How many days do you need in Madeira?
Three full days is the honest minimum to see the island properly. Four is comfortable. Most of the trips I plan run three or four days, because the island is small but the roads are slow, and trying to do it in two means spending the time in the car.
Madeira looks small on a map. It is about sixty kilometres end to end, which reads like something you could cover in an afternoon. The roads are what change the answer.
Everything is uphill, downhill, or through a tunnel. A drive that looks like twenty minutes is often forty. That is not a complaint, the roads are one of the best things about the island, but it is why I plan days by region rather than by distance.
The short answer
Three full days on the ground is the point where the island stops feeling rushed. Four is where it starts feeling relaxed. When I look back at the itineraries I have written for guests, most of them are three or four days, a few are two, and a handful stretch to five or seven.
Two days is possible and I have done it, but you will be choosing between the north and the west rather than seeing both.
What fits into three days
Three days works because the island divides cleanly into three directions, and each one is a full day.
One day east and north-east: sunrise at Pico do Arieiro, then down through Ribeiro Frio, the short Levada dos Balcoes walk, the north coast viewpoints, Porto da Cruz and Machico.
One day west and north-west, which is the longest driving day: Camara de Lobos, Cabo Girao, Ponta do Sol, Calheta, Jardim do Mar, the lighthouse at Ponta do Pargo, then Fanal, Seixal and Porto Moniz on the way back.
One day for Funchal itself and the near east: the old town, the market, Monte, and the Ponta de Sao Lourenco side if you want the walk.
What a fourth and fifth day buy you
The fourth day is the one I would fight for. It turns the west day from a march into something you can stop in the middle of. It is also the day you can spend walking rather than driving, which for most people is the point of coming.
A fifth day lets you add Curral das Freiras, Santana with the thatched houses, or a proper levada walk of three or four hours rather than a short one.
Seven days and you are no longer fitting things in. That is when people start going back to a place they liked, which is usually the best day of the trip.
What not to miss, going by what I actually include
Rather than guess, I went back through the itineraries I have written. Porto Moniz appears in almost all of them. So do Seixal and Funchal. Fanal, Camara de Lobos, Jardim do Mar and Curral das Freiras appear in around two thirds. Santana and Pico do Arieiro in more than half.
That is not a ranking of what is best. It is a record of what I keep putting in front of people, which is a more honest signal.
What to drop first
If you are short on time, drop distance before you drop stops. A shorter loop done properly beats a longer one seen through a windscreen.
The other thing to drop is the idea of a fixed plan. The weather here moves, and the best days are usually the ones where we changed the route in the morning.
Common questions
How many days do you need in Madeira?
Is 2 days in Madeira enough?
Is a week in Madeira too long?
Why does Madeira take longer to get around than it looks?
What should you not miss in Madeira?
Planning a trip and want a second opinion? Tell me your dates and a bit about who is coming, and I will come back within 24 hours.