The Madeira archipelago is made up of the main island, mountainous and lush, the island of Porto Santo, with its long golden beach, and the uninhabited Desertas and Selvagens. It is an autonomous region of Portugal with eleven municipalities, ten on Madeira and one on Porto Santo.
The capital is Funchal, an elegant city of gardens, markets and Madeira wine lodges. Around it, each municipality has its own character: Câmara de Lobos with its little fishing harbour and the Cabo Girão cliff, Machico where the first navigators landed, Santana with its triangular houses, Porto Moniz with its natural lava pools, São Vicente with its volcanic caves, Calheta and Ponta do Sol on the island's sunniest side. The whole island is crossed by levadas, irrigation channels with spectacular paths alongside, and by the laurisilva forest, a UNESCO site.
To discover the island in detail see our full guide to Madeira, and for the wine the page on Madeira wine. Madeira airport has flights to Lisbon, Porto and many European cities. Below you will find the map, the guides and all the archipelago's municipalities.
Destinations on the map
Guides to the region
Funchal
An Atlantic capital rising like an amphitheatre into the hills, among tropical gardens, century-old wine lodges and fireworks.
Madeira
A green, steep volcanic island in the Atlantic, with a mild climate all year, trails along water channels and a legendary wine.
Porto Santo
A flat, sunny island with one of Portugal's longest beaches, a few hours by ferry from Madeira.