Madeira airport transfers

Yes: the Aerobus, run by CAM, leaves from outside arrivals and follows the coast into Funchal, along Avenida do Mar and Avenida do Infante and out through the hotel zone on Estrada Monumental to Praia Formosa. On weekdays it leaves the airport every half hour from 08:30 until noon, then hourly until 22:00; Saturdays are much the same, and on Sundays and holidays there are 15 runs, the last at 22:00. There is no service on 25 December.

A single costs €6.70 on board, or €5.55 if you load it on a GIRO card, which costs €0.50. If you plan to use the buses for a day, the Regional Tourist ticket, €13.75, covers every operator's lines and the Aerobus too. Bus fares rose on 1 April 2026, so older figures online are out of date.

There are no fixed airport fares. Madeira's taxis, yellow with a blue stripe, run on the meter under the regional taxi convention, with rates updated in 2026: by day on weekdays, €4.00 covers the first kilometre, then €0.10 every 69 metres, about €1.45 a km; at night, at weekends and on holidays, €4.80 and €0.10 every 58 metres, about €1.72 a km, so roughly a fifth more. Luggage that goes in the boot adds €1.50, and in slow traffic the meter adds €0.10 every 30 seconds by day. The figures below are our estimates by day from the distance rate and the routed distance only, before luggage and traffic.

The last Aerobus leaves the airport at 22:00, and the first at 08:30, so an early or late flight means a taxi or a driver. Taxis run on the night rate from 21:00 on weekdays and all day at weekends, roughly a fifth above the day fares above.

A driver booked ahead follows your flight, so a delay costs nothing, and waits in arrivals with your name. With children and cases, for VidaMar at the Lido or the hillside at Casa Velha do Palheiro, or for the 37-minute run to Ponta do Sol, that is the easy way to start the week.

Three of our hotels are outside Funchal, and the Aerobus serves none of them. Sentido Galomar at Caniço de Baixo is the easy one, 12 minutes from the terminal and about €20 by taxi. Hotel Quinta do Furão, above Santana, is 33 minutes by the VE1, and Estalagem da Ponta do Sol 37 minutes west by the VR1 and the VE3. By bus each means the Aerobus into Funchal and a change: line 555 to Ponta da Oliveira at Caniço de Baixo, line 801 to Santana or lines 320 to 323 to Ponta do Sol.

Away from Funchal a hire car is close to essential, and Avis, Sixt, Rodavante and Europcar are among the firms at the airport. Parking is on site at Quinta do Furão and the Estalagem, whose car park is small; at Sentido Galomar it is a public car park, €5 a day.

About 20 to 25 minutes by road from Funchal, 12 from Caniço de Baixo, 33 from Santana and 37 from Ponta do Sol, with the roads clear. The Aerobus back leaves Praia Formosa from 07:00 to 21:00 every day and reaches Avenida do Mar 15 to 30 minutes later on its way to the airport. The Entry/Exit System means passport checks for flights to the UK take longer than they did, so allow extra time at the airport on the way home.