Renting A Car In Madeira: 2025 Prices + 13 Pro Tips

We can’t imagine visiting Madeira without a car – and not just because we love the feeling of being able to take to the open road whenever we feel like it! Renting a car in Madeira means that you can visit every corner of the island, whatever your time schedule. 

Plus, let’s be honest, the public transport on Madeira is not great. Unless you plan to stick around Funchal or intend to go on multiple guided tours, not having a car severely limits your travel options. Without a vehicle, we would have found it very hard to do some of the activities we most enjoyed on the island, like sunrise at Pico de Arieiro or visiting the magical Fanal Forest.

🚗 In a hurry? Browse through the cheapest car rental deals in Madeira, with free cancellation policy + no hidden costs via ➡️ ➡️ Discover Cars.

There are rumours that Madeira’s public transport system is on the cusp of getting a major overhaul, but that definitely hadn’t happened yet when we visited in October. With than in mind, here are our tops tips for hiring a car in Madeira.

#1 Our Experience Of Driving In Madeira

In three words: super fun experience. We loved driving in Madeira, even though we noticed a couple of quirks to bear in mind.

First, the slip roads to join the main road are short. You need to be confident, otherwise you may can easily get stuck. 

Second, the island’s mountains and hills have led to the construction of some super steep roads. These are incredibly picturesque, so we can’t complain too much, but it can be nerve wracking, especially because local drivers barely use their indicator. The inhabitants also tend to come onto the other side of the road on sharp turns in the mountains, so you definitely want to slow down on the curves.

These drawbacks are easily outweighed (at least in our mind) by reasons you should rent a car on Madeira. There are a lot of viewpoints (known as miradouros) scattered around the island, and without a car we wouldn’t have been able to see any of them.

Also, you need to really arrive early at the most famous hiking routes, which get super crowded fast, even in the shoulder season. Without a car, it’s impossible to beat the traffic, so to speak.

#2 Is It Safe To Drive In Madeira?

We’ve already mentioned that Madeira drivers often fail to acknowledge the existence of the indicator and navigate bends by drifting slightly over the dividing central line.

Other than that, we didn’t really have any issues with safety while renting a car in Madeira. People may come across as a little assertive, but they are not overly aggressive – certainly not more so than anywhere else we’ve been.

In fact, the roads were notably good, especially relative to some of the Greek islands where we’ve hired a car in the past. The surfaces are in very good condition, with no potholes and clear markings. 

#3 Do You Need A Car In Madeira?

Should I rent a car in Madeira? We would say yes! A car is really needed on the island, and it is hard to visit places without your own vehicle. 

Of course, it’s almost always more convenient and time efficient to hire a car, as opposed to relying on public transportation or guided tours. You can set your own schedule and spend as much as you like at each location.

That said, we know firsthand the appeal of using buses as well. It takes the pressure of you, so that you can focus on just watching the scenery rather than keeping an eye on other drivers and making sure you’re following the local traffic regulations. The trouble on Madeira is that we really don’t think the public transportation system is up to scratch.

Plus, compared to other places that we’ve hired a vehicle, it’s an absolute breeze driving in Madeira. Yes, there are some windy mountain roads, but there isn’t much traffic (apart from the Funchal area), so there’s no pressure to hurry along. Just take your time! True, we visited in October, but people we spoke to said that it isn’t particularly bad in the height of summer either. 

#4 How To Rent A Car In Madeira?

We rented through DiscoverCars, which has been our number one choice for a while now. They have a range of different cars and deals with a mixture of car companies, both big international brands and smaller regional outfits, so we figured it would be easy to find the best car rental in Madeira through them.

Should you rent a car in Madeira Airport? Basically, you don’t have a choice, because all leasing companies are located there! However, since parking in Funchal is neither difficult nor expensive, it makes sense to pick up your vehicle as soon as you step off the plane anyway.

The usual tips apply. Book online as far in advance as you are able, especially if you require an automatic car, since these tend to run out first during busy periods.

DiscoverCars has quite a generous cancellation policy – up to 48 hours before you are meant to pick up the car. Because of that, we usually try to secure our vehicle as soon as we have dates in mind. They can always be amended later.

On our recent trip, we rented through DiscoverCars with Funchal Drive/Auto Union, picking up our vehicle Madeira Airport. We basically chose them because they had the best deal, even though they have had mixed reviews online. For us though, we were happy with the overall experience with them. 

It’s worth noting that their office is located away from the airport, whereas quite a few other companies were actually based at the airport. However, they had a free shuttle bus to the rental office, and we didn’t have any issues finding or using the service.

