Madeira is the new favourite destination for digital nomads

The Portuguese island of Madeira is known for its stunning green landscape, its laurel forests, the amount of excursions available, its gastronomy and its all year round spring weather. But this past year it has become the perfect destination for digital nomads and we’re going to tell you why after living here for more than a year.

Probably as Spanish we have always preferred the Canary Islands, not only because we speak the same language, but also because there are more direct flights from the mainland and that always makes things easier.

However, Madeira should be on your list of next destinations, not only because of the good weather all year round but also because of the endless things to do, the climate, the internet, the price of everything. A Perfect Destination.

Madeira Digital Nomads. The first digital nomad village

One of the reasons Madeira has been in the news as the ideal destination for nomads is thanks to the Madeira Digital Nomads programme created by the Regional Government of Madeira together with Startup Madeira.

The town of Ponta do Sol, has offered a free coworking space for the digital nomads that signed up, they also got offers for accommodation for digital nomads at better prices than Airbnb, they also help you creating your company and arrange all kind of activities on their Slack group.

There have been several other reasons why Madeira has been chosen as the destination for many Digital Nomads in 2021. While the rest of Europe remained closed, limiting people’s mobility and applying curfews, Madeira, thanks to its control of the epidemic, has been able to maintain lighter restrictions such as only applying curfews at night but having freedom of movement the rest of the time.

Another point in Madeira’s favour has been that, during these months, in order to facilitate the arrival of people, they have offered free PCR tests on arrival at the airport and there was no obligation to quarantine if you tested negative. Which is an advantage compared to other countries where you have to do quarantine, several PCRs, etc.

Cost of living in Madeira as a Digital Nomad

We are going to break down the most important points regarding the cost of living in Madeira based on our experience, of course you can save a lot more money if you always cook at home, use public transport or share a room.

Accommodation

This is where most of the monthly budget is likely to go. The island of Madeira has its limitations in terms of accomodation which means that prices are not very low, in theory you should stay in the southern area from Calheta to Caniço, where the weather is better and you have everything close at hand, supermarkets, pharmacies and restaurants.

The price for a one-bedroom flat for a short period of time starts at 600€ and goes up to whatever you want to spend, July and August are more expensive because of summer, but the rest of the months you should have no problem finding good value accommodation.

Tip to keep in mind. The humidity in Madeira is very high, everything from ground floors to old buildings are easily affected by humidity and it is not uncommon to see mould on walls or wardrobes.

The best place to book short term accommodation is Airbnb or Flatio.com, for longer term you can look at idealista or go to one of the many agencies in Madeira.

Food

You won’t have any problems finding all kinds of restaurants or products in the supermarket. There are two large chains, Pingo Doce and Continente, where you will find practically everything and only slightly more expensive than on the mainland.

If you can’t move, you can use Mercadao.pt to shop and have your food delivered to your home or use the glovo app.

The delivery apps only deliver in the Funchal area, so if you go a little further away, you have to talk to the restaurant directly to have it delivered.

Eating in restaurants is also a good option, prices are very good value for money and are aligned with Spain.

Travelling

If you are going to go on daily excursions around Madeira, do the levadas, go at your own pace, The best thing you can do is to rent a car. Distances in Madeira, even though they are short by car, if you want to go from one village to the other is not possible to do it walking and the public transport is not very reliable. In addition, there are many uphills and downhills all over the island.

However, if you are looking for accommodation in Funchal where everything is close at hand and you only need transport on weekends, you can either rent a car only on weekends or go on organised excursions.

The price of an Opel Corsa or Nissan Micra ranges from €300 to €600 per month all-inclusive. We rented with funchaleasy.com and they were very attentive, speak Spanish and very good with the service.

Internet

Another good point of Madeira is that the internet is very good and stable, it is not unusual to have more than 50mb at home, which is more than enough to make video calls.
If you want to have a back-up, you can get a sim with NOS with unlimited data for 35€ per month or sign up for one of their plans with less Gbs.

Travel requirements for Madeira

Madeira belongs to Portugal, which is within the European Union, so the Europeans do not need any kind of visa to go there. Note that if you stay more than 183 days on the island you will become a tax resident in Portugal and you will have to do the necessary paperwork.

Coworkings in Madeira

Apart from the previously mentionedcoworking space in Ponta do Sol of the Digital Nomads Madeira programme. You can also find Cowork Funchal in the island’s capital with packages from €100 per month with desks and private meeting rooms.

What to do in Madeira

It is no surprise that Madeira Island has been voted the best tourist destination island with all the things that you can do and the great care that Madeira locals take in maintaining their island.

It is the perfect destination for hikers, both professionals and beginners, there are plenty of levadas to hike all over the island. If you are interested, we have put together a list of the most popular ones on our blog.

Also for those who love water activities, you can go surfing, scuba diving, whale and dolphin watching.

For adrenaline junkies it is a great place for paragliding all year round.
Finally, if you want to relax on the beach, there is also the opportunity to do so, both on fine sandy beaches and on volcanic rock.

Final thoughts and personal opinion

We are very glad we chose Madeira to spend 5 months during the pandemic times so we decided to come back again.
We loved the weather, not too cold and not too hot, the scenery is incredible, the excursions you can do are fantastic, the island is small but it doesn’t feel crowded, we have enjoyed some breathtaking sunrises and sunsets and at the end of the day what matters is that We felt like at home.

If you have more questions about Madeira or you want to write to us, leave us a message.