Madeira photography guide

The most common way to get to Madeira is by plane. The Cristiano Ronaldo Airport is just 20 minutes drive from the airport. Also the Funchal harbour is an important stopover for trans-Atlantic cruises.

As for public transport, there are several bus companies on Madeira, which you can recognize by the bus colours. In general the buses are not a very good way to discover the island, as they do not operate very frequently on some routes and it is hard to get to places where you might want to catch sunrise or sunset with those.

Most common way to commute on the island is renting a car. The major car rental companies operate on the Madeira Airport (i.e. Europcar, Sixt,...).

The Flower Festival usually takes place during the beginning of May and is famous for the folk group performances and flower carpet constructions.

Madeira offers a wide variety of possibilities for landscape and nature photographers:

The Fanal Forest is a magical place and also a very popular location for instagrammers. Old trees with twisted branches covered with moss and lichen, hidden in the dense fog, brings an amazing experience and it is really easy to get awesome pictures here. It is the fog you should be here after!

Península São Lourenço is the eastern part of Madeira. The dry landscape with orange-red soil offers many spots where to take pictures from - from the ones where you can photograph directly from the parking place to some, where you need to hike a bit. It is good for both sunrise and sunsets, and it is easy to reach - just a 30 minutes drive from Funchal.

Levadas are the "must visit place" on Madeira. Well, it is not one place, of course. But you can choose one based on your touristic level.

If you really aim for stars, choose the Levada Caldeirão Verde. It will take you to a beautiful waterfall - 6 kilometres one way and 6 kilometres back through the lush forest. Head lamp is an advisable piece of equipment here, as there are 4 tunnels on the way.

Mercado dos Lavradores in Funchal is a vibrant and busy market full of fruit, vegetables, flowers and fish.