#5 Is Renting A Car In Madeira Safe?

As long as you do your due diligence, it is safe renting a car in Madeira. We always crosscheck any deals we find on DiscoverCars against reviews on Google Maps and Trustpilot, just to gauge other people’s experiences. 

Make sure to check the exact rental shop, rather than just a brand. Even though someone like Avis or Europcar, for example, may be top notch elsewhere, it doesn’t mean that the people running the office in Madeira have a good reputation.

As an added protection, we always book with DiscoverCars’ full insurance package, just to cover our butts in case there are any little scrapes. We’ve only had to claim on it a couple of times, but we’ve never had any issues getting refunded by the company.

#6 Car Rental In Madeira: Requirements

There are only a handful of renting a car in Madeira requirements to remember:

⚠️ You need a valid driver’s license, and it must have been held for at least a year. Most people do not require an International Driving Permit (IDP), including citizens from EU countries, the UK, and the US. One big reason you might need an IDP is if your national licence is printed in characters that are not from the Roman alphabet, such as Arabic or Cyrillic. 

⚠️ You should prepare a second form of ID. You may not be asked for this, but sometimes car rental companies want something like a passport or national ID card, just to confirm you are who you say you are. You might as well have this ready, since if you’re travelling to Portugal from abroad you probably have one or the other anyway.

⚠️ You must be at least 18 years old, but ideally 25. Sorry, youngsters, a lot of car companies won’t hire to people under 21, and anybody under 25 is often whacked with a surcharge, which is staggered by age. This is pretty common to a lot of places we’ve visited, so there’s not much you can do except shop around.

⚠️ You should have third-party liability insurance. Most car companies will include basic coverage in the quoted price, but make sure you check before clicking the confirm button.

⚠️ It helps to have a credit card. Some car companies will only rent to someone who can provide a credit card for the deposit. There are places that will accept a debit card, but these tend to be more expensive, and it limits your options. Also, it’s always safer to book on a credit card anyway, as you can query charges with your bank, whereas with a debit card the money is gone for good.

#7 Cost Of Hiring A Car In Madeira?

There are a lot of factors that can influence the cost of hiring a car, including ones we’ve already mentioned like your age and whether you have a credit card. The one thing we’ve found that has the most influence is how far in advance you book. That’s especially true during busy periods, like summer and Christmas.

The best deals are usually offered by lesser-known brands, but you have to weight that up against the fact that they don’t have the same reputation as someone like Enterprise or Hertz. 

Other rules of thumb include that an automatic is pricier than a manual, and that bigger vehicles are costlier than smaller ones. 

To give you an idea of what to budget, we paid €171 for 6 days for a new Seat Ibiza, plus €56 for full insurance cover via DiscoverCars. That was one of the cheapest car rentals in Madeira that was on offer, and it boils down to about €38 per day in total, which isn’t bad value. We travelled in October, so you should expect to pay a little more in the summer months.

Funchal Drive also blocked €1,000 for the deposit on our credit card, which was released about a week after we returned the car.

Unlike the rest of Portugal, there are no toll roads on Madeira. So that’s another saving you can pop in the bank right there!

#8 What Kind Of Car Is Recommended?

Whatever car you find comfortable to drive. Highways and streets are all really well maintained on Madeira, and you won’t be driving off road. In other words, you can afford to go with a more modest vehicle, as long as it has the horsepower to get you up those inclines!

The automatic Seat Ibiza that we rented was comfortable for getting about, including up the mountains. We’d say that’s a solid benchmark for what you want to be driving on Madeira. Something chunky like a 4×4 isn’t really necessary on this kind of terrain.

To streamline your search, DiscoverCars allows you to filter the results, which means you can refine for things like manual/automatic, number of doors, petrol/electric, air conditioning, etc.

#9 Before You Drive Away…

Here are a couple of driving in Madeira tips to bear in mind: 

✅ Check the type of petrol and petrol level before driving away. Our car was missing 1/4 of the petrol, and the paperwork stated it was a full tank. Remember to top up the tank just before returning the car, as there’s usual a fuel charge policy. 

✅ Record all scratches and dents. Don’t be afraid to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb with the agent before your drive off, and document it all with your phone, taking photos and video as necessary. 

✅ Make sure you have all the emergency contacts in case you need assistance. We don’t just mean police and ambulances, but the name and number of someone at the rental company, just in case there are issues with the vehicle.

#10 Speed Limits In Madeira

On the highways, the speed limit is usually between 70km/h (about 44mph) and 90km (45mph), so a little slower than on mainland Portugal. In any case, you may not want to be going full tilt on some of the windy parts! 

