Madeira Driving Advice and Car Hire Info
Driving in Madeira
Madeira drives on the right and you can use the photo licence of any country to drive here, providing it’s written in Roman alphabet. Drivers from other countries need their own licence plus an international driving permit. Speed limits range from 100kmh on dual carriageways to 80kmh on other roads and 40/50kmh in urban areas. Madeira has a sliding scale of fines relating to drink driving – ranging from fines of between €250 and €2,500.
Madeira is only 30 miles long so you can drive right round the island in about two hours. . Roads are generally in good condition but may be steep, winding and narrow in places. For example the road on the western coastline of the island from Prazeres up to to Port Moniz is full of winding, hilly sections that take a long time to drive. The main road around the island is the ER101 which runs right round the coast and is a good scenic drive utilising a number of modern tunnels so you never feel you’re on a roller coaster ride of hairpin bends. The interior roads are in similarly good condition but will also cross mountains so don’t expect to get into top gear too often. Drivers are generally courteous and abide by road rules. Funchal is the only place you are likely to experience traffic but even the main town shouldn’t cause you any stress. Madeira is a great self driving destination with a number of scenic drives, some of which are described on this website.
Although I try and keep the information in the site updated as much as possible, in a rapidly moving world, situations can change daily. Therefore please use the site as an approximate guide, and in conjunction with other resources in order to form your view on driving conditions, roads, safety etc.
Madeira Car Rental
Sixt, National and Hertz have branches on the Island and Madeira is covered on the main car rental broker sites.
We currently have no local car rental partners in Madeira. If you are a local car rental company who would like to feature on DriverAbroad.com please check details on our Partnering page or contact us on ADriverAbroad@Outlook.com
