Cheap things to do in Funchal
Markets, cliff walks and poncha for under a tenner: Funchal done properly cheap.
This is Funchal for people who eat at the counter, walk everywhere and consider a €4 poncha a reasonable evening. The plan mixes the old town's painted streets and Art Deco market with a day out to the sea cliffs above Câmara de Lobos and a coastal hike in Machico, all without spending much. If your idea of a good trip is local bars, fish markets and views that cost nothing to stand in front of, this is it.
Day 1: Old town doors and tavern plates
A morning in the flower and fish market, an afternoon on Rua de Santa Maria's painted doors, and an evening of sharing plates and fresh poncha at two of the old town's most reliable local spots.
- 10:15 AM
Mercado dos Lavradores
1940 Art Deco market hall: watch the flower sellers, browse the fish hall with black scabbardfish and exotic tropical fruit, free to wander.
Map - 12:30 PM
Theo's by Chef Júlio
Best-value lunch menu in the centre, accomplished kitchen, casual vibe, cheap daily set menu.
Map - 2:00 PM
Rua de Santa Maria
Stroll 200+ painted doors on this community art project street, free, photogenic and totally at your own pace.
Map - 7:30 PM
Taberna Madeira
Old-town tavern for sharing plates: tuna belly, octopus, espada with banana and garlicky limpets; book.
Map - 9:00 PM
Rei da Poncha
Funchal's poncha benchmark, fresh-made passion-fruit poncha for €3.50 to €6, locals on stools, Frida Kahlo on the wall.
Map
Day 2: Sea cliffs and espetada country
Coffee in a fishing village Churchill once set up his easel in, a free glass-floor skywalk over a 589 m drop, and a proper beef-on-laurel-sticks lunch in the village that invented the dish.
- 9:30 AM
Câmara de Lobos
Grab a coffee at the harbour of this working fishing village Churchill famously painted, cheap, local, atmospheric.
Map - 11:00 AM
Cabo Girão skywalk
Step onto the glass floor 580 m above the sea, one of the highest cliff skywalks in Europe; free.
Map - 12:30 PM
Restaurante Santo António
Espetada pilgrimage: beef on laurel sticks in the parish that owns the dish, served with milho frito and bolo do caco.
Map - 7:30 PM
Lume Pizzeria
Wood-fired pizza out in the Lido area, an easy dinner after a long day on the cliffs.
Map
Day 3: Machico: climb, fish, beach
A free climb to Pico do Facho, a fish lunch at Mercado Velho, an afternoon on Machico beach and dinner at Audax back in Funchal.
- 10:00 AM
Pico do Facho
Free climb from town to the old beacon point: all of Machico bay below, and the airport runway on its stilts.
Map - 12:30 PM
Restaurante Mercado Velho
Lunch in Machico's restored old market by the beach; espada with banana is the order.
Map - 2:00 PM
Machico beach
Machico's free, sheltered sandy bay inside the breakwater; the sea is still around 22°C in late October.
Map - 7:30 PM
Where to stay
29 Madeira Hostel
Budget hostel a short walk from the Zona Velha and Mercado dos Lavradores: the right price for this kind of trip.
Santa Maria Hostel
Cheap, sits right on Rua de Santa Maria itself, so you roll out the door into day one's itinerary.
Make Funchal your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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Book ahead
- Blandy's Wine Lodge: a few days ahead
- Funchal food and wine walking tour: a few days ahead
- PR1 Pico do Arieiro to Pico Ruivo: weeks ahead
- PR6 Levada das 25 Fontes: a few days ahead
- PR9 Levada do Caldeirão Verde: a few days ahead
- PR8 Ponta de São Lourenço: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Mercado dos Lavradores fruit pricing: look, photograph and sample, weigh and agree a total before bagging, and buy picnic fruit at Pingo Doce.
- Toboggan plus return taxi bundle: the ride ends at Livramento, not the centre, so price the whole chain before sitting in the basket.
- Cable car queues on cruise ship mornings: go before 10:00, after the excursion wave, or take bus 20 or 21 up and the cable car down.
- Santana houses are mostly replicas and demonstrations now, an enjoyable east day stop not a destination alone.
The full Funchal travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around