Machico

Machico is the second biggest city in Madeira Island. Here you can find pedestrian tracks throughout the mountains, lovely beaches, and good restaurants. Every year in the first week of August, a big food festival takes place. There you can taste various traditional dishes from Madeira. Also some music shows are offered and after closing you can always go to one of the clubs, open all night long.

Understand

Machico (/mɐ.ˈʃi.ku/, muh-SHEE-koo) covers 67.73 km², has 22,000 inhabitants (2011), and is divided into 5 districts. The municipality is bordered to the south by the municipality of Santa Cruz, on the west by Santana, and by the Atlantic Ocean on the north and east.

Visitor information

Get in
  • 🌍 Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira International Airport (FNC IATA formerly known as Santa Catarina Airport/Funchal Airport) (about 30 minutes from Funchal, in Santa Cruz municipality), ☏ +35 1 291 52 07 00. The following airlines fly regularly to Madeira International Airport: TAP Portugal, Portugália, SATA, British Airways, Norwegian Airlines, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Air France, easyJet, Finnair, First Choice Airways, Thomson, LTU, Condor, SAS, Transavia, My Travel, Wizz air, Binter Canarias and Jet2.com. 

Get around

Taxi fare from the airport is around €10-13. Use a yellow taxi and ask them to turn on the taxameter. After 20:00 there is a 20% surcharge.

See
  • Capela dos Milagres — It is one of the oldest chapels in Madeira, and it was here that the first mass in the history of the island of Madeira was held.
  • 🌍 São João Baptista da Madeira Fort, Cais de Machico — Banda de Além. It is an ancient fort (1708), circular in shape and made of basalt and lime, rising from the top of a cliff. 
  • 🌍 Igreja Matriz do Machico, Largo de Nossa Senhora da Conceição. A symbol of Machico, and its most famous monument. It is a Manueline style church, dating from 1425. 
  • 🌍 Fort of Nossa Senhora do Amparo. A triangular fort, and the tourist office in Machico. 
  • 🌍 Capela de São Roque. An 18th-century chapel on the west end of Machico. 
  • Pico do Facho Viewpoint — You have a view over the entire Machico valley, from the peaks of the interior of the island, to Ponta de São Lourenço.
  • Portela viewpoint — One of the most beautiful viewpoints in Madeira, with views of the sea and the interior of the island.

Do

Hiking
  • Hiking at 🌍 Ponta de São Lourenço, the eastern part of Madeira is a nature reserve with wonderful panoramic views of the Atlantic and spectacular volcanic rock formations. Many unusual species of plants are found here and are best seen from the footpath, such as the Ice Plant, Everlasting, Cardoon and many more. The hiking trail, which has stone steps and safety railings, can be walked comfortably with a pair of good hiking boots. The full walk, including a circuit of the reserve at the far end, will take several hours, so carry food and drink. Down the cliff from the road before reaching the trailhead is a secluded beach called Prainha, the island’s only natural black sandy beach. Very popular with the locals, it’s great for swimming.
  • to Pico de Facho (323 m) and on to Caniçal, or from there along the slopes in the north of the city to Maroços
  • from the Caniçal tunnel to the coast and to Porto da Cruz

Beaches
  • Praia da Banda Além bay east of the town, with sand imported from Morocco in 2009 (approx. 200 m) (next to Calheta, the only sandy beach on the island so far)
  • Praia de São Roque, a stony bay

Sports
  • Parque Desportivo Água de Pena (sports center under the airport runway)
  • 🌍 Santo da Serra Golf, Casais Proximos Santo António da Serra, ☏ +351 291 550 100. 
  • Diving with the Anthia Diving Center (Diving school), Estrada de Sao Roque n5 (in the Hotel Dom Pedro Baia). ☏ +351 291 969 500. Open: Tu-Su 09:00-13:00, 14:30-18:30

Buy

Continente Modelo supermarket is a great place to stock up with supplies or food and drink for your hike.

Eat

The traditional dishes that are offered in good restaurants include, for example, the sopa de trigo, a wheat soup, the carne de vinho e alhos, pieces of meat marinated in wine and garlic and the bolo de caco, a flatbread baked on a hot stone (caco), which is often served warm as a starter with a garlic butter spread. The traditional Machico dishes are very tasty.

Drink
  • Bar Vertigem, Sítio do Caramanchão

Sleep

Go next
  • Porto da Cruz — rural beach village, known for surfing
  • Ponta de São Lourenço - A nature reserve, with fantastic views over the Atlantic. Here you will find many rare plants, such as Chorão das Praias, paper flowers, wild artichoke, among others. At the bottom of the cliff is a beach very popular with locals, Prainha, excellent for swimming.
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