Santana, Madeira: The Thatched Houses and the North Coast Around Them

The Symbol And Its Background

Visit Madeira describes the triangular thatched casinhas de Santana as the symbol of the municipality. They appear in the town centre, where several stand in a small park-like setting that you can walk into freely. Some hold craft shops or displays inside, others are kept as examples of the traditional building style.

Around 8,800 people live across the municipality's 96.2 km², and the houses carry that rural history better than any panel.

• Triangular shape, white-painted stone walls, thatched roof over a red frame.
• Original function was rural dwelling, not decoration.
• The town-centre cluster is the easiest to reach on foot from the bus stop.

No Official Visitor Terms Are Published

This is the part most guides gloss over. The Santana council runs a support programme called 'Apoio às Casas Típicas de Santana', which helps maintain the typical houses. But on the municipal site the council publishes no visitor hours for the houses, no entry fee, and no list of which houses are open to visit at any given time.

We say that plainly because you may arrive, walk up to a casinha, and find its door closed. That is not a ticketing failure, it is simply that no schedule exists in print.

• No published visitor hours for the houses.
• No published entry fee for the houses.
• No published list of houses open inside.
• Programme name: Apoio às Casas Típicas de Santana, run by the council.

Seeing Houses Away From The Town

If you walk the PR1.1 Vereda da Ilha trail, the IFCN trailhead board notes that the route passes terraced fields with traditional thatched houses on its descent to the parish of Ilha. Those are working-landscape houses rather than displays, so you view them from the path. The Casa das Tradições Madeirenses at Queimadas, mentioned on the PR9 trailhead board, keeps the characteristics of a typical Santana house with its thatched roof, so the Queimadas trailhead doubles as a second chance to see the style up close.

• PR1.1 Vereda da Ilha passes thatched houses among terraced fields, per the IFCN board.
• The Casa das Tradições Madeirenses at Queimadas preserves the traditional style.
• Doors may be shut. The council publishes no opening schedule for any house.

The Tourist Information Point

The tourist information point sits at Avenida 25 de Maio nº2, Sítio do Serrado, and opens 09:00-17:00. The phone is +351 291 570 200. Start here if you want current conditions for the cable car or the trails, since the municipal site is also the contact point for the Rocha do Navio cable car.

• Address: Avenida 25 de Maio nº2, Sítio do Serrado, 9230-116 Santana.
• Open 09:00-17:00.
• Phone +351 291 570 200, email gap@cm-santana.com.

Madeira Theme Park

The Parque Temático da Madeira is open and operating, which is worth stating because unverified reports of a closure circulate online. Its own site shows Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00-18:00, closed Monday, with a suggested visit of 2-4 hours. Every ticket category on the official ticket page, including adult, child and family, is marked 'price on request'.

No euro or dollar figure is published anywhere on the site, so you have to ask the park for a price before you go. Hours can change for holidays, special events or operational reasons, so a quick call before you commit a morning is sensible.

• Open Tuesday-Sunday 10:00-18:00, closed Monday.
• Suggested visit: 2-4 hours.
• All ticket prices on request, no figure is published.
• Address given as 9230-098 Santana, Madeira.

Rocha Do Navio Cable Car

The cable car runs from the town edge down to Fajã da Rocha do Navio, a coastal fajã inside the Rocha do Navio Natural Reserve. The descent takes about 5 minutes according to Visit Madeira. Operating hours are 09:00-13:00 and 14:00-17:00 on weekdays, extended to 18:00 at weekends.

No fare figure appears on the official Visit Madeira page or the municipal pages, and no operating company is named on either. Third-party figures circulate but conflict with each other, so we print none of them. For the fare, contact the Santana council on gap@cm-santana.com or +351 291 575 292.

• Weekdays 09:00-13:00 and 14:00-17:00, weekends to 18:00.
• About 5 minutes down to Fajã da Rocha do Navio.
• Fare not published officially, ask the council on +351 291 575 292.

Ribeira Do Faial Beach And The Biosphere Reserve

The Ribeira do Faial beach in Santana holds a Blue Flag for 2026 on the official ABAE regional list, which makes it the municipality's most credentialed strip of sand. More broadly, the whole municipality became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2011, one of six parishes deep: Arco de São Jorge, Faial, Ilha, Santana, São Jorge and São Roque do Faial. Biosphere hiking trails run over 120 km, and Pico Ruivo, the archipelago's highest point at 1,862 m, stands inside the municipality's borders.

• Ribeira do Faial beach: Blue Flag 2026.
• UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2011, 96.2 km², six parishes.
• Over 120 km of Biosphere hiking trails.
• Pico Ruivo 1,862 m, in Santana municipality.

Classified IFCN trails charge non-resident visitors $5.17 (€4.50) per trail, booked through SIMplifica, with full details on our Madeira trail fees page. A booking can be made for the same day or later, and IFCN publishes no maximum advance window. Residents and children aged 12 and under walk free but must still book.

Queimadas And The Levada Do Caldeirão Verde

The Queimadas Forest Park sits at the start of PR9, with a reception building, the Casa das Queimadas, parking, shelter and toilets marked on the IFCN board. The trail runs 8.7 km along an 18th-century levada through four rock tunnels to the Caldeirão Verde lagoon, where water drops from a waterfall the board measures at 110 m. Bring a torch for the tunnels and non-slip shoes for the ledges.

A shorter accessible option, PR9.1, runs 1.9 km from Queimadas to Pico das Pedras. No hours or fee are published for the forest park itself, which is generally free and open access, though the classified trail booking applies to PR9. Our full route description is on the Levada do Caldeirão Verde page.

