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Travelling to Porutgal mid March - Madeira Island or Porto?

Posted by on

Hello!

My mother and I will be vacationing in Portugal mid-March and are looking for some advice on best places to go. I will be in Lisbon for work February 20 - March 13 and she will be meeting me in Lisbon on the morning of 13th. Our plan was to stay in Lisbon for two nights so I can show her Sintra and around the city and then depart on the 15th for either Porto (a work contact also suggested Douro?) or Madeira Island until 21st.

We are huge wine and food enthusiasts and would love to be able to walk around and explore and see some beautiful culture. We also love warm weather and beach time and being outdoors, and ideally would love somewhere we could get a bit of all of the above.

A friend suggested Madeira Island, which looks beautiful, will it be warm enough to go to the beach this time of year? If not, would Porto be a better destination for us? Any suggestions for places to stay in either?

Any and all advice is much appreciated!!!

Posted by
26 posts

There are hardly any beaches on Madeira. The island is so mountainous that it is even difficult to reach the ocean in many places. Other than that it's perfect. Very friendly people, probably nice spring weather and very beautiful scenery. Funchal is quite a lively and beautiful city, all other places are charming sleepy towns.

Can't comment on Porto, haven't been there yet.

Posted by
28247 posts

I have been to Madeira twice but, not being a beach person, I've never gone looking for beaches. The internet says there are zero natural sandy beaches on the main island of Madeira. They've brought in sand to create some sandy spots, but real beach fans take the 2-hour ferry ride to Porto Santo. Some of the upscale hotels have pools, of course.

What Madeira does have is magnificent scenery and (at the lower elevations) lush vegetation. A major activity is walking along the levadas, which are narrow irrigation ditches that follow the contour of the land. Once you get up to the level of a levada, the walk is basically flat. Some of the walks are not for those with a fear of heights, but others are fine.

Check wunderground.com for historical weather stats in Funchal, the capital. In my experience (probably late May or June), Madeira is not as hot as you would expect, given its location off the coast of Morocco. It's not sunny all the time, either. But beautiful, indeed yes.

Also check temperaturs for Porto. My guess is that it will be chillier than Madeira in March. Don't know how the precipitation will compare.

Posted by
8322 posts

Mid-March is still very chilly in Portugal as well as Madeira. If you are going that time of the year, forget the beach.

Loved Madeira, but I would go with Porto and the Douro River Valley. Take a cruise on the Douro, it is wonderful.

Posted by
28247 posts

The temperature on Madeira is remarkably stable year-round. Assuming Wikipedia can be trusted on this point, the average low temperature for Funchal in March is 57F; it's 68F in mid-summer. The average high temperature in March is 68.7F; in mid-summer it peaks at 79.5F. I agree that March doesn't look like beach weather if you intend to get wet. But it will likely be cooler in Lisbon and especially in Porto. I wouldn't choose northern Portugal at that time of year because of a combination of temperature and rain (projected to occur 15 days during March).

More details are available on wunderground.com.

Posted by
80 posts

Hello akh219,

I also believe that Porto is a better destination (I'm a bit biased since I live here:). It's true that it's not beach time in March but you have some beautiful natural beaches to admire; people are very friendly; gastronomy is great; it is also a great place to explore with all its monuments, museums, nightlife and city landscape... you can even go to Port wine cellars.
Douro Valley is also great, especially if you visit one of the vineyards and discover the production process of Port wine.

Whatever the destination you pick, I'm sure you're going to love it ;)

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