Madeira for Kids
Madeira Island has plenty of great and fun activities for children to take part in, the following article gives you a good idea of what awaits you and your family for your Madeira holiday.
Our best advice to start would be to rent a car with GPS, because it is easier to get everywhere with your children without getting tired of a long bus journey or being worried about timetables. This is a holiday and you do not need to be in a rush.
1. Have fun on Madeira’s Aquapark
To start we all know it is very hard to find a child who doesn't like swings and slides, so the first place for you, if you are visiting the Island in the summer is to go through Madeira’s Aquapark in Santa Cruz, this complex is a very good place to be with family and especially with children, because it is safe, equipped with many lifeguards, there is an exotic animal show in the afternoon and above all it has various pools suitable for different ages, three waterslides plus a fast and a slow river.
2. Take a swim on Madeira's Kids Friendly beaches
Temperatures soaring? Grab your swimsuit and head to one of Madeira's best natural pools ever in Porto Moniz.
Take a tour to this cozy place and around the Island with our safari jeep tours, which offer multiple choices, great and professional they can adapt the tour so you can visit places that are of more interest to the kids. It is surely a fun time to discover the natural hidden places with the top pulled down when the sun is out. Still, some tips for your family members to go are:
- Natural swimming pool Doca do Cavacas in Funchal
- Prainha Caniçal Beach
- Seixal bathing complex
- Seixal beach
3. Stroll on Santa Catarina Park with great Funchal City bay views
Even if you are visiting Madeira in winter ‘Santa Catarina Park’ is also a suitable place for your family, you can take some snacks or lunch with you and have a lovely picnic, while the kids are having fun on the playground or feeding the ducks in the lake of the garden, you can enjoy the stunning views over Funchal Bay. There is also a playground where children, if accompanied by an adult, can make drawings, play or read, so as you can see it is a perfect formula to gather all of your family members and have a relaxing moment without your children getting bored. Since the park has a large size what about renting a bicycle to have a look around it or even around Funchal.
4. Madeira Magic the Kids' City
The fourth place we would recommend to you is Madeira Magic, also known as Kids' City, and is one of the best places for educational and entertaining purposes with playful and pedagogical infrastructures, such as the mini planetarium, auditorium to play 3D films, Science Centre, and many more magical expos!
The goal is to create a space dedicated primarily to children but which parents and grandparents also enjoy visiting. There are activities to ensure the healthy use of free time of children through games, books, movies, toys, ball pool, and an outdoor children's playground.
It is a place more devoted to children, where they may celebrate their anniversary.
Address: Rua Ponta Cruz, 15 9000-103 Funchal
5. Visit Madeira Aquiarum in Porto Moniz
To spend a real good time with your kids though, Porto Moniz is also a place to combine with a visit to ‘The Madeira aquarium’, which is quite small but where various habitats of the Madeiran marine world are represented.
6. Go Aboard Pirates of the Caribbean Experience on Santa Maria Pirate Ship
Or you and your family can take a boat trip and enjoy a trip out to sea looking to spot dolphins and whales that surround Madeira.
Looking straight out of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ the Santa Maria, a replica of Christopher Colombus’s ship, is the type of boat kids will adore sailing on the chance to re-live Christopher Columbus' voyage of discovery the unknown. There is actually a great variety and something for everyone: from catamarans to speedboats, replica ships or sailboats.
You can Book this Boat Trip here: LINK
7. Walk in Nature
Don't forget Madeira’s walks, you might think that it could be hard to go on a ‘Levada walk’ with your kids, but the truth is we have all planned especially for families.
All children get excited with animals and big and spacious places to run or to play, so sign up for this wonderful stroll in the Enchanted Forest, which is called ‘Fanal’ that will be a unique experience for you and your family. It is a perfect place to discover and walk through the real nature where you can find some animals to feed.
Another family program to interact with kids is the ‘Balcões walk’, we meet in Ribeiro Frio and after discovering the trout kindergarten we make our nordic walk along the comfortable Levada path in the breathtaking Laurissilva Forest. Our walk, offers all the elements that gives a pleasant and unforgettable experience in nature to the whole family, a water channel, a little bridge, birds that eat from your hands, and amazing views.
We can show you these and a lot more, we recommend the last but not least walk suitable for your children. Meet us in Queimadas and make our nordic walk along the wide Levada path in the Laurissilva Forest where you can see other wild animals from the mountains such as piglets.
8. Spend some time on "Madeira Theme Park" in Santana
After a day of walks and tours, take a morning to reward the kids with a trip to ‘The Madeira Theme Park’ in Santana is a space dedicated to history, science and tradition, but is a great place for kids to explore all of this in a fun and friendly environment. You will certainly be delighted when you take your children to the different pavilions and activities, going on a boat on the lake or riding the train. And that's not even counting the playgrounds, perfect for younger children to play freely.
Still, this place includes many outdoor areas with varied activities for children, a replica of the Monte train and a typical house of Santana, you will also find a natural auditorium, gardens, a labyrinth, as well as a 6D simulator that fills our visit with excitement and an ample and fun area, where they can challenge their imagination and test their dexterity.
