Funchal to Porto Moniz: The Route Stop by Stop

• Top choice Skywalk to Fanal 4WD from US$79 Duration8 hours^[1]Rating4.87 from 9,297 reviews^[1]Group sizePrivate or small groups available^[1]CancellationFree cancellation up to 24 hours^[1] Check availability
• Enchanted Terraces 4WD from US$80 Duration8 hours^[2]Rating4.78 from 5,647 reviews^[2]Group sizePrivate or small groups available^[2]CancellationFree cancellation up to 24 hours^[2] See this tour
• West Waterfalls and Fanal from US$40 Duration8 hours^[3]Rating4.70 from 3,827 reviews^[3]Group sizePrivate or small groups available^[3]CancellationFree cancellation up to 24 hours^[3] See this tour

The shape of the day: crossing Madeira at midday

Madeira is a long volcanic ridge with a wet, green north coast and a warmer, drier south, and the west end of the island is where the two sides fold close together. A single loop out of Funchal can take in the south coast cliffs, the north coast villages and the high plateau in one run. The Skywalk, Porto Moniz, Seixal and Fanal 4WD Tour does exactly that over 8 hours, with pickup included and a live guide who speaks Portuguese, Spanish, English or French.^[1]

Read the stop list in order and you can plan your day before you leave the hotel: Funchal, Quinta Grande, Cabo Girão Skywalk, Campanário, Ribeira Brava, Serra de Água, São Vicente, Véu da Noiva Viewpoint, Seixal, Porto Moniz, Lombinho waterfall, Ribeira Da Janela, Fanal Forest, Laurissilva de Madeira, Fanal Pond, Paul da Serra, Calheta, Canhas, Ponta Do Sol, Ribeira Brava, Campanário, Cabo Girão Skywalk, Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, Câmara de Lobos and back to Funchal.^[1] Some names appear twice on the list.^[1]

Midday is usually when this route is highest, on the plateau between Ribeira Da Janela and Paul da Serra, and the plateau has its own weather. Cloud can sit on the road while the coast below is warm and clear, so the light, the wind and the temperature change by the minute. Build your expectations around that rather than around a clock, and the day is easier to enjoy.

Photo stops versus proper visits: how the timing works

A stop on the list is not a promise of a long stay. Some are viewpoints where the vehicle pulls in, you walk a few steps, take the picture and climb back aboard. Others, such as the Porto Moniz pools or the Fanal forest, are places where you want time on your feet, and the guide will usually give the group longer there. Knowing which is which before you set off is most of the planning for a day like this.

The tour is listed as 8 hours, and the listing asks you to check availability to see starting times, so the clock is never quite the same from one departure to the next.^[1] There are 11 pickup location options and 11 drop-off locations on the listing, which means the first and last part of the day is spent collecting people and taking them back.^[1]

If photography matters to you, say so at the start of the day. Guides who drive this route know which laybys take a jeep and which do not, and a quick word can buy you an extra few minutes at a viewpoint that deserves it. You can also reserve now and pay later, which leaves your plans open while you watch the forecast.^[1]

Cloud moving through the laurel forest at Fanal, where the trees wear moss and lichen all year.

Funchal to Ribeira Brava: the southern coast run

The day starts on the south coast, with the road running west out of Funchal through Quinta Grande and Campanário towards Ribeira Brava. Cabo Girão is approximately 15 kilometres west of Funchal and stands 580 metres high, and the skywalk platform at the top was completed in October 2012.^[5][7][8]

Entry to Cabo Girão costs €2, except for residents and for children up to 12 years old, and the viewpoint is open daily from 08:00 to 20:00.^[5] Below the cliff, the Fajã do Cabo Girão beach is known for the fertility of its small fields and is reached by cable car.^[6] A return trip on the Teleférico do Rancho cable car costs 10 euros if you want to ride down and back on a day of your own.^[9]

Between the viewpoints the road passes Câmara de Lobos, whose bay Winston Churchill painted in January 1950 while sitting at the Espírito Santo Viewpoint facing the sea.^[10] Past Ribeira Brava the route turns inland. Walkers should note that the Levada do Norte walk described in the guides runs from Estreito de Câmara de Lobos to Cabo Girão, so the cliff is the finish rather than the start.^[11]

Porto Moniz directions: Véu da Noiva, Seixal and the pools

From Ribeira Brava the route climbs through Serra de Água and crosses to the north coast at São Vicente, then follows the sea west past the Véu da Noiva Viewpoint and Seixal to Porto Moniz.^[1] This is the part of the route that looks most like the postcards: waterfalls falling beside the road, black cliffs, and water that shifts from grey to green as the cloud moves.

