Madeira food tour in Funchal

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Visitors who arrive in Funchal with a list of dishes to try often do not know where to find them, or which bar makes a proper poncha. A Madeira food tour solves that in an afternoon: a guide walks you through the centre, from the market to the taverns, with a tasting at every stop.

Forty-eight food and wine tours run from Funchal, from 26 operators, and every one can be cancelled free of charge within its window. They come in five kinds: walking tastings of 3 to 4 hours, a self-guided tapas route, wine tastings in the city's cellars, poncha and bar evenings, and classes in the kitchen, from pastel de nata to honey cake.

The most reviewed is a 4-hour walking food tour, rated 4.75 from 826 reviews.

The walking tastings

The common mistake is to book a food tour and eat lunch first. The tastings add up to a meal.

The most-reviewed walk, 4 hours, meets at the tour office next to the Sé Boutique Hotel on Christopher Columbus Square, where the guide carries a board. All food and drinks are included, with vegetarian, gluten-free and alcohol-free options, and guides speak Portuguese, English, French and German.

The top-rated walk, 3 hours 30 minutes, 4.82 from 517 reviews, meets at the H&M store by the Rotunda do Infante. It includes 11 food tastings and 6 drinks, at a winery, restaurants, a café, a bakery, a bar for a cocktail and the food market. It is in English and not suitable for people with mobility impairments.

A third walk, 3 hours, starts at the Jesuits' College on Rua dos Ferreiros and mixes history with tastings: honey cake and regional biscuits at a sweet factory, tropical fruit at the Farmers' Market, and a glass of poncha with a savoury snack at a tavern. It is for adults only.

Transport to the meeting points is not included, so walk there.

What you will taste

People often expect the tours to be about wine. The walks cover the whole table.

The dishes that come up are the island's own. Bolo do caco, the sweet-potato flatbread, is served warm with garlic and parsley butter. Espetada is beef roasted on a bay-laurel stick. The fish is espada, the black scabbardfish, often served with banana, and lapas, limpets grilled with garlic and butter, come still in the pan.

The sweets run on sugar-cane honey, from the bolo de mel to the regional biscuits, and the drinks go from Madeira wine and poncha to the nikita, a beer and pineapple drink.

The self-guided tapas route lists tapas, dentinhos, poncha, Madeira wine, artisan chocolate, pastel de nata, coffee, artisan cheese and wine, at independent taverns in the old town, starting at the first restaurant on the route.

The Farmers' Market, the Mercado dos Lavradores, is on most walking routes for its fruit; its hours are on the municipality's market page. The dishes guide explains the rest.

Wine tastings in the city

Visitors often assume a wine tasting means a drive into the vineyards. In Funchal, the old cellars are in the centre.

H.M. Borges, founded in 1877, runs a guided tour of its cellars on Rua 31 de Janeiro, rated 4.71 from 404 reviews, with a tasting of 2 to 6 wines depending on the tour, paired with a mini honey cake and sugar-cane cookies; a private version takes 1 hour 30 minutes. Blandy's, in the trade since 1811, runs its own tours at the lodge on Avenida Arriaga, listed on Blandy's tours page.

A sommelier leads a tasting of 5 Madeira wines of 10 years in 1 hour 30 minutes, with cheeses, dried fruit and chocolate, or a vegan board on request; it is for adults only. A premium guided tour adds 3 tastings in 1 hour, and another pairs wine with artisan cheese.

Every Madeira wine sold passes the analysis of IVBAM, the institute that also certifies poncha. The wine lodge guide compares the lodges.

Poncha, bars and evenings

The mistake is to order poncha anywhere and judge it by the first glass. Taste it where it is made by hand.

A bar-hopping tour of 3 hours meets at the entrance of Blandy's Wine Lodge at 15:45 and starts at 16:00. It includes a local craft beer, a white Madeiran wine, ginja in a chocolate cup, a Madeira wine, a nikita and a poncha workshop, with an English-speaking guide. It is for adults only.

A Sunday stroll adds a poncha workshop to a walk through the culture and history of the city, and several tuk-tuk trips of 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes pair a ride with poncha, rum or wine tastings, one of them at night.

For an early evening, a live fado show of 50 minutes includes a glass of Madeira wine, rated 4.75 from 480 reviews; it is not suitable for children under 6.

Outside the city, a 4-hour trip by classic VW Beetle stops in Câmara de Lobos for poncha on the way to Cabo Girão, with the drinks extra. The poncha guide covers the drink.

Poncha is a traditional Madeiran drink often sampled during food tours.

Classes and days out

People often assume the classes are for serious cooks. Most are for anyone, with the tasting at the end.

A pastel de nata workshop of 2 hours, at an office on Rua do Sabão next to the Sé Boutique Hotel, has you bake the tarts with a chef, with tea or coffee; it is not suitable for people with diabetes or gluten intolerance. The same operator runs a market-to-plate class of 4 hours, from the Farmers' Market to a restaurant kitchen, and a cooking class of 3 hours with lunch. Several short classes and visits, of 1 to 2 hours, make or taste bolo de mel, one of them at the honey cake museum.

For a day out, the full-day wine tour of 8 hours, rated 4.92 from 175 reviews, collects from hotels in Funchal by minibus, with lunch and every entrance fee included. Other trips pair tastings with the Cabo Girão skywalk, €5, or visit the Sunday farmers' market at Santo da Serra.

Book a walking tasting early in a stay: it shows which dishes to order again, and the restaurant guide covers where.

Common questions

How long is a food tour in Funchal?

The walking tastings last 3 hours to 4 hours; the self-guided route goes at your own pace.

Do food tours cater for vegetarians?

The most-reviewed walk offers vegetarian, gluten-free and alcohol-free options; ask the others when you book.

Can children join a food tour?

The history walk with poncha, the bar tour and the sommelier tasting are for adults only; check each listing for its age limit.

Where can I taste Madeira wine in Funchal?

In the cellars of H.M. Borges and Blandy's in the centre, or with a sommelier-led tasting of 5 wines.