Don't be scared of the roads

We recorded this one at Mark's family apartment in Machico, and it's all about cars and driving on Madeira. Plenty of first-time visitors are nervous about it. Some American friends of Mark's didn't even rent a car because they were afraid of the steep hills and narrow roads. Our view: it's easier than most people think. Here's everything we've learnt, from renting a car to what all the honking means.

Renting a car: airport versus local

When Mark was still travelling back and forth before moving here, he tried lots of rental companies, usually booked through comparison sites and picked up at the airport. The online prices look cheap, but at the desk come the add-ons. One company charged him a cleaning fee because there were breadcrumbs in the car after two weeks with his kids. Competition on the island is fierce, so prices online are kept low and the extras make up the difference.

These days he prefers small, local companies. One near his apartment even accepts Bitcoin. His favourite is a young man from mainland Portugal who fell in love with the island, and with someone who lives here, and started his own rental company with just three brand-new cars. He meets Mark at the airport, hands over the keys, Mark signs, and off he goes. It's personal, and it's simple.

Mark's tips:

  • Don't pick up your car straight after a long flight. The queues at the airport desks can be long. Take an Uber or taxi (both are cheap here), drop your bags, relax, and rent from a company near where you're staying the next day. Small local firms are often cheaper and have more time for you.
  • In high season, book ahead. Look up your accommodation on Google Maps, see which rental companies are nearby and check their websites. Many offer a shuttle from the airport.
  • Get full insurance, but not necessarily at the desk. You're probably not used to roads this steep and narrow, so full cover is worth it. At the rental desk, it can double or triple the price of a €120 week. Extra cover bought online or from home is usually much cheaper.

Prices: go off-season

In winter, Catherine has sometimes rented a car for €100 to €200 for a whole month, just for fun, to explore the island when it's rainy and cold. In summer, you can pay €100 a day. If you can travel in low season, you save on flights, apartments and the rental car.

Small car, manual or automatic?

Rent a small car. Mark once rented a minibus for his family of six. He was fine, but his partner only drove on the motorway and left the mountains to him. If you're a bigger group, there are compact cars with three rows of seats. Most Madeirans drive small cars, so parking spaces are small too. Try leaving a car park in Funchal in a big car without a scratch. Good luck. And don't worry about power: modern rental cars make it up every hill, sometimes in first gear.

Catherine grew up driving on Swiss mountain roads with a manual gearbox, so Madeira didn't feel very different. If you're from the US, or somewhere flat like the Netherlands, an automatic might be one less worry, even though it costs more to rent. Mark rented automatics at first, but after two weeks he switched back to manual. Going downhill, using the gears saves your brakes.

If you're here on holiday, Mark's favourite treat is to rent a convertible, or a car with a glass roof, for a day. Skip the busy tunnel roads, take the small roads uphill, and you're not looking at the scenery through a window any more, you're in it.

Steep hills and narrow roads

Funchal especially can be incredibly steep. On narrow two-way streets, one car has to stop when another comes. Going uphill, you sometimes have to stop and start again, and Catherine has had to reverse all the way back down because her car couldn't make it. So if you can get a car with a stronger engine, take it, and practise reversing.

The rule is that the car going uphill has right of way. But people sometimes come round the corner too fast to stop in time, so be ready to stop either way.

Madeira is part of Europe, but the mentality is somewhere between Europe and South America.

That's how a Madeiran friend of Mark's put it. There are rules, but people play it by ear. Catherine noticed that people here drive a bit worse than in Switzerland, but they also watch more and let you through without honking, because they know they'd do the same.

Growing up in Switzerland, which has a big Portuguese community, she'd hear people say "that's a Portuguese again" when someone drove a bit wildly. Only on Madeira did she understand why. She once saw a car parked on a roundabout here, which would be unthinkable in Switzerland. She has done it herself since. As long as other cars can pass and nobody gets hurt, it's practical.

Rain, night and getting onto the motorway

At night: Catherine finds driving at night peaceful and quiet, and the main roads are well lit. She'd avoid small mountain roads in the dark, as they often have no lighting.

