Ten municipalities, fifty-three parishes: from Funchal, the amphitheatre capital, to Porto Moniz and its pools, by way of Santana and its thatched houses, Machico, the first town, and Calheta and its golden sand. Pick your corner of the island.
10 concelhos
53 parishes
1333 places
Each municipality has its page: a little history, the places to see, the viewpoints, the beaches and the villages.
The capital of the archipelago, set like a natural amphitheatre on a wide slope facing the Atlantic. It is the Region's tourist, cultural and commercial centre, holding the cathedral, the museums, the gardens, the market and the harbour. Its name comes from the wild fennel that covered the site when settlement began; sugar and wine, long its two engines, still appear on its coat of arms.
Nine kilometres from Funchal, a fishing bay that has stayed itself: the colourful xavelha boats on the shingle, the fish slipways, the poncha. Above it, Estreito and Jardim da Serra live from the vine, and the road climbs to Cabo Girão, a 580 m promontory presented as the highest cape in Europe. Inland lies the closed valley of Curral das Freiras.
The island's gateway: Cristiano Ronaldo airport stands on its territory, 18 km from Funchal. The municipality runs down from the Santo da Serra plateau, with its golf course and Quinta da Junta, to the protected seabed of the Garajau reserve. Camacha keeps wickerwork and the bailinho alive, Caniço holds the hotels and the divers, Gaula the farming terraces.
The historical birthplace of Madeira: this is where the navigators came ashore in 1419. The bay mixes shingle and imported sand, a marina and a seafront; to the east, Caniçal opens onto the Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula, 9 km of bare ridges classified as a partial natural reserve. To the north, Porto da Cruz keeps its cane still and its Penha d'Águia.
The municipality of the Laurissilva and of the triangular thatched houses. It climbs from the sea to the 1,862 m of Pico Ruivo, the highest point of the archipelago, and holds more than 120 km of trails. A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2011, it contains the Rocha do Navio natural reserve, the Ribeiro Frio forest park and the orchards of São Jorge.
«Capital of the Laurissilva»: a deep green valley climbing towards Encumeada and Paul da Serra. The town has kept its cobbled lanes and its chapel built inside a basalt rock by the water; the volcanic caves and the volcanism centre tell how the island was born. Three parishes — Boaventura, Ponta Delgada, São Vicente — and seven historical sub-districts.
The far north-west, between the island's densest Laurissilva and a sea that beats the cliffs. The municipality's image is its natural pools cut into the lava, where sea water renews itself with every swell. Seixal, Ribeira da Janela and the Achadas da Cruz cable car complete the picture; up on the plateau, Fanal lines up its centuries-old til trees.
The largest municipality in the Region — about 116 km², 15% of the island — and one of the first to be settled. It runs from the south to the western tip and has one of the lowest rainfall rates on the island. Calheta's sand beach, the surf villages of Paul do Mar and Jardim do Mar, the Paul da Serra plateau and Rabaçal, the lighthouse and waterfall of Ponta do Pargo: eight very different parishes.
The name says it: the municipality is considered the hottest on the island and the one with the most hours of sunshine in the year. Bananas, sugar cane, flowers and market gardening fill the terraces; the town runs down to a pebble beach and a lively seafront. Above it opens Paul da Serra, Madeira's only plateau, at 1,500 m.
The youngest municipality in the archipelago, at the mouth of a valley that climbs straight towards Encumeada and the heart of the island. Seafront and bathing complex to the south, municipal market, Madeira Ethnographic Museum, São Bento fort; to the north, Serra de Água opens the Boca da Encumeada pass at 1,007 m. On the coast, Fajã dos Padres is reached by cable car or by boat.
