Ponta do Rosto Viewpoint

The eastern tip of Madeira looks nothing like the island's green interior: rugged cliffs, dry bare hills and open ocean on both sides at once. The viewpoint sits on that neck of land, and the water shows up north and south from the same spot. It faces east, straight out to sea, which is why most of the people here are here before dawn — the sun comes up out of the water with the cliffs of the peninsula catching the first light. Nothing grows tall enough to block anything. The place has never had the reputation of the island's headline miradouros, and it stays quieter for it.

• No facilities: no toilets, no drinking water and no information board anywhere near the viewpoint.
• Cloud closes it down: when low cloud sits on the headland there is no view at all, and nothing else here to do.
• Wind: the headland is bare and exposed, and the wind rarely drops — bring a windproof layer.
• With children: fine to bring them, but keep them well back from the cliff edges.

Most people drive, and the approach is easy going. The last stretch from the car park is walked, and it is short — which is what makes this a worthwhile stop even for anyone not doing the full hike out along the peninsula. Of the two car parks, the nearer one is dirt and the one behind it asphalt. A bus stop serving Caniçal, Praínha and Baía d'Abra sits roughly as far from the viewpoint as the closer car park.

Better: sunrise.

Avoid: thick low cloud.

This is the eastern end of the island and the sun comes up out of the ocean straight ahead, so the first hour of light is what the viewpoint is for. Cloud takes the whole thing away, and there is nothing else to do here in the rain. Even at sunrise the crowds that fill Madeira's better-known miradouros do not turn up.