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Visit Porto Santo
👨‍👩‍👧 Family3 days

A long family weekend

Beaches · fort and cannons · chapel · bike · horses · sunset

At a glance

Two supervised beaches on day one; the Pico do Castelo cannons by car, the windmills and the Graça chapel staircase on day two; the almost-flat cycle path to Cabeço da Ponta and a horse ride to the Miradouro das Flores to finish.

Difficulty
Easy · for ages 4–12 · bikes on a flat path
Best season
Bathing season 1 May – 31 October; water around 18 °C in March, 24–25 °C in high summer.

🎒 Packing list

  • Hats and sunscreen for everyone
  • Armbands and beach toys
  • Closed shoes for the rocks
  • Water bottles
  • Picnic for Pico do Castelo

Day by day

Day 1 · Two supervised beaches7

📍 Fontinha → Vila Baleira → Ribeiro Salgado · ⏰ 08:30 · 🚗 ~15 min

  1. 09:00 → 11:00Break

    First swim at Fontinha

    The town beach, Blue Flag since 1989 with lifeguards guaranteed from 15 May to 31 October: 720 m of turquoise water from the Cais Velho — go early, before the 11 am sun.

    📍 Praia da Fontinha
  2. 11:15 → 11:45Visiton foot · 5 min

    Nossa Senhora da Piedade church

    The mother church, on the site of the island's first chapel: built between 1430 and 1446, pillaged by French corsairs in 1566, rebuilt in 1667; the Gothic Morgada chapel, a rocaille ceiling and paintings by Conrado and Römer. Its patron is celebrated on the last weekend of August.

    📍 Igreja Nossa Senhora da Piedade
  3. 12:15 → 13:45Mealon foot · 5 min

    Bolo do caco & espetada — O Forno

    The town-centre bolo do caco specialist: Porto Santo's version, taller and wider and without sweet potato, baked on basalt stone and served with an espetada.

  4. 14:00 → 14:30Breakon foot · 3 min

    Lambecas ice cream

    More than fifty years of history and the archipelago's most iconic ice cream: passion fruit, banana, mango — the afternoon ritual, in the shade, at the hours when you avoid the sun.

    📍 Lambecas
  5. 16:30 → 18:00Breakby car · 10 min

    Ribeiro Salgado by the boardwalks

    Wooden walkways across the dune ridge, Blue Flag 2026 and the island's longest supervised season (1 May – 31 October); a panoramic terrace and sand recommended for rheumatic complaints.

    📍 Praia do Porto Santo
  6. 18:15 → 18:45Breakby car · 5 min

    A drink at Bar do Henrique

    A local bar with a terrace at Campo de Baixo, by the access to Ribeiro Cochino beach: the late-afternoon break between two swims.

  7. 19:00Mealon foot · 5 min

    Dinner with feet in the sand — Pé na Água

    A beach restaurant whose terrace sits on the sand, facing the Atlantic: grilled fish of the day, limpets with garlic, caldeirada and homemade bolo do caco. Booking recommended in July and August.

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — Quinta das Palmeiras (parrots under the trees), Casa Colombo, then cinema at the Centro Cultural.

🎒 What to bring — Hats and sunscreen for everyone, water, armbands, beach toys, closed shoes for the children on the rocks.

  • With children: supervised beaches (Fontinha 15 May–31 Oct, Ribeiro Salgado 1 May–31 Oct), hats and sunscreen from the morning, shade break between 11 am and 4 pm.
  • Swimming: lifeguards are guaranteed only at Fontinha, Ribeiro Salgado and Cabeço da Ponta in season; elsewhere follow the flags, and never go into the water to rescue someone — call 112.
  • Sun: the National Maritime Authority advises avoiding the sun between 11 am and 4 pm and drinking regularly — hence beach time early and late in the day.
Day 2 · Cannons, windmills and chapel9

📍 Pico do Castelo → Portela → Casinhas → Vila Baleira · ⏰ 08:30 · 🚗 ~30 min

  1. 09:30 → 10:30Photoby car · 15 min

    Pico do Castelo by car

    A road climbs almost to the summit (437 m): lookout, cannons of the 16th-century fort, the bust of Schiappa de Azevedo who reforested the peak in the 1920s, and one of the island's widest views — no walking required.

    📍 Pico do Castelo
  2. 11:00 → 11:30Photoby car · 15 min

    Miradouro da Portela

    The island's classic, accessible lookout at the eastern tip: Vila Baleira in the middle of the south coast, the beach and turquoise sea, the harbour and marina, Pico de Baixo and Ilhéu de Cima — the windmills and the Graça chapel staircase are minutes away.

    📍 Miradouro da Portela
  3. 11:30 → 12:00Photoon foot · 5 min

    The three Portela windmills

    Emblems of the island, restored and inaugurated on 14 October 2023 on their original site; Porto Santo's first windmill is said to date from 1794. With the basalt-paved lanes, fountains, wells and waterwheels, they tell of an island that made the most of the wind and of every drop of water.

    📍 Moinhos de Vento da Portela
  4. 12:00 → 12:30Visiton foot · 10 min

    Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Graça

    Alone on the slope of Pico do Castelo, reached by a staircase from Casinhas: founded in 1533, destroyed in 1812 and rebuilt by the islanders in the 20th century with materials from Serra de Fora, it holds a 16th-century Flemish Virgin and served as a refuge during pirate raids.

    📍 Capela de Nossa Senhora da Graça

    💡 Insider tip — Feast on 14–16 August: mass on the 15th, then an arraial.

