East Madeira: Pico do Arieiro, Santana & Ponta de São Lourenço

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Free cancellation

1/6

Duration8h

GroupUp to 16

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Six stops across East Madeira in one day, from mountain peak to volcanic cliffs

You're picked up from your hotel and driven through five distinct landscapes — mountain peak, ancient forest, traditional village, coastal cliffs, and historic town — with a local guide explaining the geology, history and culture as you go. Lunch is included if you choose it, and the small-group format means the van doesn't feel crowded. You're back in Funchal by evening, having covered the east side of the island without arranging transport or timing it yourself.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore East Madeira's key sights

Climb Pico do Areeiro mountain
Visit Ribeiro Frio laurel forest
Explore Santana traditional houses
Enjoy views in Faial village
Admire Portela viewpoint scenery
Walk Ponta de São Lourenço cliffs
Discover historic Machico town

The Experience

The van pulls up to Pico do Arieiro at 1,818 meters, and the air hits differently up there — thinner, cooler, the kind of quiet you don't expect on an island. Your guide points out the peaks rolling toward the Atlantic, and you realize the whole eastern half of Madeira is spread below you. This is where the day starts, and it sets the pace: not rushed, but moving through landscape like you're reading a map with your eyes. From here you drop down into Ribeiro Frio, where the laurel forest closes in around you — this is UNESCO-protected woodland that's been here since before recorded time, and the trout ponds tucked into the green feel like something from another era.

Santana comes next, and this is the moment most people reach for their camera. The triangular houses with thatched roofs aren't a museum exhibit; they're still lived in, still maintained as part of how the village works. Your guide explains the design — the steep pitch sheds rain, the thatch keeps things cool — and suddenly they're not just pretty, they're practical. You move through Faial after that, quieter, with a cross on the hill overlooking the north coast cliffs, then to Portela, where the viewpoint opens up over Porto da Cruz and the Eagle Rock formation. The landscape shifts as you drive: green valleys, then drier terrain, then the volcanic rock of Ponta de São Lourenço at the island's eastern tip, where the cliffs drop straight into the sea and the air tastes salt.

The tour wraps in Machico, the first place Portuguese explorers landed in the 1400s, and there's a 15th-century church if you want to step inside, or a beach if you'd rather just sit. The whole day runs with a local guide and driver in an air-conditioned vehicle, which matters more than it sounds — the roads wind, the stops are timed so you're not standing around, and someone who actually knows the island is explaining what you're looking at instead of reading from a script. Lunch is optional but worth taking if you're not on a tight schedule; it gives you time to settle into the rhythm instead of rushing between viewpoints.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off in Funchal.
air-conditioned vehicle for the full day.
local guide and driver.
lunch (if selected at booking).
entry to viewpoints and villages including Pico do Arieiro, Ribeiro Frio, Santana, Faial, Portela, Ponta de São Lourenço, and Machico.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Intertours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see the contrasting landscapes of East Madeira — mountains, forest, villages, and coastal cliffs — in a single day without renting a car or planning the route yourself; the small-group format and local guide mean you get context for what you're seeing instead of just passing through.