Santa Luzia, above the old town

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Visitors looking for a room in Funchal often find Santa Luzia on the map, just above the old town, and wonder what is there. The honest answer: homes, steep streets, views, and not many sights. That is the point of it.

Santa Luzia is a small parish of Funchal, 1.34 km² with 5,490 people in 2021, climbing the hill north of the Zona Velha towards Monte. Of the places listed across the city, only seven lie within 700 m of its centre, four of them viewpoints. It is a residential area, and as a place to stay it is quieter and cheaper than the old town below, with better views, at the price of steep streets. City bus routes 026 and 070 climb through it, which matters on streets this steep, and the Zona Velha and the seafront lie directly below.

Staying in Santa Luzia

The common mistake is to book a room uphill for the price and discover the walk home only on the first evening.

Santa Luzia is uphill from the old town: quieter and cheaper to stay in than the Zona Velha, with better views over the city and the bay, but steep. It is often counted among the five best areas to stay in the city, for exactly that balance.

The trade is easy to judge. Down the hill are the old town's 96 restaurants and its evenings; up the hill are calm nights and a view. A room in the lower streets keeps the old town a short walk away; a room higher up is closer to Monte, and further from the sea.

For anyone with limited mobility, or with luggage, check how the street reaches the door before booking: the slopes are the area's defining feature. Accommodation in Funchal adds the municipal tourist tax of €2 per guest per night for visitors over 12, for at most 7 nights.

The viewpoints

Visitors often climb to Monte for the view and miss the ones on the way. Santa Luzia has four within 700 m of its centre.

The Miradouro de Santa Luzia, rated 4.2 from 89 reviews, is the parish's own, looking down over the old town and the bay. Higher up, towards Monte, the Monte viewpoint is rated 4.6 from 99 reviews. Two smaller lookouts, the Miradouro do Damião and the Miradouro da Nossa Senhora do Bom Caminho, complete the list.

Together they give the view that makes the area worth staying in: the whole amphitheatre of Funchal, the harbour and, on a clear day, the sea to the horizon. On New Year's Eve, when the fireworks are fired from the hills and the seafront around the bay, a view from above is the way to see all of it.

The viewpoints guide covers the lookouts across the city.

The buses up and down

People often assume an uphill stay means taxis every day. Two city bus routes climb through Santa Luzia.

Route 070, named Santa Luzia, runs from Rua Engenheiro Amaro Costa down through Rua de Santa Luzia and Travessa da Saudade to the Alfândega, by the seafront, in 19 stops. Route 026, the Levada de Santa Luzia, runs from Rua Cidade de Santos through the Levada de Santa Luzia stops and Consolação down to Praça da Autonomia and the Palácio de São Lourenço, in 25 stops.

A trip costs €2.05 on board or €1.45 on a pre-paid GIRO card, which costs €0.50; day tickets start at €4.95. With a card, going down on foot and coming back up by bus is the easy routine.

The Funchal bus routes hub has both routes with all their stops, and the 2026 fare table the prices.

Down to the old town

The mistake is to think of Santa Luzia as far from the centre. It is directly above it.

Walking down, the streets lead to the Zona Velha, the old town, with Rua de Santa Maria and its about 200 painted doors, the Forte de São Tiago, the sea pools and the Mercado dos Lavradores, open Monday to Friday from 07:00 to 19:00 and on Saturday to 14:00. The lower station of the Funchal-Monte cable car is in the old town too.

The walk down is the easy direction, and it passes through quiet residential streets before the old town begins. The walk back up is the one to plan: take the bus, a taxi, or walk it slowly in the cool of the evening.

From the old town, the cathedral and Avenida Arriaga are a few minutes further west along the seafront, so a stay in Santa Luzia puts the whole historic centre within reach without a car.

Rua de Santa Maria in the old town features about 200 painted doors.

Up to Monte

Visitors often take the cable car to Monte without knowing it is close enough to reach from Santa Luzia by road.

Above Santa Luzia lies Monte, the hillside parish with the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte, where Emperor Karl I of Austria is buried, the Monte Palace Tropical Garden, €18 for an adult, and the toboggans, the carros de cesto, that run about 2 km down to Livramento in about 10 minutes, from €30 for one. The Monte viewpoint is within 700 m of Santa Luzia's centre.

The cable car from the old town is the classic way up, €16 one way or €22 return, daily from 09:00 with the last boarding at 17:45. From Santa Luzia, it is often easier to go down to its lower station in the old town than to climb the steep streets to the top.

The Monte guide covers the parish above.

The Monte Palace Tropical Garden is located in the hillside parish of Monte above Funchal.

Where to eat

People often expect a residential area to have nowhere to eat. Santa Luzia has little, but the old town is below.

Within 700 m of the parish centre, the listed places to eat are Levada 46, a café and restaurant rated 4.6 from 201 reviews, and Rota 23 Hamburgueria, rated 4.4 from 136. For more choice, the old town's 96 restaurants are a walk downhill.

That makes a routine that suits many visitors: breakfast and a quiet evening at home, dinner in the old town, and the bus or a taxi back up. For the island's dishes, espetada, bolo do caco and black scabbardfish with banana are the ones every guide names; the guide to eating in Funchal covers them.

Is it for you?

The mistake is to choose an area by the map alone. Choose it by the kind of stay.

Santa Luzia suits visitors who want quiet nights, a view and a lower price, and who do not mind a climb or a short bus ride. It suits less those who want to step out of the door into restaurants and bars, or who find steep streets hard.

For the lively alternative, the old town below is packed with restaurants and bars, but cramped and pricey to stay in. For a central but calm alternative, São Pedro, west of the cathedral, is the other choice. For the resort hotels, the Lido area to the west has the big seafront hotels.

The neighbourhoods guide sets all of them side by side, and the Horários do Funchal site has the timetables for the routes up the hill.

Common questions

Where is Santa Luzia in Funchal?

Uphill from the old town, between the Zona Velha and Monte.

Is Santa Luzia a good place to stay?

For a quieter, cheaper stay with views, yes; the streets are steep, and the old town's restaurants are downhill.

Which buses serve Santa Luzia?

City routes 070, Santa Luzia, and 026, Levada de Santa Luzia, both running down to the seafront.

What is there to see?

Mainly the views: four viewpoints within 700 m, with the old town below and Monte above.