I’ve been to Portugal before. Once in Lisbon (in 2013) and twice in Porto (last in 2017), but I had never been on Madeira island before. So we made a round-trip out of it and stayed in all of these places.
DAY 1 – Tuesday, February 11
It was 5 AM and we were sitting on the backseat of a black Mercedes on our way to the airport. In 40 minutes we had got through the 20-minute car ride, luggage drop and security checks and were sitting already at the gate. The flight took us first to Munich and then to Lisbon. We landed around 1:30 PM and after picking up the luggage we took a Bolt to the city center. It cost only 10 euros and 22 minutes so definitely worth it. After some relaxing time in the hotel, we had 2,5 hours to kill before the booked tour in the evening. Our hotel was just around the corner from Rossio Square in the heart of Baixa. From Rossio Square we headed down towards the river along the stone-paved streets. Our first stop was the Elevador de Santa Justa, an elevator from 1902 that takes people up to the viewing platform above the rooftops. As usual, there was a long line of people who didn’t mind waiting for up to an hour and paid 6 euros for the short elevator ride. But in reality, it’s nothing special and definitely not worth the time and money. Instead, you just pass the line and take the streets around a block to walk up to the viewing platform in five minutes for free. The uppermost terrace level was actually closed but the view was still great. Next, we walked to the world’s oldest bookstore from 1732 as I was travelling with a real-life bookstagrammer and visiting this place was at the top of our list. After some Instagram stories later we continued on towards Pink Street, where we met our first annoying grass merchants. I had already forgotten them from my previous visit to Lisbon some 10 years before, but they were just as annoying then. From there we walked along the riverside down to the Praça do Comércio and through the gate back onto the streets of Baixa-Chiado neighbourhood.
Our evening tour started at 6:30 PM from Rossio Square. It was called the Lisbon Food Tour hosted by Samuel, a Mexican living in Lisbon. For the next 3,5 hours, we walked through the neighbourhoods of Baixa, Mouraria and Alfama. The food and the guide were great and we’ll recommend it to anyone interested in the local culture and food. The tour ended at 10 PM and after that, we were more than ready to end the day back in the hotel.
Here’s the list of places and tastings that we had:
1 – Fábrica da Nata
– pastel de nata
– Coffee
2- A Licorista O Bacalhoeiro
– pastéis de bacalhau
– octopus salad
– Alheira assada
– Rosé wine Monte Amarelo
3- A Ginjinha
– Ginja liqueur
4- Cantinho do Aziz
– beef/veg chamussas
– Massamba
– Vinho Verde Muralhas de Monção
5- A Muralha Tasca Típica
– Picas em azeite picante
– chouriço assado
– Prego no pão
– Queijo da Serra com doce de tomate + marmelada
– Red Wine Rendeiro
– Moscatel Bacalhôa
DAY 2 – Wednesday, February 12
After a delicious breakfast in the hotel, we packed our bags and checked out at 11 AM. We left the bags in the hotel and went to explore Lisbon some more. The first stop was in the church of Santa Justa, which doesn’t look like anything from the outside but is quite interesting looking on the inside. There was a catholic mass going on at the time, but it was still open for tourists as well. Our only tour that day was with a tuk-tuk (@itukyou). In two hours it took us to see many iconic landmarks in the Alfama neighbourhood. We stopped at several viewpoints and visited some more churches including the Cathedral de Se. Even though it’s the only church with an entrance ticket, there is a way around it, because all the churches are required to have a free part for visitors. The tuk-tuk was a good way to travel because the hills are very steep and walking would be hard. Another option to get to the top of Alfama would be the iconic tram no 28. After the tour, we had enough time to have lunch in a place full of locals and afterwards went to get the best pastel de nata with coffee once again. At 4 PM it was time to get our luggage from the hotel and get us a Bolt to go to the airport. As the rush hour was approaching, the ride to the airport took ca 40 minutes. It was good to get there early because the airport was also packed and it took a while to get through the security checks and reach our gate. The flight to Madeira took ca two hours. From the airport, we took another Bolt to Funchal where we were staying for the next five nights.
