The Best Things to Do in Madeira

Madeira has several climates at once. The south coast is dry and sunny, the north is wetter and greener, and the mountain spine above 1,200 m is often above the cloud entirely. On any given day at least one of those three is having good weather.

This is why fixed itineraries fail here. Decide the night before, look at the webcams in the morning, and be willing to swap the plan. Every recommendation below is filed under the conditions it suits.

Drive to Pico do Arieiro for sunrise. You can park at 1,818 m and walk five minutes for the view, or commit to the Vereda do Arieiro ridge towards Pico Ruivo — roughly seven hours return, with tunnels, exposure and a great deal of stone stairway.

If the ridge is beyond you but the idea isn't, a guided sunrise hike solves the transport and the timing in one go.

Cloud sitting over the capital usually means the interior is clear. Ribeiro Frio, Balcões and the Fanal forest are all better in mist anyway — Fanal in particular is famous precisely for its fog.

Failing that, the wine lodges, the market and the Monte gardens are all comfortable in the rain.

Porto Moniz for the lava pools, Seixal for black sand and a waterfall, Calheta if you have small children and want ordinary sand, and Garajau if you want to snorkel a marine reserve.

Sea temperature runs from about 18°C in March to 24°C in September. Check swell before travelling to the north coast; the pools close in heavy conditions.

Dolphins and pilot whales are resident in the deep water off Funchal, which means sightings are common rather than lucky. Morning trips are calmer.

For an evening, a sunset catamaran west past Cabo Girão is the better use of the money.