Travel to Madeira

Flying to Madeira

Portugal's national airline, TAP Air Portugal (www.flytap.com), operates services to Funchal from Lisbon. Airlines running direct flights from the UK to Madeira include British Airways (www.ba.com), easyJet (www.easyjet.com) and Monarch (www.flymonarch.com). Flights are at their most expensive during the peak months of July to November.

Airport Guides

Flight times

From London - 3 hours 50 minutes; New York - 11 hours (including stopover in Lisbon).

Departure tax

None.

Travelling to Madeira by Rail

Driving to Madeira

Getting to Madeira by boat

The major port is Funchal, now almost exclusively used by cruise ships and pleasure craft. It used to be the main container port for the Island, but a modern commercial port has been built in Caniçal especially for commercial traffic.

Cruise ships

Cruise ships regularly put into Funchal throughout the year. Their arrival tends to saturate local tour operators, especially for levada walks.

Ferry operators

Ferry services from Madeira to Porto Santo usually leave daily from Funchal at around 0800, and return around 1800, though there are occasional variations according to season and on Fridays to accommodate weekend traffic.