2.95/5
505 reviews
Photo by Tim Roosjen via Unsplash

Madeira

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island

great

funchal

amazing

nice

homeless

friendly

nomads

nature

drug

internet

prices

car

weather

explore

extremely

cost

food

set

Madeira, particularly Funchal, is a scenic island destination popular among digital nomads, retirees, and tourists. It offers a mild climate throughout the year, excellent hiking opportunities, fast and reliable internet, and a strong community vibe fostered by government-led programs. Many appreciate its friendly locals and relaxed pace of life, with a well-developed coworking scene and an active outdoor culture including surfing, canyoning, and hiking. The area is considered safe by many, though some express concerns about safety issues increasing in certain zones.

On the downside, the cost of living is climbing rapidly, with rent and real estate prices approaching those in major European cities. There are complaints about poor quality housing, supply limitations for goods, and inefficient services. Over-tourism has led to infrastructure strain, rising prices, and some dissatisfaction among locals. Although the area enjoys a calm atmosphere ideal for productivity, it may feel boring or isolating to those seeking vibrant social or cultural scenes. Madeira remains an attractive option for short to medium stays, especially for nature lovers and remote workers comfortable with its slower pace and small-island limitations.

AI-generated summary of reviews
5 months ago

Funchal is better than Lisbon but not better than Ericeira. Ericeira has space, tasteful design and amazing beaches. Madeira seem to lack these qualities.

I’m back from Madeira.

It was a nice trip. I visited my friend who was an amazing host. We went to gym, to roll and to hike together. He made sure that my belly is filled with beef.

Madeira nature was nice. You can pay with BTC in many places which is also nice.

In Funchal, The vibe is a bit retirement home + tourist trap + Bitcoin nerds + Ukrainians + mountain life + car life + nice weather.

But all the people I met were nice, lots of interesting Bitcoiner ones.

Also, no asylum seekers, the homeless were well dressed, seemed very safe.

I will go back and explore areas outside of Funchal.

8 months ago

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.

2 years ago

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.

2 years ago

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.

2 years ago

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.

2 years ago

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.

2 years ago

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.

2 years ago

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.

2 years ago

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!

2 years ago

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.

3 years ago

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.

4 years ago

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

4 years ago

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.

4 years ago

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.

5 years ago

✅ Great weather year-round

✅ Beautiful nature and landscapes

✅ Friendly and welcoming locals

✅ Good internet infrastructure

✅ Active outdoor lifestyle

✅ Strong digital nomad community

✅ Very safe

✅ Fast internet

✅ Lots of fun stuff to do

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Nomads.com members liked going here

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Very easy to do business

✅ High quality of education

✅ Roads are very safe

✅ Great freedom of speech

✅ Democratic

✅ Everyone speaks English

✅ Very safe for women

✅ Family friendly

✅ Very friendly to LGBTQ+

✅ (Medical) marijuana MAY be legal, unenforced or decriminalized (always double check this)

❌ Rising cost of living

❌ Increase in homelessness and petty crime

❌ Limited access to goods and services

❌ Over-tourism and loss of authenticity

❌ Expensive

❌ Cold now

❌ Very damp now

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Hospitals are bad

❌ Many people smoke tobacco

❌ High alcohol consumption

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

18°C / 64°F cool

17°C / 63°F cool

18°C / 64°F cool

20°C / 68°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

23°C / 73°F mild

24°C / 75°F warm

23°C / 73°F mild

21°C / 70°F mild

19°C / 66°F mild

Real (median)

