Where to Stay in Funchal (The Neighbourhood Guide)
Funchal is a city built up the sides of a bowl, which means the street you book decides how steep your walk home is, how far you are from dinner and whether you can swim before breakfast. It is small enough that all four of the areas below are within half an hour of each other on foot, and different enough that people who love one would not have booked another. This is the street level version: what each part of the city is for, who it suits, and where we would put you.
Which part of Funchal to book
- First trip, and atmosphere. The Old Town and Rua da Carreira. Everything inside a fifteen minute walk.
- No car. The same, or the Lido. Both are flat, both are on every bus route.
- Swimming every day. The Lido, for the sea pools, Praia Formosa and the promenade.
- Quiet, with a sea view. Avenida do Infante, between the centre and the Lido, beside the park.
- A family of four. Carreira Vicente in the centre or Santa Catarina on the Avenida. Both sleep four with parking.
- A month or more. São Martinho. Residential, ocean views, and a thirty night minimum.
- Driving. Book somewhere with its own space. Old Town parking is the thing people underestimate.
- Where not to book. The hillside above the city, however good the photographs are.
Still deciding between Funchal and the rest of the island? That is the question above this one, and it is answered in the area guide.
The Two Things That Decide This: the Hill and the Water
Funchal sits in a natural amphitheatre facing south, with the mountains behind it taking the weather out of the air before it arrives. That is why the city is sunnier than anywhere else on the island, and it is also why it goes uphill in every direction away from the water. The flat part is a band a few streets deep along the seafront, and everything above that is a climb.
This matters more than any other single fact when you are comparing listings. A place four hundred metres from the cathedral can be a pleasant stroll or a genuine ascent depending entirely on whether those four hundred metres are along the coast or up it, and photographs do not show gradient. The rule of thumb: if the listing has a spectacular view over the rooftops, you are above the city rather than in it, and you will be walking up to it every evening.
The second axis is east to west. The historic centre is at the eastern end, the Lido is two kilometres west along the seafront, and Avenida do Infante is between them. The promenade connects all of it at sea level, which means you can walk the entire length of the city without a single hill, and it is the walk we tell every guest to do on their first evening.
Cruise ships put several thousand people into the eastern end of the city between about ten and four on a lot of days. It never reaches the Lido and it barely reaches Rua da Carreira. If crowds bother you, that is an argument for the western half rather than an argument against Funchal.
The Old Town and Rua da Carreira
This is where most first trips belong. The historic core runs roughly from the cathedral east into the Zona Velha, the old fishermen's quarter where every door on Rua de Santa Maria has been painted by a different artist, and west along Rua da Carreira. Inside that rectangle you have the covered market, the marina, the cable car station, the black and white stone pavements and around forty restaurants, all within a fifteen minute walk of each other.
The two halves have different characters and it is worth knowing which you are booking. The Zona Velha is the photogenic, busy, evening half, and it is where the cruise crowd concentrates in the middle of the day. Rua da Carreira, running west, is the long residential street with the better eating and a quieter feel, and it is where we would put a couple who want to be central without being in the middle of it.
Two of our homes are on that street. Carreira Solar sleeps two and has underground parking, which in this part of the city is worth more than an extra room. Carreira Vicente sleeps four in two bedrooms with parking, and is the one we give families who want to walk to dinner.
If you are hiring a car, take somewhere with a dedicated space rather than assuming you will find one. Old Town parking is genuinely scarce, the public garages fill in the evening, and circling for forty minutes after a long drive is the single most common complaint we hear from guests who booked elsewhere.
Avenida do Infante and Santa Catarina
A few minutes west of the historic core, Avenida do Infante is the broad tree lined avenue that runs between the centre and the Lido, and it is the compromise position in this guide. Santa Catarina Park, one of the prettiest green spaces on the island, is right here, with the marina and the casino below it, and the grand old hotels of the Victorian era line the road.
What it gives you is quiet without isolation. You can walk east into the Old Town in about fifteen minutes or west to the Lido in about the same, both on the flat, and in between you have a park, a view over the bay and a street that is not full of people at nine in the evening. It suits couples who found the Old Town too busy on a previous trip, families who want green space, and anybody working remotely who needs the day to be calm.
Santa Catarina, our home here, sleeps four in two bedrooms and has a sea view balcony, a proper work desk and private parking, which is close to the exact specification people ask us for when they are staying a fortnight rather than a week.
The Lido and Praia Formosa
Two kilometres west along the seafront is the Lido, which is Funchal's swimming neighbourhood. There is no natural sandy beach here, as there is almost nowhere on this island, and what there is instead is better: seawater bathing complexes cut into the rock with ladders down into the Atlantic, and Praia Formosa, the island's largest beach, ten minutes further west. It is pebble, and it is the biggest stretch of shoreline in the city.
Book this end if you want to be in the water every day. The promenade running back into town is flat, takes about half an hour and is genuinely one of the best free hours in Funchal, particularly at dusk when everybody in the city seems to be walking it. The bus does the same journey in ten minutes for a euro or two if you would rather not.
What you give up is being in the middle of the historic city, so an evening in the Old Town becomes a decision rather than a stroll. Lido Branca and Lido Casa are our two here, next to each other on Rua da Casa Branca, sleeping two each with pool access, and they take four between them for two couples travelling together.