The Porto Moniz Natural Swimming Pools are the reason many travellers book a west coast day. The complex has a lounging area of approximately 3,217 m2 and a swimming area of 3,800 m2 that is 2 metres deep, holding around 7,600 m3 of seawater.^[12] The basins are cut into dark volcanic rock at the water's edge, so you swim in seawater with the open Atlantic just beyond the wall.

Non-swimmers lose nothing here. You can walk the pool area, find a coffee, watch the swell break against the outer rocks and rejoin the group when the swimmers are ready. The pools fill and drain with the tide, so the water level and the mood of the place change through the day. A towel, a dry bag for your phone and shoes that grip wet rock make the stop comfortable.

Porto Moniz to Fanal: climbing to the laurel forest

Leaving Porto Moniz, the listed route takes in the Lombinho waterfall and Ribeira Da Janela before climbing to Fanal Forest, the Laurissilva de Madeira and the Fanal Pond, then crossing the Paul da Serra plateau.^[1] Madeira's Laurissilva forest has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.^[13] The island's tourism board presents Fanal as a mystical, century-old forest and invites visitors to discover it.^[13]

Fanal is the stop where the day changes character. The trees are old and wide, hung with moss and lichen, and when cloud drifts through them the whole place goes quiet and grey. From the parked vehicle it is a short walk in among the trunks, and the ground is soft and often wet underfoot.

After Fanal the plateau opens out and everything changes: no trees, wide sky, wind off the high ground and the south coast far below. The listed route then drops through Calheta, Canhas and Ponta Do Sol before returning along the coast road.^[1] Bring a windproof layer for this part of the day even in summer; up here the wind does not match the temperature down on the coast.

When rallies or weather close the mountain roads

Mountain roads on Madeira close from time to time. Rally stages, landslips and heavy rain all take their turn, and the plateau can be shut while the coast roads stay open. Guides who work the west route know these closures well and may reroute on the day, swapping the order of the stops or dropping a viewpoint that has vanished into cloud.

Your own plan B is simple. Free cancellation applies up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund on the 4WD tour booked from this site, and you can reserve now and pay later, so you hold the seat without paying up front.^[1] If the forecast looks wrong the day before, that is the moment to decide.

Even when the high road is closed, the coast is worth the drive. In the far north around Santana, the Guindaste Viewpoint sits on one of the slopes of the Foz da Ribeira do Faial and looks out over the north coast.^[14] Ask your guide what the road reports say before you set your heart on Fanal, and treat the listed order as a plan rather than a promise.

Pickup, return timing and your Porto Moniz map

Pickup is included on this tour, with 11 pickup location options in and around Funchal and 11 drop-off locations at the end of the day; the listing says to check availability for details.^[1] The live guide speaks Portuguese, Spanish, English or French, so ask your questions in whichever of those languages you prefer.^[1]

For the return, work on the listed 8 hours and add a little slack.^[1] Traffic coming back into Funchal, one last photo stop or a longer lunch at the pools can all push the arrival time back. Keep the evening free rather than booking something with a hard start.

An offline map of the west is genuinely useful. Signal comes and goes on the plateau and under the trees at Fanal, and a saved Porto Moniz map with the pools, the harbour and the town centre marked makes your free time there much easier to use. Mark Seixal and Ribeira Da Janela on the same map and you can follow the day as it unfolds.

How to plan the route

1. Read the stop list in order

   The listed order runs Funchal, Cabo Girão Skywalk, Ribeira Brava, São Vicente, Seixal, Porto Moniz and Fanal.^[1]

2. Decide where you want time

   Viewpoints take minutes; the Porto Moniz pools and the Fanal forest take longer. Tell the guide which one matters most.

3. Check your date and start time

   Starting times vary, so check availability for your date before you arrange anything else around the day.^[1]

4. Pack for two climates

   Coast warmth and plateau wind in one afternoon: light waterproof, grip shoes for Fanal, swimwear for the pools.

5. Keep the evening free

   The tour runs 8 hours and pickup and drop-off cover 11 locations each, so the return time moves with the group.^[1]

Things travellers ask