17°C / 63°F
cool

17°C / 62°F
cool

17°C / 63°F
cool

18°C / 64°F
cool

20°C / 67°F
mild

21°C / 70°F
mild

23°C / 73°F
mild

24°C / 75°F
warm

23°C / 73°F
mild

20°C / 68°F
mild

19°C / 66°F
mild

Humidity

nice
63%

nice
64%

nice
67%

nice
65%

nice
68%

nice
65%

nice
62%

nice
63%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

Rain

dry
15mm

dry
29mm

dry
24mm

dry
25mm

dry
9mm

dry
7mm

dry
2mm

dry
3mm

dry
14mm

dry
3mm

dry
41mm

dry
49mm

Cloud

cloudy
61%

pockets
46%

cloudy
52%

cloudy
51%

pockets
45%

pockets
43%

pockets
17%

pockets
24%

pockets
41%

pockets
50%

cloudy
59%

Sun

seek shade
3 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

avoid sun
6 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

seek shade
6 UVI

seek shade
4 UVI

seek shade
3 UVI

Remote workers

1,200 people

1,067 people

1,311 people

1,057 people

1,971 people

1,073 people

875 people

850 people

1,156 people

1,556 people

1,525 people

1,320 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Based on Madeira's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

Help pick the best photos for Madeira and improve this page's look by tappingclicking on them and the site saves your feedback Vote photos

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✈️4h

$5,582 / mo

22 Mbps

Lisbon

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 19° 66° 19° 66° AQI 36

✈️1h

$3,837 / mo

🌇 Also went here302 people

Porto

Portugal

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 19° 66° 18° 65°

✈️4h

$5,225 / mo

🌇 Also went here118 people

Amsterdam

Netherlands

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌤 Feels 13° 55° 14° 57° AQI 25

✈️4h

$5,582 / mo

🌇 Also went here168 people

Prague

Czechia

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Very expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 9° 48° 10° 49° AQI 75 😷

✈️4h

$4,488 / mo

🌇 Also went here124 people

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌧 Feels 36° 97° 30° 87° 🥵 AQI 66 😷

✈️15h

$1,577 / mo

🌇 Also went here179 people

400 remote workers in Madeira now, of which 2+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

⭐️ Total score	2.95/5 (Rank #43) 505 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍14 liked it 👎5 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Good
👶 Family score	Good
🎒 Community score	Okay
💵 Cost	🙂 Okay: $2,556 / mo
📡 Internet	🙂 Good: 46 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Good
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥶 A bit cold: 15°C58°F (feels 15°C59°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	💦 Damp: 89%
❄️ % of buildings with AC	😥 Medium: 50%
👌 Safety	Great
👩 Safe for women	Good
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Great
🤮 Food safety*	Great
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Great
🤝 Lack of racism*	Okay
🎓 Education level*	Mediocre
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Vulnerability to climate change	Good
💰 Income level*	Mediocre: $1,646 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Good
🚶 Walkability	Okay
🚦 Traffic safety*	Okay
✈️ Airline scores*	Good
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Okay
📶 Free WiFi in city	Great
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Great
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Great
🎅 Startup Score	Okay

🌍 Continent	Europe
🚩 Country	Portugal
🗓️ Average trip length	18 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	46 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	🌧 15°C 58°F + 💦 Damp (89%) = feels 15°C 59°F
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Uber
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	EUR 100 = USD 116
💸 Tipping	Yes, 10%
💳 Cashless	💳 Yes, cards OK almost everywhere
💻 Best coworking space	Cowork Funchal
🚰 Tap water	👌 Yes, safe to drink
♻️ Return rate	👍11% of visitors return
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	110,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$19,750 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 81% 👱‍♀️ 19%
🏞 Foreign land ownership allowed	Yes
⛪️ Religious government	Non-religious
💻 Online electronics shop	Fnac
🏠 Apartment listings	Era
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	TAP
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	TAP

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$2,556 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$2,178 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$4,641 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$1,326 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$989 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$3,091 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$1,173 / month
🏠 Median home price	$289,820
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$46 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$101 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$93 / month
🍛 Dinner	$8
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$1
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$3
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$2
👩‍🏫 International school	$6,949 / year
📱 Mobile data (~10GB)	$32 / month
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$3 / trip
💰 Estimated tax on $50,000	$21,514
💰 Estimated tax on $100,000	$52,994
💰 Estimated tax on $250,000	$145,334