DAY 3 – Thursday, February 13
Our first morning on Madeira. At 8 AM we got our first café americanos from the nearby Maia Coffee Shop and brought it back to the apartment to have breakfast. Breakfast in Portugal is usually served really light with just some coffee and pastry. We are used to much heavier meals. But we were planning to take care of that and go to the supermarket to buy some food. As the supermarket wasn’t open yet, we went for a walk to the seaside. We were staying only a few minutes away from the marina. We walked along the promenade towards the “old town”. Early in the morning is a good time to walk through the streets before they get crowded with restaurants and tourists. The doors have beautiful paintings on them, which you see only early in the morning. Suddenly we saw a gondola passing above the street, and then the next one. We had arrived to the lower funicular station, which takes people up on the hills, where the Botanical Garden and the Monte Palace Gardens are located. As the sun was shining and we had a few hours to kill, we decided spontaneously to take the funicular up there. A round trip cost 20 EUR and it was the longest such ride I had ever been on. It took us ca 30 minutes altogether…get the tickets, wait in line and take the ride up there. We chose to visit the Monte Palace gardens as these were just at the funicular station. The ticket costs another 15 euros per person but is definitely worth it. The gardens are located on the mountainside, so be prepared to hike down the hilly paths. But don’t forget that you need to be ready to climb back up again later. We started with what seemed like a Japanese-themed part of the garden and made our way towards the lake in the centre. Next to the lake was the palace itself with some great views down towards the seaside. There were a lot of people but the gardens were so vast that it didn’t feel too crowded. Even the local flamingos didn’t mind. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to spend the whole day up there, so after some walking through the park we decided to climb back up there and take the funicular back down to the sea level. Our plan in the morning was to go to the store after all. So we found it and bought some stuff for breakfast and for some other meals and went back to the hotel for some much-needed shower and rest.
At 2:30 PM we had a whale-watching cruise planned with VIP Dolphins catamaran. We arrived half an hour earlier to check-in. It was a small group tour with only 10 people on the boat and they had two boats out at the same time. The catamaran was really fancy with a lot of room indoors and outdoors, with snacks and an open bar. After an hour of enjoying the beautiful weather, we arrived at the site where the whales were spotted. And there they were…a large pack of short-finned pilot whales native to the island of Madeira. These are really social animals who are doing everything together…diving down to hundreds of meters and then back up on the surface for some air. But they can be down there for a long time so we were lucky to actually see them on the surface for many times in a row. After that, we took the catamaran closer to the coast again and anchored for a while, so that people could go swimming in the ocean. The water was quite warm for the month of February at around 21 degrees Celsius. It doesn’t sometimes get this warm even in the summertime where I come from. After three hours on the sea, we were back in the marina and filled with clean sea air and sunshine. The sun sets at 6:51 PM so walked a bit before returning to the hotel.
DAY 4 – Friday, February 14
The meeting place for a Green Devil tour called “Porto Moniz & Fanal, volcanic pools, memorable adventure“ was in front of the Plaza Madeira at 8:20 AM. We were picked up in an old Nissan jeep, which might have given us an idea of what was coming. Anyways, the pick-up was on time, but it all went downhill from there. You must have heard from folklore or your religious group how the devil operates. It promises you the world, but then there is the fine print, which makes you lose your soul or worse. First, we had to travel about an hour to pick up two more people from the west side of the island. Five people in this kind of small jeep was enough, so that was OK. Our first stop as a group was at Ponta do Sol. It was a 20-minute stop to spend some money in the local restaurant for the right to use the bathroom and to see the view from the seaside pier. According to VisitMadeira “The Ponta do Sol Pier stands out architecturally for its wide perfect round arch, which connects the coastal cliff to the pier. It should be noted that the entire structure was built using regional stone, such as basalt, ashlars and pebbles. At the entrance to the pier, you can find an old prison, carved in the rock, and the guard house. For a long time, the Ponta do Sol Pier was the safest and widest one in the whole southwestern slope of the island of Madeira.“ We had to rely on Internet from now on because the only thing that Diogo (our driver, because I can’t really call him a guide in its regular sense) said was to be back in the car by 10 AM. From there we started our trip over and through the hills to get to the Northern side of the island. From seaside, we drove up to 1600 metres using just some off-road forest trails. This was the part Diego seemed to like…he really finally woke up from his sleepy demeanour and was driving like a devil through the landscape. After what felt like an hour I wasn’t feeling myself anymore. In the end, I only felt sorry for the car, which got so much beating from nature that I was surprised to see it still kept going. For the people in the back of the jeep there was a possibility to stand up during all this beating, but for us in the middle row it was too uncomfortable to stand and there wasn’t anything much to hold on to anyway. Up on the hill, it