What a Madeira trip costs

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What your Madeira trip costs

Set your party, nights and choices, and the planner prices the trip line by line, with the same trip at the other comfort levels beside it.

Travellers−2+

Nights−5+

When you travel

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

From the airport

AerobusPrivate transferHire car (in the car line)

Where you sleep

Hostel dormGuest house or 3-star4-star hotel5-star hotel

How you eat

Cheap eatsA mixRestaurants

Drinks

NoneTwo beers a dayFour beers a day

A hire car

No carBudget carAverage carPremium car

A wine lodge tour

NoYes

Tours

Island tourWhale watchingHiking tourBoat tripJeep tour

Room rates are the median nightly rate for two adults of the places scoring 7.0 or more in one Booking sample, 10 to 12 October 2026, used for every month, though rates change with the season. Meals are the price bands Funchal's restaurants publish per person. City bus fares are Horários do Funchal's 2026 tariff and the Aerobus fare CAM's; car hire is a Madeira rental company's published low and high season floors, with fuel at the regional maximum for one September week. Drinks are draught beers at a crowd-sourced Funchal average; the private transfer is the median of the six airport transfers on sale, per vehicle. The wine lodge is Blandy's Premium Tour, and tours are the most reviewed in each group. Flights, trail fees and extras are not included.

Travellers pricing a trip to Madeira usually find flights and hotels easily and then guess the rest. Much of the rest is fixed and published: the bus fares, the cable cars, the gardens, the trail fees, the tourist tax, even the maximum price of fuel.

Rooms are the largest cost. In a sample of 263 places to stay in central Funchal for two nights in mid-October 2026, the median price was about €196 a night: about €153 for three-star hotels, €227 for four-star and €410 for five-star. Around them, a city bus costs €1.45 on a pre-paid card, the cable car to Monte €16 one way, a classified walking trail €4.50, and the tourist tax €2 a night for at most seven nights.

Flights, restaurants and tours vary too much to price in one figure.

Getting there and getting around

The common mistake is to hire a car for the whole stay without counting parking and fuel. Price each way of moving.

From the airport, the Aerobus costs €6.70 on board or €5.55 on a pre-paid GIRO ticket, and a taxi to central Funchal usually about €25 to €35 by day, up to about €40 at night. In the city, a bus trip costs €2.05 on board or €1.45 on a GIRO card, which costs €0.50, and day tickets start at €4.95; children from 6 to 12 pay about half.

A hire car adds fuel and parking. Fuel has a weekly regional maximum: €1.984 a litre for 95 petrol and €2.077 for diesel in the week of 21 to 27 September 2026. Street parking in central Funchal costs €0.54 to €1.83 an hour depending on the zone, and parking at Queimadas, for PR9, €2 an hour.

The ferry to Porto Santo starts at €33.90. The 2026 bus fare table lists every city ticket.

Where you sleep

The mistake is to compare room prices without the date and the grade. Both move the figure.

In a sample of 263 places to stay in central Funchal, for 10 to 12 October 2026, the median price was about €196 a night. By star rating, the median was about €153 for three-star hotels, €227 for four-star and €410 for five-star; most of the listings, 147, were apartments. These are one set of dates in a busy month: hotel occupancy in the region was 71.4% in October 2025, against 52.8% in December and 76.7% in August, and prices follow demand.

On top of the room, Funchal charges a municipal tourist tax of €2 per guest per night for visitors over 12, for at most 7 consecutive nights, so at most €14 a person a stay. The accommodation collects it, and it is not included in the room price.

The guide to where to stay compares the areas and the hotels.

Sights and activities

People often assume the sights are expensive. Many are free, and the paid ones are modest.

The Sé cathedral is free to enter, and so are the old town's painted doors, the seafront, the viewpoints and the Levada dos Tornos, an unclassified walk. The paid sights are the cable cars, €16 one way to Monte and €11 one way on to the Botanical Garden; the Monte Palace Tropical Garden, €18; the Botanical Garden, €10; the toboggan, from €30; and the Cabo Girão skywalk, €5.

On the trails, each classified walk costs €4.50 for visitors over 12, and PR1 in full €10.50. For several trails, the combined rates save: €9.00 for two or more in a day, €22.50 in three days and €52.50 in seven, not including PR1. The IFCN's FAQ on trail fees has the rules.

Tours and boat trips are priced per person and vary by operator and season; check the current price of each before booking.

A sample day

The mistake is to budget a day by guesswork. A classic day in Funchal adds up simply.

A city day for one adult: a bus day ticket, from €4.95; the cable car up to Monte, €16; the Monte Palace Tropical Garden, €18; the toboggan down, €30 for one or €20 each for two sharing a basket at €40; the Sé, free; the old town, free. That comes to about €69 for one person without meals, or about €59 each for two sharing the toboggan.

A walking day: the trail fee, €4.50, or €10.50 for PR1, plus the bus or a transfer to the start. A levada near the city, the Levada dos Tornos, costs nothing beyond the bus.

A coast day: the bus or a taxi to Câmara de Lobos and Cabo Girão, the skywalk at €5, and the Lido, €6, from June to September.

A classic day in Funchal includes a visit to the Monte Palace Tropical Garden.

Ways to spend less

People often overspend on the easy things. A few habits cut the bill.

Buy a GIRO card for the buses: €0.50 once, then €1.45 a trip instead of €2.05. Use the combined trail rates for several walks in a few days. Take children at their prices: the cable car to Monte is free up to 6, the Monte Palace garden free up to 14 with an adult, and the trails free at 12 and under, with a booking. Share the toboggan: three in a basket cost €60, against €30 alone.

Hire a car only for the days that need one, the west and the north, and collect it in the city. Travel in the quieter months, December and January, when occupancy was about 53% and 54% in 2025. And stay more than a week: the tourist tax stops after seven nights.

Common questions

How much is a hotel in Funchal?

In a sample for 10-12 October 2026, the median was about €196 a night: about €153 at three stars, €227 at four and €410 at five.

What does the tourist tax cost?

€2 per guest per night for visitors over 12, for at most 7 nights: at most €14 a person a stay.

How much does a day in Funchal cost?

A classic city day, with a bus ticket, the cable car, the Monte Palace garden and the toboggan, costs about €69 for one adult before meals.

Are the walking trails free?

The classified trails cost €4.50 each, and PR1 in full €10.50; the Levada dos Tornos is free. Children 12 and under pay nothing.