Mercado dos Lavradores, Funchal's Farmers' Market

Two official sources publish Mercado dos Lavradores opening hours and they disagree on exactly one day. The municipal markets site, run by the Divisão de Mercados of Funchal council, is the operator's own voice, so it carries the most weight. Visit Madeira, the regional tourism board, prints almost the same table but adds an extra hour on Friday.

Here are both, side by side.

What The Friday Gap Means For You

The body that runs the market says 19:00 on Friday. The tourism board says 20:00. When sources conflict, the operator wins, so plan on a Friday finish at 19:00 and treat the 20:00 figure as the tourism board's own.

Do not build an evening around that extra hour. On every other day the two tables agree: 07:00 opening, 14:00 on Saturday, shut on Sundays and public holidays. The 14:00 Saturday close catches people out more than anything else, because Saturday feels like a market day and it is, only a short one.

On A Sunday, Go To Penteada

Lavradores is closed all day Sunday. The city's other municipal market, Mercado da Penteada, is the Sunday answer. Its hours are Monday to Thursday 07:00-20:00, Friday 07:00-21:00, Saturday 07:00-19:00, and Sundays and public holidays 07:00-13:00.

It sells the same family of goods, since both markets stock regional products, crafts, sweets, fish, fruit and vegetables. The markets site gives no address or directions for Penteada, so check locally. A Sunday morning alternative is to skip markets and walk the Old Town or ride the cable car to Monte, both of which run seven days.

If rain spoils the Sunday plan, our rainy day ideas page lists covered options.

Visit Madeira calls the market 'a living museum' of the island's produce and the city's great supply point. The municipal markets site lists the product families you will find across Funchal's municipal markets: regional products, crafts, sweets, fish, fruit and vegetables. That list is the honest answer to what is inside.

Anything more specific, such as which stall sells what, is not published anywhere official, so go and look. Entry is free, so browsing costs nothing but time.

Fruit And Vegetables

Fruit and vegetables are core to the market, and they come from the island's small farms. Prices per kilo are not published by the council or the tourism board, so stallholders set them and display them, or tell you when you ask. Ask before anything is cut open for you to taste.

That advice is on this page because it matters, and because no official rule on tastings exists.

The Fish Hall

The fishmonger's hall is decorated rather than plain. The walls carry large 1940 tile panels painted by João Rodrigues with regional themes. Fish arrive from the island's waters and are sold from the hall as they have been since the market opened.Watch from the edge if you are not buying, because this is a working hall and the counters are busy.

Sweets, Regional Products And Crafts

Alongside the fresh produce, the municipal markets stock sweets, regional products and crafts. For visitors this is the easiest place to pick up island specialities without hunting through the whole city. Prices again are not published centrally.

If you want background on what the island eats before you go, see our page on typical Madeira food, and if a sweet tooth is involved, where to eat in Funchal covers the wider picture.

The building is the attraction as much as the trade inside. Funchal council's history page records that the architect was Edmundo Tavares, who also designed the city's Banco de Portugal agency and the Liceu Jaime Moniz. The works were awarded to Manuel Alberto Gomes for 2,605 contos, and the market was inaugurated on 24 November 1940.

At the time it was considered the most modern market in the country. The style is rationalist Modernism with Art Deco influence, which you can read in the clean lines and the decorative program at the entrance.

What To Look For

The decorative scheme has three parts worth hunting for. First, the tile panels painted by João Rodrigues, made at the Fábrica de Sacavém in the Faiança Battistini and Maria de Portugal era, showing regional flowers, leaves and fruit. Visit Madeira notes that large 1940 panels by the same artist cover the façade, the main door and the fishmonger's hall, so look up as you enter and again among the fish stalls.

Second, a central pergola in worked stone, flanked by two flower vases. Third, the marble drinking fountains set into the building. Before this market existed, Funchal was supplied by the D. Pedro V market, which sold vegetables for fifty years, and the Praça de São Pedro, which sold fish.

In 1937 the council decided to build two new markets, one to the east and one to the west of the city. Lavradores was the result on the eastern side.

Here is the honest finding: nobody official publishes stall prices at Mercado dos Lavradores. Not the municipal markets site, not Visit Madeira. There is no price list, no published rule on free tastings, and no entry fee of any kind.

What that means in practice is simple. Walk in for nothing, browse as long as you like, and treat every stall price as a price you confirm before you commit. The single most useful habit at this market is to ask the price before a tasting is cut for you.

If a stallholder offers to cut a piece for you to try, ask the price before the knife goes in. Ask first and there is never an awkward moment. No official source makes any claim about overcharging at the market, so we make none either.

What we can say is that the absence of a published price list puts the information gap on the visitor, and asking closes it. Bring small notes and change, since you will be buying small quantities from individual sellers. If you want to understand what island food costs more broadly before you travel, our Madeira costs page covers the island budget, and free things to do in Madeira lists more no-fee sights like this one.

Go early. The market opens at 07:00, which is when the traders set up for the city that shops here. Saturday is the riskiest day to leave late, because the doors shut at 14:00.

Sunday is not a day for this market at all. Use the table below to pick a plan that fits the time you have.

The address is Largo dos Lavradores, 9060-158 Funchal, and the coordinates are 32.64866,-16.90381. The market sits at the edge of the city centre next to the Old Town, so most visitors staying in Funchal reach it on foot. The table below sets out the fares for the ways in that cost money, from the airport bus operator and the cable car company.

Coming straight from the airport with luggage, the Aerobus details are on our airport page. If you are staying further west along the seafront, the city bus fares above apply and the Funchal cable car page covers the ride up to Monte from the station next door.

The market is not only a daily shopping hall. The municipal markets site lists monthly themed fairs, called Feiras Temáticas, which are posted each month, so check the site or ask at the tourism information point in the market before you travel. A Summer Market is scheduled for 20-25 July 2026.

Once a year the market also holds a 'Noite do Mercado', a Market Night, on 23 December, which turns the building into an evening event in the week before Christmas. A Fado gala and regional tastings appear among the council's listed events as well. If your trip falls in December, Market Night is one of the city's most local evenings, and our Madeira events page gathers the island's calendar.

• The market's own operator and the regional tourism board disagree on Friday closing, 19:00 against 20:00, and the operator runs the building (municipal markets site).
• The tiles were made at the Fábrica de Sacavém on the mainland, in the Faiança Battistini and Maria de Portugal era, and painted by João Rodrigues (council history page).
• The architect Edmundo Tavares also designed Funchal's Banco de Portugal agency and the Liceu Jaime Moniz school (council history page).
• A tourism information point operates inside the market, so you can pick up maps without going to the main office on Avenida Arriaga 16 (Visit Madeira tourism office listing).
• The works contract was awarded for 2,605 contos, the currency of the day, and the building was considered the country's most modern market when it opened in 1940 (council history page).

Start at the market when it opens at 07:00, before the day heats up and before the crowds. Spend your first hour inside, then walk east into the Old Town for Rua de Santa Maria and the Corpo Santo Chapel. From the garden next to the market you can ride the cable car up to Monte for the gardens and the descent of your choice, or stay low and visit the Cathedral on Rua do Aljube, which opens from 07:15 on weekdays.

If you are mapping several days across the island, our Funchal page holds the wider city plan and Madeira in 3 days shows where a market morning fits a longer trip. For a fuller feeding afterwards, where to eat in Funchal has the city covered.