Address: Estrada do Parque Temático 1, 9230-098 Santana
9. Green Train Ride in Camara de Lobos
Have you even been to the fisherman village/’Câmara de Lobos’?
If not, you need to catch this Madeira Green Train that leaves from Câmara de Lobos Bay and takes a spectacular trip lasting about 1 hour and 10 minutes, with a 15-minute stop at Cabo Girão. A unique trip overlooking the city and local agriculture, but even if you are staying in Funchal the easiest way to get there is from Yellow bus or Red bus, which has an open rooftop and is a double-decker. Visit the Madeira Skywalk and stand on the glass over 560 meters above the sea at Cabo Girão for truly awe-inspiring views down the cliffs, the kids may think this is brilliant!
10. Enjoy the heights on Madeira Cable Car
If your family enjoys the heights, fly over winding streets and mazes of houses that look like tiny models on a living map on the cable car ride, it's a good way to see the city from another perspective. The cable car takes about 20 minutes and is a lovely way to see Madeira from above. Up at the mountain do not forget to go to the tropical gardens, a great way to find exotic plants and flowers from various continents, as well as animals like ducks, white and black swans, peacocks, chickens, and koi fish. The kids love the fountains, Japanese garden and the geode exhibition.
Even the hardest to entertain kids will love exploring the colourful, aromatic walkways and hidden paths of Madeiras’ tropical gardens and parks.
It's an afternoon very well spent, which is recommended to have some time to explore, so grab some snacks and go explore the unknown with your kids, because it has an extensive garden with steep slopes, full of nooks and works of art inserted in the abundant and varied vegetation where you can find a lot of places to stop and enjoy the view and surroundings.
11. Ride on Traditional Toboggan Sledges
One of the traditional ways to come back down Monte is by toboggan sledges. It could be mildly terrifying as you sit on large sledges that are steered down the hill but it is full of excitement and adrenaline. Some children love it but beware about the long walk afterward though as it doesn’t take you all the way to the bottom so a bus is definitely recommended.
12. Tuk Tuk Tour around Funchal's city
Spend some of the day visiting all the corners of the city or near to it, there is no better mode of transport to take your children on a Tuk Tuk Tour, because it is a small motorbike with covered seats, in which you can travel comfortably and chose wherever you feel like going at the time.
These tours besides being eco, give you a closer and more intimate perspective of Funchal without climbing the steep streets of the city. Go in a fun mini-adventure but in a big memorable journey.
13. Visit The Toy Museum in Funchal
Kids these days like smartphones too much but they can still appreciate The Toy Museum which has a collection of antique and other pieces from private collections.
Even for us adults, it is interesting to look at this collection that comprises about 20,000 national and international manufactured toys dating from the late 19th century until modern times, comprised of dolls, toy soldiers, miniatures, cars, and games.
The collections on display are exhibited with portuguese toys, miniature cars, aircrafts, Star Wars, action man, super heroes and a game room with educational games.
14. Embark on a Horse Riding Adventure
Embark on a horse riding adventure for both beginners and old hands. Childhood is full of exciting stories and role-playing games, so learning to ride and ‘playing ponies’ can add a new dimension to your child’s experience of these four-legged friends. You can check our suggestions and Book your ride here: LINK
15. Visit Quinta da Junta
Talking about horses, there is a pleasant place to visit, on a tranquil plateau with green and rural surroundings.
‘Quinta da Junta’ is the name of the place and it has a vast area of camellia plantation and a breathtaking view of the Machico valley and the island of Porto Santo. It is a farm open to the public with many animals such as deer, horses, ducks and peacocks. Enjoy a picnic in the park and explore the forest.
16. Prazeres Pedagogical Farm Fun
Prazeres Pedagogical Farm in calheta is a destination like no other for your family. It is a project that has several visitable spaces, such as the Tea House, farm animals, orchards and surrounding gardens and herbs.
’ Prazeres’ Pedagogical farm is special due to its free educational program for both children and adults with workshops and guided tours to a sociocultural evolution and rural development.
This main goal is anchored in pedagogical activities, in various fields such as botany, geology, livestock, agriculture, tradition and popular culture of Madeira, literacy (environmental awareness and education) and contemporary art.
The various workshops are mainly about tea herbs, animal feed, animal care, composting (earthworm), insects, bread (from sowing to making), scarecrows and pinwheels.
There is also a Plastic Expression Workshop resulting in the interaction with the artistic proposals exposed at all times.
17. Enjoy Quinta das Palmeira Mini Zoo in Porto Santo
An alternative to the beach in Porto Santo is the ‘’Quinta das Palmeiras’’.
On such a small island it is fantastic to have such an attraction, a space with many different trees and birds, where you can spend quality time mainly with children. You can feed the animals and even the carp that are there. Quinta das Palmeiras generates a sudden patch of green in a dry area west of the airport. This farm is small and cozy enclosed in a grove, with a mini zoo, where you can admire a shady haven with roses, some animals especially exotic birds, such as parrots, you will find fishes and also turtles, swans swimming around a fountain and cooing pigeons.
