Santana Madeira things to do

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Visitors picture Santana as a single photograph: a small triangular house with a thatched roof, painted blue, red and white. The Santana Madeira things to do go further than that picture: a theme park on the island's history, a levada walk to a waterfall of about 100 m, and the laurel forest on the road there.

Santana is a municipality of about 6,500 people on the north coast, 95.47 km², 38.3 km from Funchal by road, about 44 minutes. It is on the wet side of the island: the Queimadas weather station, in the hills above the town, averaged about 2,300 mm of rain a year over 1941-1970, against about 575 mm in Funchal, so bring a jacket.

The houses

The common mistake is to expect a whole village of them. The visitable houses are a small reconstructed group.

Santana's typical houses are triangular, with thatched roofs, painted blue, red and white. Inside, the attic under the roof stored the harvest, and the ground floor was split into a kitchen and a bedroom. The group to visit is the Núcleo de Casas Típicas: a set of houses rebuilt for visitors, with souvenirs sold in them, rather than homes still lived in.

Take them for what they are, a short stop and a photograph. The theme park has its own village of traditional houses.

On the road from Funchal, the line 103 bus and the east-coast day tours pass Ribeiro Frio, in the same municipality, where a trout farm has run since 1960 and PR11, the Vereda dos Balcões, runs 1.5 km each way, easy, to the Balcões viewpoint.

The theme park and the levada

People often come for the houses and leave within the hour. Santana has two longer visits.

The Madeira theme park Santana holds, inaugurated in October 2004, covers 7 ha: a village of traditional Santana houses, the Quintinha with farm animals, the Fantastic Voyage in Madeira, a children's pavilion, gardens of endemic plants, a replica of the Monte train and a lake. Crafts are shown too, from wool and linen to embroidery and wicker, with a traditional grocery and a wood-fired oven that bakes Santana bread. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00 and closes on Mondays; allow 2 to 4 hours. Tickets are priced on request, and parking is free; the park's hours page has any holiday changes.

For walkers, PR9, the Levada do Caldeirão Verde, starts at the Queimadas forest park, 44.3 km from Funchal, about 51 minutes. It runs 8.7 km each way through the Laurisilva, past the waterfall of about 100 m at the Caldeirão Verde, about 6:30 there and back, and costs €4.50. The PR9 guide covers the walk.

Santana is known for its traditional embroidery and wicker work, with a local market open Tuesday to Sunday.

Common questions

How far is Santana from Funchal?

38.3 km, about 44 minutes by road. Buses 56 and 103 take about 75 to 90 minutes.

Can you go inside the Santana houses?

The Núcleo de Casas Típicas is a reconstructed group open to visitors. The theme park has its own village of traditional houses.

Is the Madeira Theme Park open every day?

No. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00 and closes on Mondays.

What is the weather like in Santana?

Much wetter than Funchal: the Queimadas station above the town averaged about 2,300 mm of rain a year, against about 575 mm in Funchal, so bring a jacket.