From our experience, most of the smaller roads and villages have a speed limit of between about 30km/h (19mph) to 50km/h (31mph). 

While it’s always helpful to have a general idea about speed limits, obviously keep an eye out for signage, which will alert you to any little variations in the local area.

#11 Gas Stations

Generally speaking, the southeastern part of the island is most heavily developed region of Madeira, so that’s where you’ll find a higher concentration of gas stations. They are most plentiful around Funchal, which is the capital and the largest city by far on Madeira.

Funchal was where we stayed, so we topped up the tank around here. The island isn’t that big, so we didn’t find we needed to fill up very often.

Gas stations are self-service, and you pay after filling up the tank. It’s all nice and straightforward. We can’t think of anything particularly unusual that we need to warn you about!

As with anywhere in the world, the important thing to remember when renting a car in Madeira is what kind of fuel the car takes. It is so easy to accidentally put diesel in a petrol tank or vice versa, especially if you’re renting a car that takes different fuel to what your car at home guzzles.

#12 Parking In Madeira

Arguably the only real downside to hiring a car in Madeira is the parking – and even that isn’t as challenging or expensive as on a lot of islands we’ve visited. 

Most parking lots near tourist attractions or hikes are paid, but the prices are largely affordable. 

✅ Pro tip: If you arrive at an activity and are looking for a parking space, always drive as close to the place as possible as a first step. If there is no space in the designated parking lot or on the side of the road in the vicinity, you can always work your way back along the road until you see a spot. Doing this, we usually managed to get pretty near to our destination. 

What we noticed was that a lot of people visiting Madeira just copy other tourists when they see cars parked far away from the parking lot on the road, but most of the time there was a spot much closer. It’s not really rocket science: when the first visitors leave, there’s space for new cars, but for some reason nobody seems to bother checking. This is an island where it always pays to try your luck!

Having said that, we did notice that parking at places like PR 9 and other very popular hiking routes did tend to fill up. We mostly arrived as early as possible to try and catch the sunset at places like Pico do Arieiro, and that’s definitely a good strategy. By the time we returned to our car in the late morning, there were very few spaces, if any.

#13 Awesome Places To Visit With A Car

If you do decide to hire a car in Madeira (and we highly recommend you do), here are a few of our fav places that we visited on the island.

📍Pico do Arieiro

Pico do Areiro is among the highest peaks in Madeira and the starting points for one of the island’s most epic hikes. The route shows off some of the best of the natural landscape, taking you up above the clouds.

It takes between 4 to 5 hours to do the full 11km (roughly 7 miles) trail, depending on your speed. We started early, so that we could see the sunrise from Miradouro do Juncal, located at the start of the hike.

📍Seixal Beach

About an hour from Funchal, Seixal Beach has incredible, unique black sand. Created by the island’s volcanic past, the sand is surprisingly soft and is hemmed in my dramatic cliffs. 

While this is a lovely place for sunbathing and swimming, we took advantage of renting a car in Madeira to come here at sunrise, when the spectacular setting really comes to life. We can’t imagine many better ways to welcome a new day!

📍 Ponta do Sol

Famous as the sunniest place on Maderia, Ponta do Sol was probably the prettiest town we visited on our trip. Brightly coloured buildings line the beachfront, and from the pier you get scenic vistas of the coast. 

The town has a nice beach, although its rocks, not sand, and there are well-maintained toilets and showers. Even when we went in October, the sea was a pleasant temperature for swimming. 

📍Sao Vincente

On the other side of the island, Sao Vicente isn’t the best place to come for a beach, but it does have this unusual little chapel where you can see luscious views of the mountains, the valley, and the pretty village houses. 

We turned up here in the morning and got some amazing drone shots, but we can’t imagine there’s ever a time when this view isn’t a stunner.

📍 Fanal Forest

We know we keep saying to go everywhere in the morning, but if there’s one place you really do need to come earlier in the day it’s Fanal Forest. That’s when this ancient woodland is swathed in spooky fog, like something out of the witches’ scene in Macbeth.

In fact, there’s even a famous Witch Tree here, which is meant to look like a magical crone swathed in her black robes.

Renting A Car In Madeira: Final Word

We’re just going to say it one more time: we 100% recommend renting a car in Madeira! Not only was it an absolute pleasure to drive on the roads, but it’s also just the most sensible way to get around the island. On a clear day, you’ll find yourself stopping again and again at the various miradouros to enjoy the stunning natural beauty that the island has to offer.