Madeira in winter: weather, sea and what to do

Seawater fills hollows in the black rock at Seixal on the north coast, and fish swim in the pools with you. People swim here in February too, though the water is cold. When the swell is up, waves break over the retaining wall and swimming stops, so pick a calm day. The pools are much quieter than the better-known ones at Porto Moniz. The toilets are free; the café may be shut in winter.

Funchal's lido opens straight onto the Atlantic: a 49 m saltwater pool, two shallow pools for children and a ladder down into the sea, with lifeguards on duty. The pools are filled with unheated seawater, so they are cold all year round. In the low season the complex is almost empty, with a few locals by the water.

Above Ribeira da Janela, a modest fall pours onto the road itself, and cars drive through it with the wipers going. In January it is in full flow and the gully around it is at its greenest. The road is single-track in places, with traffic both ways, so if you want to stand beside the fall, walk down to it rather than stopping on the road.

A levada path through the laurel forest of Rabaçal, listed by UNESCO, leads to this fall; the path branches off the route to the 25 Fontes lagoon. Spring and winter put the most water over the edge. Get to the Rabaçal car park before 9.30am, and take the downhill stretches slowly on wet rock.

The trailhead for this corner of the island. Paths drop from the car park into the laurel forest to the lagoon fed by the 25 Fontes waterfalls, which run fullest in winter and spring. The climb back is the hard part, but a shuttle van leaving from beside the café at the bottom takes you more than halfway back up.

A steep climb of 15–20 minutes up steps from the car park, then a level levada along the hillside through trees and ferns. At the signed junction at the top, turn right: this branch runs upstream for about 2.5 km to a waterfall that is at its fullest in December. Roughly halfway along, a landslide has brought trees down across the path. Unless you can see a safe way past, turn back there, and don't attempt the crossing in rain. The left-hand branch was closed in April 2026.

At 1,818 m the viewpoint stands right by the car park, and on many days the ridges of the interior rise out of a sea of cloud below. Drizzle and fog are common up here and can last all day, so bring a jacket and keep a spare morning. The trail gates open at 8.30am; come early, before the car parks fill. When the upper car park is closed, people walk up the road in fog alongside the traffic, and that is the biggest risk here.

Funchal's market is worth it for the building: azulejo tile panels by João Rodrigues on the facade and in the fish hall, and an atrium you can look down into from the upper level. Come early for the fish hall, where the best of the catch sells first. Fruit inside is priced for tourists, and the shops around the market sell it for less. The market is closed on Sundays.

An old wooden lodge in Funchal, full of ageing barrels, where the whole visit is under cover. One room pours 3- and 5-year-old Madeira throughout the day; the other opens at set times for the old vintages. Tours cover how the wine is made and how it ages in the cask. The cheese board is served between 2pm and 3pm and can sell out, so come early in that window.