Back To The Island: Madeira – The Nerd Photographer

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Madeira Island has many photo opportunities, many of which can be found on social media and on travel magazine covers. I was hooked and so my first photo trip to Madeira was already in October 2018. The nature and almost jungle-like forests left quite an impression with me. So I decided to return in 2025 for another photo trip.

Madeira Intermezzo — Pano shot of the Pico do Areeiro

Madeira is part of Portugal – but as it often is with island life – not quite like mainland Portugal. Of course you will find Pastel de nata on Madeira, but you will also find Prego no Bolo do Caco and of course Poncha. And I learned the hard way that the mixing of the Poncha can differ significantly depending on where you are. A rule of thumb is: The smaller the bar, the stronger the Poncha. The climate on Madeira is a big contributing factor to the appeal of the island: Wind and rain in the north, creating fairytale-like forests and in contrast the sunny South with banana plantations and beaches. I would suggest to get a rental car and to stay at different locations, even though the public transport is not too bad – mainly with busses that will bring you to the different locations. But to be anywhere early – you need your own ride. Also a word of warning: Tourism has significantly increased on Madeira since I was there in 2018 – nowadays – especially the famous spots – are pretty crowded pretty early. But we will get to that.

Impression from the Banana Museum on Madeira

This time around I started off from the East in Machico, going North to São Vicente next and finishing the trip relaxing in the Southern sun near Calheta. There are not many hotels on the island and this time I stayed in B&Bs for the whole trip. Every host I met was extremely helpful and friendly and the accommodations were always very nice. Very similar to my first trip. I would say you can almost blindly choose any accommodation. But enough about travelling info, let’s get to the photos! You will find a collection of all my published Madeira photos at the bottom of the page. In the Eastern part there is obviously the Ponta de São Lourenço with a great hike to the eastern tip of the island. From Machico you can also easily get to Porto da Cruz or Santana.

São Lourenço Standing Rocks — Panorama from a hike at Ponta de São Lourenço

São Vicente was next and from there all the many locations in the Northern part of the island. I want to highlight the road near São Vicente going to Seixal: When the tide is high you can see the waves splashing onto to road quite spectacularly. And you will find one of the highest waterfalls of the island there, too. I also re-visited the fanal forest and this – again – was an incredible photo experience. I would suggest to avoid the main parking though. I planned a hiking route into the forest, which was a good idea for two reasons: You avoid the masses at the main parking and you get to hike and see a part of the forest that at least I didn’t see before and the trees and atmosphere there were even more mystical. You can see one of my favourite shots from that part below, but boy is this forest worth the trip!

As you may have seen at the top of this blog post: I also did go to the Pico do Areeiro. But I would suggest to never do that as long as the hiking route from there to the Pico Ruivo is not opened up again. Because you will be stuck at the Pico do Areeiro with hundreds of influencers that want to see the sunrise. Even arriving 2h before sunrise won’t help. The parking lot was already packed (the police had to lock down the mountain soon after), there are people everywhere and you cannot hike further to get away. I saw people in crocs and mini skirt live-streaming the sunrise. This is easily among the worst vacation experiences I have ever had. Insta-tourism horror at its worst. Unfortunaltely the same is true for the Levada das 25 Fontes: Even very early in the morning it will already be packed. There are better alternatives around there (e.g. Levada do Moinho – PR7) – I would suggest to not even bother with the 25 Fontes. I found incredible waterfalls and a lost house hiking the alternative routes. And there were maybe 5 other hikers that I saw.

A somewhat famous hike that I actually can recommend – getting up early will help here – is the Levada Nova hike near Ponta Do Sol. The hike is almost surreal, but the harsh sunlight made it tricky to photograph the famous waterfall. You can walk behind the fall and you also have to go through a small rock arch to get there – Indiana Jones would be proud. It is easily reachable, the hike is very easy and stunningly beautiful but you can expect to meet quite a few fellow hikers there. I am not totally happy with the shot below, but it gives an idea of how beautiful the waterfall and the hike is.

Another highlight I was able to do this time is the cable car ride down to Achadaz da Cruz near Porto Moniz. Last time the cable car was out of service, but this time I went down to shoot the impressive coast line and I found a wonderful little cafe there with the best view you can imagine. See below. Very nice people and good music make the view even better.

And even with some touristic fails Madeira remains one of the best islands for photographers in Europe! Especially when you are forced to look for some alternative routes and places, you will find some of the true beauty of the island. Quite a few spots haven’t been mentioned in this post, like the hike to Ponta São Jorge or the famous rock formation at Ilhéus de Ribeira da Janela, but you will find them easily online or when you visit the island yourself. Take your camera and all your lenses and see Madeira – Enjoy!