In winter the sun sets to the southwest, right in front of Funchal, so find a high vantage point like São Gonçalo or Pico Alto up in Monte. In summer (July to mid-September) it sets further west, so head for Calheta, Ponta do Sol or Paul do Mar. And year-round, the most underrated sunset on the island is the one almost nobody goes to: Pico do Arieiro.
Everybody comes to Madeira chasing the sunrise. Fair enough. I’m a sunrise guy myself. But after years of running tours here, I’ll tell you a secret I almost don’t want to give away: sunset is when you get this island to yourself.
Winter or summer: the sun moves along the coast
The sunset position shifts through the year, the same way the sunrise does. Winter sunsets land right in front of Funchal, which means you don’t even have to leave town. You just have to get up high. Summer pushes the sunset west along the coast, and that’s when the west-coast villages earn their reputation.
One more thing about winter: you’re less likely to get a clear sunset, but when you do get one, the clouds make it much prettier. A good winter sunset beats a summer sunset, in my opinion.
Pico do Arieiro at sunset: the island’s most underrated hour
I’ve said it before on this channel and I’ll keep saying it: the sunset at Pico do Arieiro is one of the most underrated things in Madeira. Sunrise up there is the famous thing, so that’s where the crowds go. At sunset it’s always quiet. A photographer friend who lives here puts it at roughly 10% of the people you’d see in the morning. Same peaks, same sea of clouds, no queue for the view.
The trick that makes it easy: in the mid-afternoon, open the Madeira webcams and look at Pico do Arieiro. If it’s clear, go. You’re going to have a great sunset, and you didn’t have to wake up at 4am to earn it.
Two bonuses the sunrise crowd never sees:
- The pink hour. My favourite part isn’t the sunset itself: it’s just after, when the sky does this white-blue-pink thing above the cloud sea. Crazy for photos.
- The night sky. Stay a little longer and the stars come out properly. I saw my first moonrise by mistake up there, on a jeep tour with a family who wanted to do some stargazing. I was as amazed as they were. If there’s a full moon rising, don’t leave early.
And on the drive down, you get one of my favourite views from my job: the Funchal lights from the road between Pico do Arieiro and Monte at night.
After our sunset tours we come down for real local food: picados, pregos, a hot chocolate, maybe a poncha. [JEFF: confirm the current post-sunset food stop; Barracão was the official Hit The Road sunset stop when it opened in 2021.]
Pico Ruivo at sunset: with a lantern hike back
Madeira’s highest peak works best at sunset, and here’s the logic. You reach Pico Ruivo from Achada do Teixeira, near Santana, about a 2.5 hour drive from Funchal, versus only 45 minutes to Pico do Arieiro. So the sensible split is: Arieiro for sunrise, Ruivo for sunset. Don’t try to do both peaks in one day; too much driving, too much hiking, you’ll be finished by dinner.
The hike from Achada do Teixeira is 2.8 km there and back, call it two hours, with about 300 m of climb. Easy if you hike regularly, not trivial if you don’t, and it’s a decent test of how your vertigo is doing. There’s a €3 per person trail fee [JEFF: confirm the current fee under the 2026 reservation system], and if you come with us, we handle it.
The best part is the way down. We hike back in the dark with lanterns: the stars up there are unreal, and you’re looking down on the lights of Santana and the villages below. When I filmed this the peak-to-peak trail beyond Ruivo was still closed after the fire; it reopened in 2026 as a one-way, ticketed hike [JEFF: confirm the one-liner and link the PR1 post].
Whatever the season: layers. At sunset up there it can be 4 to 12°C even when Funchal is warm. And check the actual sunset time before you go, it moves a lot through the year, and in summer it’s late enough that you’ll want a light dinner plan.
Porto Moniz: the summer sunset nobody plans for
In summer, the natural rock pools at Porto Moniz are mobbed in the middle of the day. Go the other way: arrive after 3:30 or 4pm and you’ll have the place kind of to yourself, and in July and August you can stay for a really cool sunset right at the pools. It’s a long drive back, so plan dinner somewhere in the area and make an evening of it.
Fanal: sunset in the fog forest
Fanal gets pretty crowded in the middle of the day now. It’s great at sunset, and at sunrise too. Same rule as everywhere on this list: show up when the day-trippers are gone.
Sunrise or sunset?
If you ask me straight: sunset probably wins on crowds, sunrise wins on adventure. Sunrise is the epic thing everyone wants to do, so everyone does it. Sunset gives you the same mountains with a fraction of the people, and no alarm clock. If you’re a sunrise person anyway, I wrote the complete Madeira sunrise guide too. Do one of each and you’ve seen the island at its two best hours.
[JEFF: optional opening story: a specific sunset tour moment (guest reaction, a winter sky over Funchal), one short paragraph.]