Achada Do Teixeira And Pico Ruivo

Achada do Teixeira is the start of PR1.2, the 2.8 km climb to Pico Ruivo, the island's highest point at 1,862 m. The IFCN board lists several shelters along the climb and warns that the weather changes suddenly and the area is often in cloud, so carry warm clothing. At the top you can look over the Santana achadas, the São Jorge and Ribeira Grande valleys, and on clear days Porto Santo and the Desertas.

The basalt Homem em Pé formation stands near the Achada do Teixeira shelter. Our Pico Ruivo page covers the route and the PR1 full-crossing fee of $12.06 (€10.50), which also covers PR1.1 and PR1.2 with no extra charge. If you hike the ridge independently, the Funchal Pico do Arieiro Sunrise Hiking Transfer picks walkers up at Achada do Teixeira afterwards.

Ribeiro Frio

Ribeiro Frio is an IFCN-managed forest park within the Biosphere Reserve, known for its trout hatchery and its emblematic Laurissilva flora and fauna. The short PR11 Vereda dos Balcões walk starts here, 1.5 km each way to a viewpoint over the valley. Note that a separately purchased hiking ticket is needed for the Balcões walk itself, at the standard $5.17 (€4.50) classified-trail rate.

By Bus

The SIGA regional schedule aggregator lists Horários do Funchal line 56 serving Santana from Funchal. Check siga.madeira.gov.pt for times before you set out, because the aggregator is the only place we can point you to for the current schedule. Horários do Funchal can be reached on +351 291 705 555 if you prefer to ask.

We print no journey time because none of the official pages state one. The bus drops you close enough to the town centre to walk to the houses and the tourist point.

• Line 56 (Horários do Funchal) serves Santana, per SIGA.
• Check times at siga.madeira.gov.pt.
• Horários do Funchal phone: +351 291 705 555.

By Car

Driving gives you the freedom to combine the houses with Queimadas or Achada do Teixeira in one day, which public transport makes awkward. No official page publishes a drive time from Funchal to Santana, so we will not invent one. Rental options and pricing are covered on our car hire Madeira page, and general transport choices across the island sit on the getting around Madeira page.

On A Tour

Two of the tours listed on this page stop at the Santana houses. The Madeira East Tour: Pico Arieiro, Santana & Laurissilva runs 7 hours and includes hotel pickup in Funchal or Caniço, and the Eastern Madeira Full-Day Tour with Rum Tasting runs 8 hours from Funchal, Caniço and Santa Cruz. If your target is the walking rather than the town, the Caldeirão Verde Levada Walk starts from listed hotels and handles the Queimadas trailhead for you.

The Santana Tourist Tax

Santana does levy a tourist tax, the Taxa Turística do Município de Santana. Tourism enterprises and local accommodation units collect it from guests, and establishments must register on the electronic platform within 30 days of starting operations. The exact nightly rate is not published on the official pages we read, so we cannot print a figure.

Ask your accommodation, check the booking total, or ask your accommodation for the current rate.

• A tourist tax exists and is charged by your accommodation.
• No official nightly rate is published on the pages read.
• Questions: gap@cm-santana.com or +351 291 570 200.

Weather And What To Pack

The IFCN trailhead boards for PR1.2 and PR1.1 both warn that the weather changes suddenly and the area is often in cloud, and both recommend warm clothing and non-slip shoes. That warning applies with equal force to the town itself, which sits higher and damper than the south coast. If the peaks look grey, the theme park or the cable car makes a workable fallback, and our rainy day Madeira page lists more options.

• IFCN boards warn of sudden weather changes and frequent cloud.
• Warm layers and non-slip shoes are the boards' own recommendation.
• Shelters exist along the PR1.2 climb to Pico Ruivo.

Where To Sleep

We keep this page free of property names and prices. For accommodation across the island, including rural options on the north coast, see our where to stay guide, and for eating options in and around town, where to eat lists the kinds of places to look for.

Five Details Worth Knowing

None of these appear in the standard tour-bus commentary, and all of them come from official sources.

• The official Santana council website is cm-santana.com. The .pt version of the domain does not exist, so links ending in cm-santana.pt lead nowhere. Source: the council's own site.
• The cable car has a lunch break. Weekday operation pauses between 13:00 and 14:00, so a midday ride down to the fajã needs planning. Source: Visit Madeira's cable car page.
• The theme park publishes no prices at all. Every ticket category, including the family ticket, is marked price on request. Source: the park's official ticket page.
• Santana, not Funchal, holds Madeira's highest point. Pico Ruivo at 1,862 m stands inside Santana municipality, along with over 120 km of Biosphere trails. Source: Visit Madeira.
• The houses you photograph are supported by a named municipal programme, Apoio às Casas Típicas de Santana, yet the council publishes no list of which houses open their doors. Source: the council's site.

For the trails, add the IFCN board times from the table above to the routing you choose. For the town, the short visit assumes you arrive outside the midday tour-group peak.

Santana works best as a north-coast anchor rather than a drive-by. Arrive by mid-morning, look at the houses while the light is still on their thatch, and pick one paid attraction for the middle of the day: the cable car when the weather is clear, the theme park when it is not. The tourist point on Avenida 25 de Maio answers the practical questions, including the cable car fare that no website publishes.

If walking is the point, invert the day. Be at Queimadas or Achada do Teixeira for the morning, when the IFCN boards' cloud warning is least likely to bite, then drop into town in the late afternoon for the houses and an early dinner. Both trailheads sit close enough to town that the combination fits a single day without rushing, and the Madeira towns hub suggests which neighbouring town pairs well if you want to extend the loop.