Where to Stay in Paúl do Mar, Madeira
We have three homes in Paúl do Mar and between them they cover almost every way of staying in the village: a five bedroom seafront villa that sleeps ten, and two ninety year old stone cottages next door to each other that sleep two each and four between them. This guide is the comparison, house by house, including which one we would put you in and which one is wrong for you, and it assumes you have already decided on the west coast. If you have not, read why stay in Paúl do Mar first.
Which Paúl do Mar cottage to book
- A couple who want the sea. Palheiro Mar. Oceanfront, and the sunset goes down in front of it.
- A couple who want the quiet. Palheiro Jardim. Facing the mountain, with its own parking.
- Four people. Both Palheiros. They are next door to each other and take four between them.
- A family or a group. Casa Carneirinho. Ten people, five bedrooms, a garden and an art room.
- The best value. Palheiro Jardim, which gives up the water view and very little else.
- The one we would book ourselves. Palheiro Mar in autumn, for the swell and the sunsets.
- All three. Have parking, which is not a given in this village, and no booking fee.
- Minimum worth doing. Three nights. It is an hour from Funchal and the village rewards slowness.
If none of these are free for your dates, the same argument applies twenty minutes up the coast: see the area guide for the alternatives on this coast.
The Village in Two Paragraphs
Paúl do Mar is a few hundred people on a shelf of land between 300 metre cliffs and the Atlantic, on the south west coast, an hour from Funchal by car and reached through a tunnel bored down inside the rock from Prazeres. There is one road along the seafront, a black pebble beach, a small supermarket, a pharmacy and a handful of cafés. There is no resort strip, and the nearest full supermarket is fifteen minutes away in Calheta.
All three of our houses are in the village itself rather than up on the hillside above it, which is the distinction that matters most when you are comparing listings on this coast: you can walk to the water, to the bar and to dinner from all three. You still need a car, without exception, and all three have somewhere to put it. The full case for the village, the surf, the PR19 walk down and who should stay elsewhere is in why stay in Paúl do Mar.
Casa Carneirinho, the Whole House
A 1930s villa on the seafront, three floors, five bedrooms, sleeping ten. It is the largest thing we have anywhere on the island and the best whole house on this coast, and it exists for the trip where everybody comes: two families, three generations, a group of friends who have been meaning to do this for years.
The sea is visible from every floor and the garden is the part people actually remember, because it is where the eating happens. There is also an art room, which sounds like a listing embellishment and is not: it is a proper room with light and space to work in, and it gets used by people who paint and by people with children on a rainy afternoon in equal measure.
Ten people in five bedrooms with a garden and a kitchen is a fundamentally different holiday from ten people in five hotel rooms, and it is most of the reason groups come back here. What it is not is intimate. Two people in this house would be rattling around it, and the two cottages below exist for exactly that.
This is the one to book earliest. It is the only home in the village that sleeps ten, which means school holidays, Christmas and New Year go months ahead, and there is nothing comparable to fall back to twenty minutes up the coast.
Palheiro Mar, the One With the Sunset
A palheiro is a stone outbuilding, and these two are about ninety years old with the original walls and timber floors kept rather than replaced. Palheiro Mar is the one that faces the water. One bedroom, two people, and the Atlantic more or less in the window.
What you are paying the difference for here is the west. This coast faces directly into the sunset, and having it happen in front of your own place rather than walking down to the sea wall for it is a smaller thing on paper and a larger one in practice. In autumn and winter you also get the swell: the reef break works out front, and watching a serious wave from a warm room is one of the better things this village offers.
It is a small, old, stone building and it is honest about that. Two people who want a simple room with an extraordinary view will love it. Anyone expecting a modern apartment with the sea attached should look at the Lido in Funchal instead.
Palheiro Jardim, the One Facing the Other Way
Next door, the same age, the same stone and timber, and turned to face the cliffs instead of the sea. One bedroom, two people, free parking of its own. It is the quieter of the two and it is usually the better value.