got really cold and it was good for the driver to close the roof again. It was also there where he said that we had a problem. The problem was that another car from the same company had refused to take the beating from nature anymore and had broken down on another trail. Or something like that. So we had to go and rescue the passengers of that car. After another long drive through the non-existing roads, we finally reached them and then had to wait for another car to arrive. Luckily for us, they had decided to wait at the location where one of the hiking trails passed by. So we got to see what these levadas or hiking trails with water aqueducts running beside them look like. Of course, Diogo didn’t come with us but told us to be back before the cars left. Which was a good suggestion in my opinion as we were in the middle of nowhere. We saw there also a group with another company and surprise-surprise the driver was also operating as a guide. Walking with the group, explaining where they were and pointing out what to see. Like a normal tour guide, you know. But not our Diogo, who was lounging in the jeep and doing nothing. Finally, we were allowed to leave there and the people from the broken car were divided between two cars. We got three nice Dutch people, which made the total number of people in our car 9 including Diogo. That meant it was full without room to move anymore. And the off-road beating continued. In the end, we were about 2,5 hours in the off-road section altogether which felt more like 4 hours, to be honest. During on of the off-road stops we were also given an option – eat your own lunch or go to a restaurant in Porto Moniz, which the Devil had chosen for you. As everybody was hungry already the food sounded good and we had to decide what to eat (like fish, chicken or meat) on the go without knowing the prices or anything. After reaching Porto Moniz, Diogo expertly pointed out one end of the seaside promenade and then the other end, stopped at the restaurant and told us to be back by 3 PM. That was it. We were on our own again. The food on my plate included some fries and a piece of fried fish (allegedly tuna). Asking around the table, everything tasted like chicken there…except the chicken, which didn’t taste like anything. So if you want some good food in Porto Moniz then take your chances with the countless number of other restaurants besides Polo Norte. But if you just want to fill your stomach with something digestible and make it through the wobbling jelly desert then go for it. The coffee was good by the way. But it wasn’t worth the 20 euro price per person. But I understand that the Green Devil also gets its commission when they bring in groups full of hungry people who were lucky to get out of the forest alive. After all this pointless waiting in the restaurant, we were finally able to pay and get out of there to see the town. We had just enough time to walk along the seaside and back. The sea was a bit rough so part of the “swimming pools” were closed, but on the other end, some people were still swimming between the rocks. Visually it looked good, but unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time for it. And our driver had said that there is a much better swimming place coming up in the next stop called Seixal. On the way there we also stopped at the place called Miradouro Ilheus da Ribeira da Janela. Why, I don’t know. And Diogo didn’t say. According to VisitMadeira „Near the viewpoint, at Foz da Ribeira da Janela, the maritime landscape is marked by the presence of large rock formations that rise up in the ocean. At the top of one of these islets, the rock presents an opening that resembles a window (janela) – a peculiarity that gives the name to the stream and the parish.“ So here you go. When arriving to the black sand beach in Seixal, we were given 30 minutes to go for swim „here or there“ before the jeep leaves. When I was asking where the swimming pool in a cave was located, which picture the Devil is using to lure people onto this tour on the Airbnb website, was in another place. As this was the title photo of the tour, then it was also one of the main motivators for choosing this tour from the others. Yes, there are other companies to choose from if you were wondering. Diogo informed me that this cave place was closed and you had to pay there for the entrance. That usually means that these people are not paying tribute to the Devil for bringing people in there yet. That was partly confirmed when Diogo stopped there on the top of the hill anyway and we could see people down there walking, but we didn’t have time to go down there and see for ourselves. By that time the clock was already 4:15. Did I mention already that the tour was supposed to be over by 4:30. That wasn’t happening. We only started our drive back to the south side. This time luckily using the highways and tunnels. First, we dropped the two people off to the southwest corner of the island and then made our way towards Funchal. It had started to rain and there was a yellow storm warning for the evening and night. By 6:20 we were down to 4 people and inside Funchal already. The traffic was very bad and Diogo informed us that it would be another hour to reach the pickup location. So we decided to get out wherever we were and just find our way back to our accommodation through the rain. Diogo, whom I think would make a great taxi driver one day, wasn’t objecting or offering any other solution and we were happy to part ways. This wasn’t too surprising because he didn’t really care about what we were seeing or doing during the tour anyways and he didn’t ask once during the day how we were doing back there or if arriving two hours later back to Funchal would mess up with anybody’s plans for Valentine’s Day, like make them miss their dinner reservations. This was my feedback on Airbnb for the tour organizer as well.
