are all clustered in the south between Camara de Lobos and Funchal (with several located inside Funchal proper). Apart from a few still wine producers located outside of this area, all of the fortified wine makers are located within a 20 minute drive of each other pending traffic.

If you’re really into wine like we are, and want to visit as many wineries as you can, staying in or near Funchal and Camara de Lobos is a great idea. The former if you want to be able to walk to numerous wineries (which can be a good idea given their high ABV) and the latter if you want a smaller town experience while still being close to a few wineries (Henriques & Henriques is located within walking distance of Baia de Camara de Lobos, and Barbeito, our favorite winery, is a short drive up the hill outside of town).

We highly advise staying close to the wineries, as drinking fortified wine and then having to drive a sufficient distance thereafter is ill advised. I, as the driver, always made sure to ask for a spit cup when tasting everywhere I couldn’t walk to (that is to say, everywhere not named Henriques & Henriques), and you would do well to do the same- fortified wine sneaks up on you quickly. But, in either case, if you do have to drive, staying close by is highly recommended.

Best Locations – Sao Vicente and Camara de Lobos

As we visited Madeira with both hiking and wineries in mind, we split up our stay with four days at an apartment rental in the north (for hikes) and four days in the south (for wine and Funchal activities). This ended up being the best of all worlds as we were closer to what we wanted to see in each respective area.

One element that made this work the most was that the VE4 highway cuts through the midpoint of Maderia, and connects Sao Vicente in the north to Ribeira Brava in the south (which is near Ponta do Sol and Camara de Lobos). Within about 25 minutes on an easy-to-drive road, you can be looking at the ocean on the opposing side of the island and cut off a significant amount of time compared to driving the full loop around the perimeter.

As such, if you’re looking to do everything Madeira has to offer, while also staying flexible for things like weather (where, say, you may change plans and exchange hiking for a drive to Funchal to go wine tasting), staying near this north-south highway could be a good idea. We stayed outside of Sao Vicente when hiking and in Camara de Lobos when focusing on wine, and really liked the options while being less than an hour from anywhere else on the island.

Where you stay in Madeira is entirely up to you, and we can entertain arguments for virtually anywhere on the island because, well, Madeira is excellent. But if you want to be strategic, particularly around wineries and/or hikes, staying in (or near) Sao Vicente and Camara de Lobos, or even Funchal itself if you want city amenities, is a great idea. Whenever we return to Madeira, we’ll be doing this exact split again, and we cannot recommend it enough.

Where did you stay when visiting Madeira? Comment below to share your thoughts!