Great things to do in the Madeira Mountains

If we notice it's a clear day we love heading into the interior part of the Madeira to explore the incredible variety. This is the most vertical place we've ever visited and it's just astonishing how many deep canyons there are and just how quickly you climb from that blue water up to sites like this!

Visit a Candy Factory

One day as we began our ascent in the car we stopped at a small family run factory called Doçaria that specializes in traditional Madeiran sweets. They gave us a free tour and it was cool to watch them making various flavors of sugarcane candy, cookies and the very popular honey cake. We ended up purchasing several goodies to munch on for the rest of the day.

Valley of the Nuns

This is a small village that's nestled in a huge cauldron that was settled by nuns in 1566 after they escaped the pirates that were attacking Funchal. Our first stop was at Miradouro Eira do Serrado where we walked around a bit and enjoyed a yummy bowl of chestnut soup. After continuing upward on the narrow roads we arrived at the Paredão Viewpoint where we looked down at the valley from a different perspective. You can hike down into the Valley of the Nuns but it's quite an elevation change so we just stuck with these viewpoints.

Pico do Areeiro

Visiting here often means ascending above the clouds since it's the third highest peak on the island at 5964 feet!! The day we went that meant donning sweatshirts and wind breakers so we could walk to a platform which had great views facing out toward the water. It was amazing to consider our current elevation while seeing the ocean!

Next was the very popular trail that connects this peak to Pico Ruivo, the highest peak on the island. On this day, Kim and I weren't feeling up to actually doing that hike so instead we found an outside table at the cafeteria and had a beer and warm bowl of soup. The views were just incredible and we can't wait to return to hike here!

Stop in the incredible vertical villages

On the days where we explore these mountain roads in the car we make lots of stops to soak up the terraces & villages and enjoy local little cafes. The weather often includes mist, fast moving clouds, fog, rain showers, bright blue sky and/or all of that on the same day! It just never gets old.

Visit Santana

We had so much fun watching for the small traditional Santana houses as we drove around Santana. They are very distinct small triangles and typically have thatched roofs. Their history dates back to the discovery of the island. One day when I had spotted one, a very nice man invited us to see the inside! This was the home his father (and several siblings) had been born in. We had a hard time imagining a family that size living in this! He explained that he had recently returned to the island and was working on restoring it so that he could open it to visitors. We learned it was one of the very few remaining original homes.

Stop at viewpoints to gaze around!

It's really difficult to capture the sheer magnitude of these vertical mountains as well as the beauty of the houses dotting these valleys. Suffice it to say it's breathtaking.