DAY 5 – Saturday, February 15
The rain had stopped by morning and the sun was out again. After breakfast, we went for a walk and for some shopping before the stored closed for the day. There were still a number of discounts going on and we managed to find some interesting stuff. Unfortunately, one of the snack places I had put on my map was closed, so we came back to the apartment instead and had a quick lunch there before the afternoon tour started. The pickup was from outside the Cathedral at 1:30 PM. The tour was run by True Spirit and was called “Cliff Skywalk, Vineyards Tour and Wines Tasting Experience“. It started with three other pickups so in the end there were 8 people in the Land Rover Defender jeep. Our first stop of the tour was the Cabo Girão Skywalk at an altitude of 580 metres, this viewpoint with a suspended glass platform takes advantage of the unparalleled panoramic view of the highest cape in Europe. There was an additional entry fee of 3 euros per person but it felt like worth it. What didn’t feel like worth it was an additional 50 cents entrance fee to the toilet. How can’t they include it in the other fee I can’t comprehend.
After that, the off-road section started. It seems that this is a must on every tour in Madeira. This time it wasn’t as bad as the day before. This part was even fun although it had rained heavily the night before and it was really wet out there. But our guide, Andre, seemed to respect his car much more and was really interested in our well-being as well. As this was only a half-day trip and the main attraction was yet to come, then the off-road part was relatively short.
We arrived at the vineyard just before 4 o’clock. Quinta do Barbusano Winery has been operating since 2006 and has many different properties around Madeira. Among other things, they are also doing tours and wine tastings. This is what we were there for. We started with a short walk through the vineyard followed by stories about the 6 wines they produce. Three whites, one rose and two red wines. They also make sparkling wine, but this was not on the tasting menu. The wine was accompanied by some crackers, cheeses and meats. All good and delicious. After an hour of drinking…sorry, wine tasting…the sun started to set behind the hills. It was time to return to Funchal. We were the last ones to be dropped off just after 6 PM. All in all, a nice day in Madeira.
DAY 6 – Sunday, February 16
No tours, no obligations. A completely free day. What to do?
We started with a walk through the Parque de Santa Catarina. It’s a small park just in the city centre by the cruise port. Full of different plants and a small pond with swans and a small statue of Cristóvão Colombo or as you might know him – Christopher Columbus. The more exciting parts of the park were these small lizards that were running around everywhere and the fact that there was a free toilet around the corner.
We walked back along the seaside and ended up at one of the restaurants I had planned to visit. Theo’s by Chef Julio Pereira is one of the restaurants of the restaurants that he opened in March 2024. We had a table for two on the balcony overlooking the sea. There are also some delicious-looking main courses on the menu but opted to try out some of the classic starters served in two portions. We ended up ordering 4 different ones and that was actually enough for lunch. The price was the same as getting just two main courses in any restaurant and trying out different-looking dishes was definitely more fun.