In the rain: good tyres make it fine. But many locals drive extremely slowly when it rains, maybe because their cars and tyres are old. That can be dangerous if you suddenly have to brake on a wet road behind someone doing 40 on the motorway. Some people drive 50 on the motorway even on dry days, so stay alert. The good news is that the roads don't get as slippery as in drier countries, because the frequent rain keeps them clean.

Joining the motorway: this is the one tourists most often get wrong. Slip roads here are very short, so you can't speed up and merge like you would elsewhere. Treat it as a stop sign: wait for a gap. Catherine got a well-deserved honk early on when she pushed in. Mark prefers driving in the left lane on the motorway, so he isn't surprised by cars joining from the right.

Changing weather: the island can be sunny everywhere except exactly where you are, especially in the wilder north. It can also get cold quickly as you drive uphill from the beach. Keep layers, a jumper and a raincoat in the car. Mark adds tea, water, fruit and a sandwich, and he's ready for a lovely day out.

Roads to avoid, and watch out for buses

On one drive in his convertible, Mark followed a little road that ended up running along a ridge, with a drop on both sides, no way to turn, and supposedly two-way traffic. He was very glad to have a small car, and very glad when it finally led steeply down to the south coast. His advice if you're visiting: stick to the main roads.

Catherine's warning is about buses. They have to reach every village, so they use the tiny mountain roads too, and to get round a bend they often need your side of the road. They tend to take corners fast, expecting everyone else to stop, and unlike in Switzerland, they don't honk before a blind corner. Always expect a bus.

Honking, flashing and saying thank you

Portuguese drivers are very communicative. They flash their lights, honk and wave, and they seem to prefer communicating over following the rules to the letter. Mark compares it to the traffic in Nepal: total chaos, but it works because everyone follows one rule, don't hit each other. What he loves here is how often people wave you through: "You go first."

In Switzerland and the Netherlands, honking usually means "you did something wrong". Here, people honk to say hello, to say "I'm coming round the corner" or to say thank you. So don't get nervous when someone honks at you. If you move over to let a faster car pass, they may thank you by flashing their hazard lights twice.

Google Maps is fine for the touristy spots. In smaller villages and on new roads, it's less reliable, as the island builds roads faster than the maps update. When Mark first visited Catherine's old house in Santana, he needed detailed directions. And Mark's own apartment in the centre of Machico, the island's second-largest town, still shows up 200 metres away on the wrong side of the canal. Offline maps aren't really needed for driving, but they're great for hiking.

Parking

  • Bring coins. Many parking meters, and even some car parks, still only take coins. Catherine now pays with notes whenever she can, just to keep her coins for parking.
  • Or use an app. In the cities you can pay by phone with EasyPark, which many Dutch visitors already have. Just change the number plate to your rental car's. Catherine's friend Annika uses it to top up from the restaurant table.
  • Yellow lines are for taxis and buses. Don't park there, because you will get fined eventually.
  • Blue zones are paid parking. White zones are free, but you rarely see them.
  • At levadas and viewpoints with no spaces left, people park on the right-hand side of the road and keep the other side free so cars can pass. Make sure the back of your car isn't sticking out into the road. Arrive early or after about 3pm, when it's quieter.
  • On steep hills, park with the front of the car facing downhill so it's easier to get out again. Catherine avoids parking on very steep hills altogether.

Quick answers to your questions

  • Toll roads? None. If someone asks you to pay to use a road, don't.
  • Petrol stations? Easy to find around the coast, roughly every 10 kilometres. Don't head up into the mountains with half a tank, though. One fill-up usually lasts a week's holiday.
  • Electric car? Renting one is expensive, and outside Funchal charging points are scarce. Machico has only a few in the centre. Electricity is cheap, so it makes more sense if you live here.
  • Speed cameras? None so far. There was talk of them once, around 1 April, and nobody is sure whether it was a joke.
  • What to bring: your driving licence, your passport or ID card and a real credit card. Rental companies block a deposit of €1,000 to €1,500 if you don't take full insurance, and they won't accept a debit card. Mark has seen people turn up with a booking and leave without a car. Cards from Revolut or Bunq often don't count.

Got more questions about driving here? Leave them under the video. We'd happily do another episode on this.