Lighthouse Viewpoint of Ponta do Pargo

Ponta do Pargo Lighthouse stands at the end of a headland on the western coast of Madeira, with rocky shoreline and open Atlantic below. The tower is closed to the public, and what people come for is the ground around it: the view along the cliffs, the rocks you can walk out onto for a wider angle, and the sun going down over the water. Most of the crowd arrives for the sunset and stays through it. Wait a little longer and the lamp comes on above you. There is also a museum on the site, though it opens on Wednesday afternoons only.

• Parking goes early — on a clear evening the spaces by the lighthouse are taken before sunset, and latecomers park further back.
• You cannot go inside the tower — the lighthouse is closed to the public, and the viewpoint outside it is the visit.
• The museum opens one afternoon a week — plan around the posted hours or expect to find the door shut.
• No toilets and no drinking water at the lighthouse or anywhere within walking distance of the car park.
• Cloud takes the view — the draw here is the sunset over the ocean, and an overcast afternoon leaves little of it.

A driving destination in practice: the nearest bus stops are more than a kilometre off, and the road runs right up to the lighthouse. The car park sits on the headland itself, so there is no approach walk — you step out of the car and the ocean is in front of you. Going further, out over the open ground and onto the rocks people use for the wider angle, means uneven and slippery footing rather than a made path.

Better: late afternoon into sunset. Avoid: an overcast afternoon.

The headland faces west into open ocean, and the sunset is what most people drive out here for; under low cloud there is little left of it and the coastline flattens to grey. The lamp in the tower comes on once the daylight has gone, which is worth staying for.