Car rental in Funchal, delivered in the city

The cars booked for Funchal list their handover places: delivery to an address in the city, a handover at the port, and the airport. Delivery and the port are offered on some cars and not others, while the airport is offered on all of them. Each place carries its own charge, which may be zero, and the one you choose is written on the voucher with the time.

The airport is about 21 minutes from the centre of Funchal by the fastest road, 20.1 km along the south coast, and every car can be picked up there on arrival. On a car that offers both places, the car can be collected in the city and go back to the airport at the end, or the other way round: both places come up in the same search, so choose them as the pick-up and drop-off places on the car.

Some cars list the port, at Funchal's cruise terminal, among their handover places, and the voucher names where the car is handed over and when. Vehicles are barred from the port area while ships are in, except from 18:00 to 23:00 when only one ship is in port, so confirm the meeting details with the rental company before the day. From the terminal, the airport is about 26 minutes away. For a day ashore, remember that the shortest chargeable rental is 24 hours, so a car used from morning to afternoon costs a full day.

From the terminal, Monte is about 12 minutes away, Cabo Girão 19, the summit road to Pico do Arieiro 35 minutes and Porto Moniz 58. Plan the return inside the time on the voucher, with the same fuel the car had at the start.

Street parking in Funchal follows the colour of the lines: blue is paid, yellow means no parking, and white is free except in bays marked M, which are kept for residents. Frente MarFunchal, the city's parking company, runs 1,602 metered spaces in four tariff zones. They are paid from 08:00 to 20:00 on weekdays and from 08:00 to 14:00 on Saturdays, and they are free on Sundays and public holidays. Pay at the meter or with the company's iParque Driver app.

The same company runs the two Lido car parks, one open-air and one covered, with 105 spaces each. They open from 08:00 to 22:00 every day and close on 25 December and 1 January. The city council runs the 2000 and Campo da Barca car parks. Most spaces in the centre are paid, so ask a hotel whether it has parking of its own before you book the car.

Madeira adds a regional fee to every car rented on the island: 2 euros for each full rental day, up to 10 days, so 20 euros at most per contract, collected by the rental company at pick-up, separately from the price paid online. There are no toll roads on the island.

Fuel is the renter's cost and the tank goes back at the level it came out. At Portuguese pumps petrol is labelled gasolina and diesel gasóleo, with the EU marks alongside: E in a circle for petrol, B in a square for diesel. Fines and parking charges are the renter's too, and a fine that reaches the rental company after the return is taken from the deposit held on the car.

From Funchal, Câmara de Lobos is about 12 minutes west, Caniço 13 minutes east and Ribeira Brava 23 minutes along the coast. Calheta takes about 36 minutes from Funchal and São Vicente, on the north coast, 38.

Inland, the summit road to Pico do Arieiro is 17.8 km and about 30 minutes from the centre of Funchal. Monte, on the hillside above Funchal, is about 7 minutes from the centre; its roads are narrow, and a small car suits a driver who is not confident on them. The longest of these drives runs west and then north to Porto Moniz's natural pools: about 57 minutes to the town and 58 back. The times assume no traffic; the city's rush hour adds to them.

It depends on whether the booking carries the free-cancellation option, which is set per car and shown before you pay. Without it, a booking can be cancelled without penalty until 7 days before the start of the rental, or 30 days for luxury cars and convertibles. With it, the limit is 24 hours before pick-up, for every class of car. Inside either window, a cancellation carries no charge except a payment service fee of 6% of the amount paid. Cancel or change the booking after the window and the advance paid online is kept. The car's page states its refund terms before you book, so read them there.

Either side may also cancel within the first 24 hours after the booking is confirmed and the advance paid. A change is made by cancelling the old booking and making a new one, and the first car goes back on offer once it is cancelled. Cancelling is done by email, with the title Cancel and the voucher attached. Car hire has no 14-day cooling-off period under EU rules.

A car on a blue-line bay in Funchal costs nothing overnight, on Sundays or on public holidays; during paid hours each meter zone caps the stay, shortest in the yellow zone and longest in the brown. Street parking on Madeira is free on white lines, except in the bays kept for residents. Frente MarFunchal also runs the Mercado da Penteada car park. Free spaces in the centre are limited, above all from May to October, so weigh the hotel's charge against the time a free street space can take to find.

The cruise terminal, the Gare Marítima da Madeira on the Pontinha breakwater, is 2.6 km by road from the centre of Funchal, and the drive from the centre to the terminal takes about 6 minutes by the fastest route without traffic. Walking onto the Pontinha is free every day from 08:00 to 23:00.