Your dates, your pick-up point on the island, and each car's deposit, card rule and mileage shown before you pay.Your Madeira trip starts here.
A valid national licence with its details in Latin script, in date until the rental ends.
Licences and road rulesSome cars need a physical embossed credit card in the main driver's name; some take a debit card.
What to bring to the airportHow the deposit is held and when it comes back is shown while you book and printed on the voucher.
Cover, excess and depositMadeira adds 2 euros for each full rental day, up to 20 euros, paid when you collect the car.
The full rental terms
Car rental in Madeira starts at Madeira Airport (FNC), and every car in the airport search can be handed over there. Car rental at Madeira Airport follows the handover hours set for each car, and some cars charge for a handover outside them; Funchal is about 19 minutes by road from the airport in Santa Cruz, and a car can also be delivered in Funchal or in towns around the island. Search your dates and each car comes up with its conditions attached, from the deposit and the card it takes to the mileage and whether it cancels free.
Covers damage to other cars in an accident, not the rental car itself.
Covers accident damage to the car’s body above the excess. Glass, lamps and wheels are excluded.
Adds glass, lamps and wheels, excluding tyre damage and punctures. An excess may still apply.
No driver liability for accident-related damage under the cover terms. Check exclusions and deposit separately.
Cover, excess and availability vary by car. Check your chosen car’s terms before booking. A police report is required at every level.
A car is worth having on Madeira when the plan reaches beyond Funchal. From the airport, Santana is about 25 minutes by the fastest road, Pico do Arieiro about 31, Calheta about 49 and Porto Moniz at the north-west tip about 70, and a car keeps to your own hours rather than a timetable. Madeira's steep roads and tunnels make Driving in Madeira useful before a longer trip.
Without a car, the Aerobus 500 runs from arrivals to Praia Formosa in Funchal in about 50 minutes and takes cash only, taxis wait at a rank in arrivals, and a shuttle runs up to Pico do Arieiro. A stay spent mostly in Funchal needs a car less: street parking in the centre is paid from 08:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and 08:00 to 14:00 on Saturdays, and a car can be delivered in Funchal on the cars that offer it, for the days spent outside the city.
At the airport itself. Every car in the airport search lists Madeira International Airport (FNC) as a handover place, and some cars add a charge for handing over there, shown on the car before you pay. The voucher emailed after booking holds the pick-up place and time, and the rental company can be contacted before picking up the car to confirm the meeting details. Every car rental at Madeira Airport ends back at the airport unless the car's page offers another return place, and the car goes back with the same fuel it had at the start.
Madeira's airport, Aeroporto Internacional da Madeira Cristiano Ronaldo, stands in Santa Cruz on the south-east coast. It handled 5.4 million passengers in 2025, and it connects directly to the expressway network. Funchal is about 19 minutes away by the fastest road, Caniço 12 and Machico 6.
| Destination | Km | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Funchal (centre) | 19 | 19 min |
| Caniço | 11.1 | 12 min |
| Machico | 4.9 | 6 min |
| Câmara de Lobos | 25.9 | 25 min |
| Pico do Arieiro | 22.8 | 31 min |
| Ribeira Brava | 37 | 36 min |
| Calheta | 49.9 | 49 min |
| São Vicente | 50.2 | 51 min |
| Porto Moniz | 65.9 | 1 h 10 min |
Car hire insurance in Portugal comes with a standard cover that leaves out the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen and the interior, and each car lists its excess and the higher levels of cover it offers. It also shows the mileage, which is unlimited on most cars; free cancellation where the car offers it; the gearbox and the number of seats; and the minimum age and years of licence the car asks for, which are set car by car.
The regional fee counts full rental days up to 10, so a rental of two weeks pays 20 euros, and a zero-emission car pays 1 euro a day instead of 2. The regional government set it from 1 June 2026, and the rental company collects it when the car is handed over.
Short answers before you search.
Mileage is unlimited on most cars; where a car carries a daily cap, its page states it before you book.
Not to the mainland: the rental conditions rule out the ferry between the islands and the mainland in either direction. For Porto Santo, ask before you book.
24 hours. A rental of a few hours is charged as a full day.
A UK photocard licence is enough in the EU. The rental conditions strongly recommend a permit when a licence is valid only in the country that issued it.
Your dates, your pick-up point on the island, and each car's deposit, card rule and mileage shown before you pay.
Search cars for your dates
Fiat 500 CC