  5. 13:00 → 14:00Mealby car · 15 min

    Picnic at Pico do Castelo

    Picnic area and lookout at 437 m under the conifers planted in the 1920s: the bay, Vila Baleira, Ilhéu da Cal and Ilhéu de Cima below — welcome shade in the hot hours.

    📍 Pico do Castelo
  6. 15:00 → 16:00Visitby car · 15 min

    Casa Colombo — museum

    The house where, by oral tradition, Columbus lived after marrying Filipa Moniz: early-16th-century Gothic windows, a museum opened in 1989 and redesigned in 2004, treasure from the Slot ter Hooge wrecked in 1724. Open weekday mornings and afternoons, closed Mondays.

    📍 Casa Museu Cristóvão Colombo
  7. 17:30 → 18:00Photoon foot · 5 min

    Cais Velho promenade

    The historic 1929 pier (102 m) marks the start of the seafront and of Fontinha beach; in the evening you stroll towards the 1960 Padrão dos Descobrimentos, the "Pau de Sabão", with low light over the bay.

    📍 Cais Velho
  8. 18:00 → 19:00Breakon foot · 1 min

    Late afternoon at Fontinha

    Back on the town beach as the sun drops: showers, lockers and a first-aid post at hand, guaranteed surveillance in season. Everything is on foot from the centre.

    📍 Praia da Fontinha
  9. 19:30Mealon foot · 10 min

    Grandmother's cooking — Casa d'Avó

    Recipes handed down through the generations: açorda, seafood rice, passion-fruit flan. Simple and sincere, a step from the beach — dinner from 6.30 pm.

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — Quinta das Palmeiras (parrots under the trees), Casa Colombo, then cinema at the Centro Cultural.

🎒 What to bring — Hats and sunscreen for everyone, water, armbands, beach toys, closed shoes for the children on the rocks.

  • With children: supervised beaches (Fontinha 15 May–31 Oct, Ribeiro Salgado 1 May–31 Oct), hats and sunscreen from the morning, shade break between 11 am and 4 pm.
  • Water: at least 1.5 L per person — there are no fountains on the trails, and the IFCN asks you to carry spare water and food.
  • Casa Colombo: open weekdays 10–12.30 and 2–5.30 pm, Sunday 10 am–1 pm, closed Mondays and holidays — check before you go.
Day 3 · By bike, then on horseback6

📍 Ribeiro Cochino → Cabeço da Ponta → Centro Hípico → Flores → Calheta · ⏰ 08:30

  1. 09:30 → 10:00Mealby bike · 10 min

    Bolo do caco & fruit — Ribeiro Cochino stalls

    In summer the stalls in the Ribeiro Cochino car parks sell bolo do caco, grapes, watermelon and figs: the beach snack before the cycle path that starts here.

    📍 Praia do Porto Santo
  2. 10:00 → 10:30Visit

    Cycle path Ribeiro Cochino → Calheta

    4,565 m of red resin, almost flat, beside the ER 111, opened in 2004, beach on one side and dunes on the other — Cabeço da Ponta, then Calheta at the end. City, mountain or electric bikes hired in town.

    📍 Praia do Porto Santo
  3. 10:30 → 12:00Breakby bike · 5 min

    Cabeço da Ponta, Blue Flag

    4 km from the centre in the south-western hotel zone: turquoise water, lifeguards, a rescue boat and a first-aid post from 15 May to 31 October. No public car park — arrive by the cycle path.

    📍 Praia do Porto Santo
  4. 12:45 → 14:15Mealby bike · 10 min

    Grilled lapas at Calheta

    The restaurant on Praia da Calheta is known for grilled lapas served with garlic-butter bolo do caco, facing Ilhéu da Cal and its lime galleries.

    📍 Praia da Calheta (Porto Santo)

    💡 Insider tip — Lapas outside the closed season (1 Dec – 31 Mar).

  5. 16:00 → 17:30Visitby car · 10 min

    On horseback to Miradouro das Flores

    The Centro Hípico, at the foot of Pico de Ana Ferreira, offers rides for every level and horses suited to children; the Miradouro das Flores just beyond can be reached on horseback — the 9 km of beach and three islets below.

    📍 Miradouro das Flores
  6. 18:45 → 19:30Photoby car · 10 min

    Sunset at Calheta

    For the tourist board, THE Porto Santo photo: the sun drops behind Ilhéu da Cal (179 m) and, on clear days, Madeira's outline shows on the horizon. Terminus of the SIGA "Centro – Calheta" bus.

    📍 Praia da Calheta (Porto Santo)

🌧️ Rainy-day alternative — Quinta das Palmeiras (parrots under the trees), Casa Colombo, then cinema at the Centro Cultural.

🎒 What to bring — Hats and sunscreen for everyone, water, armbands, beach toys, closed shoes for the children on the rocks.

  • ER 111 cycle path: 4,565 m of red resin, almost flat, from Ribeiro Cochino to Praia da Calheta; city, mountain and electric bikes for hire in town.
  • With children: supervised beaches (Fontinha 15 May–31 Oct, Ribeiro Salgado 1 May–31 Oct), hats and sunscreen from the morning, shade break between 11 am and 4 pm.
  • For the tourist board, the one photo to bring home is the Calheta sunset: arrive half an hour early, with Ilhéu da Cal in silhouette across the water.
  • SIGA bus "Centro – Calheta" (running since July 2024): timetables change with the season — check the operator's page below.

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