For a first trip, the centre. For a second, the Lido. Almost everybody wants the Old Town the first time and a great many of them want the sea pools and the promenade the next time, once they have already seen the market and the cathedral.
São Martinho, and Staying a Month
West again and up, above Praia Formosa, São Martinho is residential Funchal: a hillside of flats and houses with wide ocean views, supermarkets you can park at, and none of the evening noise of the centre. It is a neighbourhood people live in rather than visit, and the difference shows in the prices and in how quiet it is on a Tuesday.
It is the wrong answer for a week and the right one for a season. Being up the hill means a car or a bus for most things, so the walkability that makes the rest of this guide work is not on offer here. What you get instead is space, a view, quiet and a genuine sense of being resident somewhere rather than passing through, which is what matters when the stay is measured in months.
Centro Mar, our home here, sleeps six in three bedrooms with an ocean view and private parking, and it takes a minimum of thirty nights. That minimum is the clearest possible statement of who the area is for: remote workers, people wintering here, and anybody whose trip is long enough that they will want a supermarket run rather than a restaurant every night.
The Four Areas, Line by Line
Walking times are to the cathedral, which is as close to the middle of the historic centre as makes no difference, and they assume the flat coastal route rather than the direct one.
| Old Town | Avenida do Infante | Lido | São Martinho | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walk to the centre | You are in it | About 15 min | About 30 min | Bus or car |
| Terrain | Flat | Flat | Flat | Uphill |
| Swimming | A bus or a walk away | 15 min to the Lido | On the doorstep | Above Praia Formosa |
| Eating out | Best in the city | Good, and quieter | Relaxed, less traditional | Local and few |
| Noise | Lively into the night | Quiet | Quiet | Silent |
| Cruise crowds | Yes, 10 to 4 | Barely | No | No |
| Best for | First trips, couples | Families, remote work | Swimmers, repeat visits | A month or more |
What the table cannot say is that none of these are bad choices. The gap between the best and the worst area of Funchal for a given traveller is about fifteen minutes of walking, which is a much smaller decision than the one you already made by choosing the city at all.
What You Can Reach on Foot From Any of Them
The argument for staying in Funchal at all is that a large part of the island's best days need no transport. From anywhere in the four areas above you are walking or taking a short bus to all of this.
The cable car leaves the Old Town and climbs 560 metres to Monte in fifteen minutes, and it is a genuine transport link rather than a ride: it is how you get up there for the tropical garden and the church, and the wicker toboggan is how you come back down. Mercado dos Lavradores is in the centre and is best after two in the afternoon. The marina runs whale and dolphin boats. And the promenade ties the whole city together at sea level. Where to eat once you are out there is its own guide: where to eat in Funchal.
Staying in Funchal, Answered
Which area of Funchal is best to stay in?
The Old Town and Rua da Carreira for a first trip, because everything is inside a fifteen minute walk and it is the most atmospheric part of the city. The Lido if swimming matters more than being central. Avenida do Infante if you want quiet between the two. São Martinho only if you are staying a month or more.
Is it better to stay in Funchal Old Town or the Lido?
The Old Town for atmosphere, restaurants and being in the middle of things, and the Lido for the sea pools, Praia Formosa and a quieter evening. They are two kilometres apart along a flat promenade, so neither cuts you off from the other. Most people want the Old Town on a first visit and the Lido on a second.
Do you need a car if you stay in Funchal?
Not for the city itself, which works entirely on foot and has a good bus network. You need one for the rest of the island, so a common approach is to stay central and hire a car for two or three days of a week rather than the whole stay. If you do keep a car, book somewhere with its own parking space, because Old Town parking is genuinely scarce.
Is Funchal walkable?
Along the seafront, completely. The promenade runs flat from the Old Town west through Avenida do Infante to the Lido and Praia Formosa, and the whole length takes about forty minutes. Away from the water it climbs steeply in every direction, so a listing four hundred metres from the cathedral may be a stroll or a real ascent depending on which way those metres run.
Is Funchal noisy at night?
Parts of the Zona Velha are lively well into the night, which is either the reason to book there or the reason not to. Rua da Carreira is calmer, Avenida do Infante is quiet, and the Lido and São Martinho are quieter still. If you sleep lightly, book west of the historic centre.
How long should you stay in Funchal?
Two days covers the city itself: the cable car, Monte, the market, the Old Town and the promenade. Most people should stay considerably longer than that and use it as a base, because everything on the island is within about ninety minutes and a second and third hotel elsewhere costs more time than it saves.
Our Six Homes in Funchal
They map onto the four areas above almost exactly. Carreira Solar sleeps two on Rua da Carreira with underground parking, and Carreira Vicente sleeps four in two bedrooms on the same street, which are the two historic centre options. Santa Catarina sleeps four on Avenida do Infante with a sea view balcony, a work desk and private parking. Lido Branca and Lido Casa sleep two each next door to one another by the sea pools, and take four between them. Centro Mar sleeps six in São Martinho with an ocean view and private parking, on a minimum of thirty nights. Use the Funchal filter to see the six on their own. All are booked direct with the hosts and none carry a booking fee.
Three guides that go with this one
Areas
Best Places to Stay in Madeira
The question above this one: Funchal against every other base on the island.
Read guide
Food
Best Restaurants in Funchal
Where to eat once you have picked a street, and how to spot a tourist trap.
Read guide
Plan
Madeira Without a Car
If you are not driving, this is how the week works from a Funchal base.
Read guide