Madeira

I don’t understand these comments about homelessness and drug abuse. This is nothing at all compared to major cities. Madeira in one of the safest places in Europe, is extremely clean and well kept. Infrastructure is great (best internet, great roads and a huge network of tunnels that enable people to travel easily around the island). Climate is simply amazing (I swam in the ocean at Christmas time, water was 21 degrees). Great for walking in nature, diving, canyoning, active people will never get bored. Cost of living is very affordable, although I agree rents are going up and real estate prices definitely on the up too due to an increased interest from Europeans and North Americans. Food is all local and fresh, including great fish and seafood. Restaurants are plentiful and affordable. Even top restaurants like Akua will only set you back around 50 euros a head for a top meal including wine. There is a large and friendly international community that organisers many events for all tastes. Some of the people below seem really disgruntled. I think Madeira is an awesome place to spend time in.

Madeira feels like a bubble, excessively priced and lacking value. In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in homelessness and drug addicts on the streets. Certain parts of the old town are unsafe to walk at night. Expect to pay nearly Amsterdam-level prices for apartments. If your income exceeds the Portuguese median salary, you might fare better, but having lived and worked here, we find the prices exorbitant. The quality of the apartments is questionable: they're so poorly built you can hear your neighbours doing everyday things like using the toilet. Issues such as rats in the walls, leaking roofs, homeless sleeping on the entrances, and cockroach infestations are common, yet you'll still be charged no less than 1500 without utilities, possibly more. Service here is subpar due to lack of competition: your cleaner will not clean properly and local cafe will ask you to f*ck off if you mention them their food is bad. Surely, you can always go to the fancy places that will charge you central London-price for a meal. Additionally, there's a trend of attracting a particular type of nomad—those interested in kundalini yoga, meditation, crypto, etc., often disconnected from reality and/or pretty shady. If you identify with this group, it's a great fit. However, if not, you may find yourself feeling lonely. On the positive side, locals are welcoming, fluent in English, and generally friendly.

I'm in Madeira now. It's very safe even for old people which are still most of visitors here. There are some places where you can meet some digital nomads but not so much. First of all this is grat escape from busy cities into island with everlasting spring and great internet. Wonderful fauna and flora. For some people it might be boring, for some it might be perfect. It's great place to focus on work and in free time go for a hike and explore some of islands history.

Madeira has no security at this time. There are more and more delinquents and homeless people on the streets and the cost of living for Madeirans has increased very aggressively and the quality of service for tourists has ceased to exist. All this local hosting and digital nomads is just a phase. In Madeira, it will cease to be fashionable and soon nomads and tourists will stop coming here in such a massive way, as they will realize that the quality of services is increasingly degrading, prices are higher and the local population is dissatisfied. There's no going back. This is just a phase. There are other places in the world much better than this land closed with a golden key just for a few lords of this land.

Funchal is not safe anymore. There is an increasing number of homeless people and drug addicts. At night, there are people who fall asleep on the lawns; syringes proliferate throughout the area; the police sometimes act but can not solve the problem.

Madeira is a huge tourist trap. Ugly cement roads ruining the nature, meals for the same price as central London, full of tourists... It is also extremely lacking in tech resources. Things that should be as simple as buying a headphone set becomes an impossible task because you have only one franchising of a tech store which gets 1/10 of the supplies comparing to continental Europe. Deliveries come by BOAT so it takes 10+ days for online shopping deliveries. And this is when they aren't lost by the post companies. Do not recommend.

Similarly to Lisbon, Madeira is getting very expensive, it is no longer possible to find a T1 rental for €500 or €600 per month and the cost of living is getting pretty high !! Security is also becoming an issue there, with an increasing number of homeless drug addicts on the streets.

Madeira is an amazing place to work and to live. Is a paradise for people who love calm and peace. The nature is stunning, the forest is world heritage by UNESCO, the climate is amazing all year around and the locals are very friendly. If you are thinking in Madeira pleaee be sure you respect local traditions and rules they don't like the opposite. Is an amazing place for outdoor activities like hiking, Canyoning, surf and much more. I use to go with Madeira Adventure Kingdom and they are really friendly and professionals. The internet access is overall good around the island. The food is amazing and spicy!! Highly recommended!

A cool place. If you live in Funchal, it's quite calm and yet with a couple of coworking spaces. Then you can travel on the weekends with a car. I'd definitely recommend this place for a month or two.

A pleasant touristy island which is great for hiking and just traveling around on a car.
Funchal isn't a modern city but it's walkable and liveable: there are coworking spaces, decent internet and occasionally you can even find filter coffee.

If you are into fitness, don't forget to join Madeira Fitness Friends group! Best training program and friendly community ever on this island!

Beautiful island with extremely nice hikes and good weather. Spent 3 months there just after they set up the Digital Nomad enclave in Ponta do Sol (beginning of 2021), a neat little "cove village" in the south with its own microclimate that makes it always sunny and good weather. When I was there the amount of digital nomads working on any given day in the freely accessible coworking space exploded from 30 to about 100, which shows the success of the government run program to attract digital nomads there.
The community they built there was a succes, with multiple events happening everyday throughout the week, all within walking distance from ponta do sol, although a car is needed to explore other parts of the island.
In general everything on Madeira is well organised and available, although the island is small and may not offer many of the amenities and luxuries that a big city does.

Funchal is a city in Madeira, Portugal. The capital of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, the city is located on the northwest coast of the island, about 10 km (6.2 mi) northwest of the island capital of Funchal. It has a population of 101,208, making it the 2nd largest city in the country and the main Portuguese port on the Atlantic Ocean.