After lunch, we got some coffee from a food truck by the sea and sat down to read a little in the park there. I chose espresso macchiato, to find out what all the fuss was about. After some more walking and getting some pastel de natas we were done with Funchal. One more night here, then check out and catching our flight to Porto.
DAY 7 – Monday, February 17
After checking out from the apartment, we had a few hours to kill before we had to go to the airport. We spent these hours in the nearby Plaza Madeira mall, as the weather forecast promised rain. It was enough time to read a little and have lunch in a local restaurant. The Bolt took us about 20 euros to get to the airport compared with a regular taxi, which asked 25 euros.
The flight from Madeira to Porto was uneventful. We took Bolt from the airport and 11 euros later we were at the address of our accommodation for the next two nights. Except the accommodation was not in that address. We had been chatting already on WhatsApp with the accommodation representative. I checked several times if I was in the place that Booking.com directions and Google Maps lead us. Finally, we managed to find each other with the accommodation representative via video call. It turned out that the real location was about 5 minutes away on another street. Finally in the apartment, we had time to relax a little before heading out to dinner. It was a recommendation from different forums if you would like to experience Fado music with dinner in Porto (Taberna Real do Fado http://www.realfado.pt). It was just a few doors down from our place so well positioned as well. The doors opened at 8 PM and it was entrance with prior bookings only. We got a table for two just next to the “stage”, which consisted of two chairs for the musicians. We had a choice of the main course to make between traditional codfish dish, steak, vegetarian and so on. There were also different appetizers included (olives, crunchy of alheira, codfish fritters and padron peppers) and a dessert for the last course. The musicians performed three sets. First, just after all the appetizers had been served. The second performance took place after the main course and the last after the dessert. The whole thing lasted three hours. One guy was playing a Portuguese guitar (an instrument with 12 strings mostly associated with fado music) and another one was playing a traditional one. One of the men responsible for bringing us our food turned out to be a great fado singer as well, sharing the stage with a lady called Rute Rita. You can also hear her sing in the following video.
DAY 8 – Tuesday, February 18
At 8:30 we got our breakfast delivered at our door including cereal, milk, orange juice, apples and freshly baked bread with ham and cheese. After breakfast we went to meet with our guide Carlota up on Cathedral Hill. We explored Porto centre and its hidden streets and narrow alleys, from Sé neighbourhood to Ribeira, and the popular “Baixa” (Downtown), D. Luís Bridge, Bolsa Palace, Clérigos Tower, Livraria Lello, etc. It was a private tour and took around three hours including a stop at a popular bakery for some coffee and natas.
For lunch, we bought some pastries and crossed the bridge on the highest platform to the other side. Once in Gaia we ate our lunch on the platform usually reserved for watching sunsets. During the cloudy day the only ones who were watching, were the huge seagulls hoping to steal your food. After finding our way down the hill to the riverside, we headed towards the Sandeman Winery Cellars for a guided tour and wine tasting. It took ca 50 minutes to hear the stories of the history of the place, see the cellars where the wine is stored, see a short movie and then taste three different wines – one white, one ruby and one tawny. Afterwards we took a Bolt back to our apartment.
At 6 o’clock started our food tour. There were four locations. The first one was introducing different cheeses and meats with wines from different regions of Portugal. The second stop was at an alcohol shop serving also vinho verdes with sardines and other fish. The third stop was in a small bar offering different craft beers with warm Portuguese sandwiches and other snacks. The fourth stop was in the allegedly best place in Porto for pastel de nata. The bonus stop was at a tavern next to the university selling the liquid form of pastel de nata, which really tasted like the real thing. The guide, Granado, was a good one, but the food was maybe not as interesting as I had hoped, but there was more alcohol than I was expecting. In the end, I wasn’t hungry or drunk, so the balance was probably quite good.
By the time we finished the tour, it was starting to rain.
DAY 9 – Wednesday, February 19
Travelling all day long. Checked out at 10 AM and reached home after midnight. There was a 4-hour layover at Frankfurt airport, where I had a chance to write this all down.
Here are all the videos in one 34 minutes long version:
jatravellingxp.com 