Madeira Island: Lost World of Europe

Today is the day all the fun begins.

Our staff will meet you at the Madeira Airport and transfer you to our accommodation. 

Here you will have time to chill out, sip a coffee, grab a snack, or a quick rest before our first team meeting introductions. 

In the afternoon, we head out to the main city of Madeira, Funchal for a look around the old town and traditional market. 

For dinner, we are taking you guys somewhere really special – here we will taste some delicious local food and wine while we go over the week and schedule. 

We will have an early night tonight; tomorrow is a busy day!

We leave our accommodation in the dark, bound for a secret sunrise spot. 

After sunrise and a quick breakfast, we will head off on an awesome hike down in the valley. This hike is one that very few people n the island know about and involves some truly spectacular views, massive waterfalls, and a few epic surprises. 

Hike distance= 10km
Altitude gain= 500m

After the hike it is time to try some famous Madeira seafood at one of our all time favorite spots for lunch. 

After lunch, it is time to learn about one of the most important aspects of Madeiran culture: Poncha. 
There is a reason that Madeira used to be called the rum island. 

To get the real expereince of what Poncha is about, we will head to a very local establishment on the North Coast to get a first hand lesson on the history and process of making Poncha. 

Folks are free for dinner on their own tonight.  We can provide a plethora of good recommendations depending on what you want to eat. 

Today you will expereince a totally different side of Madeira. 

The south coast is the land of banana farms, passion fruit groves, and plenty of sun all year round. 

After a walk around one of the most picturesque villages on the whole island, we will take a break for lunch at a classic local spot. 

After a few shots of espresso, we will head to a different part of the south coast for an epic sunset hike. 

Hike distance = 10km
Altitude gain = 300 m incline

We will grab dinner together as a group nearby. 

After a few busy days, today we take it a bit easy. 

Free time in the morning to catch sunrise, read your book, visit the city, etc. 

The afternoon is dedicated to feasting on epic traditional Madeirain meat cooked on fire called Espetada – this is the plan.

We will also have side dishes and other items as well like fish if you are not eating red meat. 

We will have an optional coastal hike or a forest hike (depending on weather) after the lunch. 

There are also multiple options for incredible sunset view points in the area, (again, depending on the weather). 

Time to get wet! Into the canyons we go. 

Canyoneering in Madeira is a special expereince for many reasons. We will get to explore deep canyons and river systems while descending massive waterfalls few others get to see due to their inaccessibility without ropes and the proper equipment, etc. 

You do not need to have expereince canyoneering to take part in the activities. Our expert staff will give every member safety and best practices training before we start. 

Because the water in the river and waterfalls is cold, we will don thick wetsuits, helmets, and gloves before heading off into this wild side of Madeira.

After our team has finished the roughly 5 hour excursion, we will head to one of the best spots on the island to try local seafood. 

Our final day of the trip is no time to relax (at least not until the evening). 

We will start early with the objective to climb one of Madeira’s largest and little known peaks before descending into one of the most beautiful valley’s in the Central Mountain range. 

Hike distance = 15 km
Altitude gain = 800 m incline

After the hike, we will return to our accommodation to clean up and rest. 

In the evening, we have something truly special in store for our final feast. 

Think fine dining meets home cooking, mountain vistas, and local wine. Very few locals even know about this place; we are STOKED to bring you here to expereince it. 

We will have our final group briefing and head back to our accommodation to get a good night’s sleep before the time comes to catch flights home the following day. 

We say goodbye and arrange for transfers to the airport for those who are flying out today.

A final breakfast is included at our accommodation. 

Room check out is around 11 am on this day. You can choose to stay at the same hotel if you are not flying home right away or move to the city of Funchal, though any additional nights at the hotel are not covered by EBT.