Funchal

Photo © lx46

Travel Guide Europe Portugal Madeira Funchal

Introduction

Funchal

Funchal is the capital of the autonomous region of Madeira that is part Portugal. It is the base of the majority of the many visitors to Madeira and cruise ships frequently call at the rate of 2 or 3 per day. The population actually living in Funchal is a little over 100,000. The city is situated in a bay to the east of Madeira's south coast.

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Neighbourhoods

Some guidebooks split the city into three parts, giving scarcely a mention to the northern part, where most of the population live!
The three are:

West - an area dominated by hotels, many of which are pretty opulent.
Central - where the town hall, the cathedral and a number of sights of interest to visitors can be located.
East - where the market, the old fort and a number of cheap but interesting restaurants can be found.

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Weather

Summers last from May to September with daytime temperatures averaging between 22 °C and 24 °C, nights around 19 °C. Winters last from December to April with days of around 19 °C and nights averaging 14 °C. The winter months are the wettest months, with from October to March around 80 mm of rain andd stormy and cloudy conditions may last for a few days sometimes. That said, there are fine periods with settled weather during winter as well. From May until September it is usually dry.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg Max	19.1 °C	19.1 °C	19.5 °C	19.6 °C	20.9 °C	22.3 °C	24.3 °C	25.6 °C	25.7 °C	24.2 °C	22 °C	20 °C
Avg Min	13.1 °C	12.8 °C	13 °C	13.4 °C	14.6 °C	16.5 °C	18 °C	18.9 °C	18.9 °C	17.6 °C	15.6 °C	13.9 °C
Rainfall	102.7 mm	87.2 mm	63.6 mm	38.9 mm	18.9 mm	11.9 mm	2.5 mm	3.1 mm	36.7 mm	75 mm	100.8 mm	99.9 mm
Rain Days	12	11	10	8	5	3	1	2	6	9	11	13

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Getting There

By Plane

Madeira Airport (airport code: FNC) receives international flights. About 20 airlines have flights to and from Funchal, mainly to Portugal, Spain and most of the countries in the west and north of Europe. It also receives flights from the Azores.
SATA Air Acores has flights between Funchal and Porto Santo.

By Boat

Naviera Armas runs weekly services between Portimao in mainland Portugal and on to Tenerife, with connections to other Canary Islands, like Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.

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Eat

Restaurante Arsénio's - Rua de Santa Maria 169 Funchal. A very nice restaurant in the historic part of the capital, Funchal, with live music and traditional Portuguese dishes but it is a little bit pricey. It is situated in the central street of the old town of Funchal, where the most famous restaurants of the capital are situated and you can find multilingual friendly service.
O Avo - Rua da Praia, 49, Funchal. This small bar restaurant is situated in a small street in the heart of Funchal. There is a limited choice of delicious Portuguese dishes accompanied with beer in a very good price. The friendly owner of O Avo welcomes you in his place with a shot of beer where you can find many locals having their lunch.

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Sleep

Property	Address	Type	Popularity
Aparthotel Imperatriz	Rua Imperatriz D. Amélia 72	Hotel	-
Dorisol Estrelicia	Rua da Casa Branca	Hotel	-
Dorisol Florasol	Estrada Monumental, 306	Hotel	-
Estalagem Quintinha Sao Joao	Rua da Levada de Sao Joao no 4	Hotel	-
Hospedaria Pôr do Sol	Calçada da Cabouqueira nº48	Guesthouse	86
Quinta da Bela Vista	Caminho Avista Navios 4	Hotel	-
Quinta Jardins do Lago	Rua Dr.Joao lemos Gomes No29,Funchal,Madeira Island	Hotel	-
Residencial Americana	Largo do Chafariz 20	Guesthouse	-
Residencial Funchal	Rua do Hospital Velho nº 19 A	Guesthouse	86
Residencial Melba	Azinhaga da Casa Branca Nª10	Hotel	82
Residencial Monte Verde	Azinhaga da Casa Branca nº 8	Guesthouse	81
Residencial Parque	Campo da Barca, 15	Guesthouse	84
Residencial Vila Camacho	Beco Da Amoreira 26	Guesthouse	85
Residencial Vila Lusitania	Rua Fundação Cecília Zino 26	Guesthouse	87
Residencial Zarco	Rua da Alfândega, 113	Hostel	86
The Vine, a divine hotel	Rua dos Aranhas - 27 A	Hotel	-
Residencial Chafariz	Rua Estanco Velho 3 E 5	Guesthouse	-
Hotel Quinta do Sol	Rua Dr Pita, No 6	Hotel	78
Hotel Apartamento da Sé	Rua do Sabão 53	Hotel	87
Madeira Regency Palace	Estrada Monumental Nr. 275 Ilha da Madeira	Hotel	-
Residencial Mirasol	Rua Bela de São Tiago 67	Guesthouse	87
Royal Savoy	Rua Carvalho Araujo	Hotel	-
Fourviews Monumental	Estrada Monumental, 284	Hotel	-
Queimada de Baixo	Rua Da Queimada De Baixo, 46	Guesthouse	-
Alto Lido	Estrada Monumental, 316	Hotel	-
Hotel Bahia Azul	Rua Quinta Calasao	HOTEL	-
Pedra Sina Residence	Rua Pedra Sina No. 68	Hostel	-
Funchal Residential Area	Travessa de Cabrestante, Bloco C, 5ºAO	APARTMENT	-
Rooms for Rent - Funchal - Madeira Island	Moradias do Pico, Rua Dr. António Aragão, Santo	GUESTHOUSE	-
Residencial Zarco	Rua da Alfândega, 113	HOSTEL	-
Residencial Funchal	Rua do Hospital Velho n 19 A	GUESTHOUSE	-
Residencial Vila Camacho	Beco Da Amoreira 26	GUESTHOUSE	-
Residencial Monaco	Rua das Hortas n 14 / 14A	GUESTHOUSE	-
Residencial Vila Lusitania	Rua Fundação Cecília Zino 26	GUESTHOUSE	-
Residencial Melba	Azinhaga da Casa Branca Nª10	HOTEL	-
Aparthotel Imperatriz	Rua Imperatriz D. Amlia 72	HOTEL	-
Quinta Jardins do Lago	Rua Dr.Joao lemos Gomes No29,Funchal,Madeira Island	HOTEL	-
Estalagem Quintinha Sao Joao	Rua da Levada de Sao Joao no 4	HOTEL	-
Hotel Apartamento da Sé	Rua do Sabão no 53	HOTEL	-