The mountain view is not the consolation prize people assume. The cliffs behind this village rise almost vertically off the backs of the houses, dark and streaked with green where the water clings, and in the late afternoon the light runs along them rather than down onto them. Painters have been coming here for that hour for decades. You are also eighty seconds from the seafront on foot, so the water is not something you have given up.
Book this one if the budget matters, if you sleep badly with sea noise, or if the two of you are here to walk and surf rather than to sit and look. Book Palheiro Mar instead if the view from the room is the point of the trip.
The Three of Them, Line by Line
Everything that actually differs between the three, in one place.
| Casa Carneirinho | Palheiro Mar | Palheiro Jardim | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleeps | 10 | 2 | 2 |
| Bedrooms | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Faces | The sea, from every floor | The sea | The cliffs |
| Outside space | A garden to eat in | Seafront position | Its own parking |
| Best for | Groups and families | Couples, and the view | Couples, and the value |
| The catch | Too big for two | Small and old, by design | No water from the window |
What the table cannot say is that the two Palheiros are next door to each other, which is the option most people miss: booked together they take four in two separate front doors, which for two couples or a family with teenagers works better than any four bed flat.
Palheiro Mar in October or November. The swell has arrived, the village is empty, the sunsets are at their best after the summer haze has gone, and it is the cheapest half of the year to be in the nicest room.
What Is Within Walking Distance
Everything in this section is on foot from all three houses, which is the practical argument for being in the village rather than above it. The seafront, the Avenida dos Pescadores Paulenses, is where the shop, the pharmacy and the cafés are, and where the village is in the evening.
Bar de Pedra is built into the rocks at the water's edge and does the best poncha here. The black pebble beach and the sea wall are two minutes from any of the three doors, swimmable in calm summer conditions and a serious reef break from autumn onward. Yoga by Lena runs classes in the village, which is the sort of thing that only exists in a place people actually live in. And the PR19 Caminho Real, the old cobbled royal road, drops about 700 metres from Prazeres and finishes on this seafront, so the best walk on this coast ends at your own front door rather than at a car park.
Booking in Paúl do Mar, Answered
Which is the best place to stay in Paúl do Mar?
It depends entirely on the size of the party. For two people, Palheiro Mar if the sea view is the point and Palheiro Jardim if the value is. For four, both Palheiros together, because they are next door to each other. For a family or a group of up to ten, Casa Carneirinho, which is the only house in the village at that size.
Can you stay in Paúl do Mar without a car?
You can be in the village without one, but the trip will not work. Bus services here are limited and built around residents rather than visitors, the nearest full supermarket is fifteen minutes away in Calheta, and everything the west coast is worth coming for is a drive. All three of our cottages include somewhere to park.
How many nights should you stay in Paúl do Mar?
Three at the very least, and five is better. It is an hour from Funchal, so a one or two night stop spends most of itself on the road, and the village is a place that rewards settling into rather than ticking off. Guests who book three nights here regularly ask to extend.
Are the Paúl do Mar cottages suitable for families?
Casa Carneirinho is, and it is the one built for it: five bedrooms, a garden to eat in, an art room for a wet afternoon and space for ten. The two Palheiro cottages sleep two each and are couples' houses, though booked together they suit a family of four with older children who are happy in their own front door.
Is there a beach at Paúl do Mar?
Yes, a black pebble one along the seafront, two minutes from all three houses. It is swimmable in calm summer conditions and it is not a sandy resort beach. From autumn onward the reef break out front is a genuine surf spot for people who already know what they are doing. The nearest golden sand is at Calheta, fifteen minutes away.
The Three Houses
Every one of these is booked direct with the local hosts who look after it, all three have parking, and none of them carry a booking fee. If you are between two of them, message us with the dates and the size of the party and we will tell you which one we would give you, including when the answer is that neither is right for the trip you are describing.
Three guides that go with this one
Areas
Why Stay in Paúl do Mar
The case for the village itself: the surf, the sunsets, the walk down and the catch.
Read guide
Areas
Best Places to Stay in Madeira
How this coast compares with Funchal and the rest of the island as a base.
Read guide
Hikes
Best Hikes and Levada Walks in Madeira
Where the PR19 down to this village ranks, and the five other walks worth a day.
Read guide