MADEIRA · JANUARY · IPMA STATION 522
Funchal averages a high of 68.0°F in January, a low of 57.7°F, and a sea surface of 68.6°F. Nothing in those figures asks for a winter coat. What the month does ask for is a rain shell and a reservation, because 2.64 inches of precipitation fall across it and, since January 1, 2026, every classified walking trail on the island charges a fee and requires a slot booked online.
Four weeks in either direction moves real numbers. December pours 3.73 inches on the same thermometer while warming the water to 70.3°F. February trims the rain to 5.5 days and cools the sea to 67.2°F. For the island read across the whole year, the 12-month verdict does that job.
THE MONTH AT A GLANCE · MADEIRA IN JANUARY
January is the driest of Madeira’s three winter months at 2.64 inches, with 68.0°F days and a 68.6°F sea, and it is the first January in which every classified trail needs a paid online booking.
AVG HIGH 68.0°F · 6.2 RAIN DAYS · SEA 68.6°F · 10H 17M OF LIGHT
Go for: the driest of the three winter months, water still at 68.6°F, and open high routes such as PR1 Vereda do Areeiro and PR 6 Levada das 25 Fontes at EUR 4.50 a head.
Think twice before: counting on the Monte wicker sledges. They cannot be booked, they close on Sundays, and no three-person ride runs in rain or on wet ground.
Normals: IPMA station 522, Funchal · Sea: Open-Meteo Marine · Trails: Visit Madeira · full sources at the end
On this page
- January weather in Funchal, in numbers68.0°F days, 2.64 inches, 6.2 rain days
- Can you swim in January?68.6°F, and what that reading measures
- Crowds, the city tax and trail slotsEUR 2 a night, EUR 4.50 a trail
- What is open and what it costsCable car EUR 22, sledges from EUR 30
- A two-day plan for short daylight08:08 to 18:25, hour by hour
- January against December and FebruaryThe three months, side by side
- Is January a good month, or should I shift?Who should move to February
Every temperature and rainfall figure below comes from one thermometer: IPMA station 522 in Funchal, 58.0 m above the sea on the south coast. High ground is colder and far wetter, and the far end of a coast keeps its own weather, so a harbor reading is the wrong thing to pack for Pico Ruivo. For what the trip costs beyond the month, see what a week in Portugal costs.
Madeira weather in January: average highs, lows and rain days
| January in Funchal | Normal | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Average high | 68.0°F (20.0°C) | IPMA station 522, 1991–2020 |
| Average low | 57.7°F (14.3°C) | IPMA station 522, 1991–2020 |
| Precipitation | 2.64 in | IPMA station 522, 1991–2020 |
| Days with 0.04 in (1 mm) or more | 6.2 | IPMA threshold, not the US 0.10 in |
| Days with 0.39 in (10 mm) or more | 2.3 | IPMA threshold, 1991–2020 |
| Sea surface | 68.6°F | Open-Meteo Marine, mean of daily maxima 2015–2024 |
| Daylight, January 15 | 10h 17m · 08:08 to 18:25 | sunrise-sunset.org |
IPMA, the Portuguese national weather and sea service, puts the January normal high at 68.0°F and the normal low at 57.7°F, with 2.64 inches of precipitation, over the 1991–2020 reference period. Station 522 sits at 58.0 m in Funchal: a real instrument in a real screen, not a model grid cell. On an island this steep the difference is not academic, since a reanalysis cell would average the peaks into the port and hand you a number nobody experiences.
Rain reaches the gauge on 6.2 days in an average January, counted at IPMA’s threshold of 1 mm (0.04 inch), and 2.3 of those days deliver 10 mm (0.39 inch) or more. American tables usually start counting at 0.10 inch, so the two sets of rain days are not interchangeable. In practice that means roughly one wet day in five, with more than a third of the wet days carrying most of the month’s water in a few hours. A January week often passes with one soaked afternoon and six dry ones.
Day to night, the spread is about 10°F, from 68.0 down to 57.7. A shirt-sleeve lunch on the Funchal promenade becomes a jacket after dark, and the Monte hillside above the harbor feels cooler again. Walkers need more than a jacket: high ground on the island is colder and considerably wetter than the coastal station, so a Pico do Areeiro start wants a fleece and a waterproof shell. Our packing guide handles the rest of the suitcase.
January 15 gives 10 hours 17 minutes of daylight, with sunrise at 08:08 and sunset at 18:25 local time (Madeira keeps UTC through the winter). Light flattens in the deep north-facing valleys well before that, and full dark arrives soon after 18:30. The short window sets the schedule for anything above the coast, because trail entry slots run only from sunrise to sunset.
Can you swim in Madeira in January? Sea temperature and what it feels like
The sea surface off Madeira averages 68.6°F in January. Read the figure for what it is: the mean of daily maxima over 2015–2024 from Open-Meteo’s marine data, so it sits a shade above a true 24-hour average. Water at eight in the morning is cooler than that number suggests. Water in the late afternoon, after a sunny day, is closer to it.
68.6°F under 68.0°F air is swimmable, not tropical. Expect a sharp first thirty seconds, a comfortable twenty minutes, and a genuine chill on the way out if cloud has moved over. Snorkelers planning an hour in the water should pack a shorty wetsuit. The sea has already given back 1.7°F since December’s 70.3°F and keeps cooling to 67.2°F in February, so of the three winter months only December offers warmer water.
On January wind and swell we hold nothing verified for Madeira, and an invented number would be worse than none. What is documented is how weather shuts things down: the Monte sledges run no three-person ride in rain or on wet ground, and trail status is published route by route. On September 8, 2026, PR 1.3 Vereda da Encumeada and PR 4 Levada do Barreiro were both restricted. Check both lists the morning you go.
How busy is Madeira in January? Crowds, the EUR 2 city tax and trail slots
We hold no verified occupancy or room-rate index for Madeira in January, so no percentage appears here. What the calendar does fix is the price of the two things almost every visitor books: a bed in Funchal, taxed at EUR 2 per person per night, and a trail slot, priced at EUR 4.50 per person for the general public since January 1, 2026.
That trail booking is mandatory and can only be made online, through SIMplifica, the regional government’s digital services portal. It covers solo walkers, groups, and anyone walking with a tourism company alike. Entry comes in 30-minute slots running from sunrise to sunset, so 10 hours 17 minutes of light on January 15 yields roughly twenty slots in a day (est.), against a much longer grid in June. Reserve before you fly rather than on arrival.
Funchal’s Taxa Municipal Turística is EUR 2 per person per night, capped at seven consecutive nights, so EUR 14 per guest at most. It applies to every paid overnight stay in the municipality whatever the booking channel. Children of 12 and under are exempt on production of an ID, as are visitors with a disability of 60 percent or more and residents of the region on proof of tax address. One trap: the count starts again after an interrupted stay, so a Funchal, then west coast, then Funchal split can be billed twice.
The single line where paying more changes the month is altitude. The Funchal to Monte cable car costs EUR 22 return and EUR 16 one way, and it lifts you out of a grey harbor in minutes on a morning when the climb on foot would be a wet slog. The sledges below it work the other way. At EUR 30 for one rider, EUR 40 for two and EUR 60 for three, tickets are sold on site for the same day only, and no budget produces a three-person run on wet ground.
Things to do in Madeira in January: cable car, wicker sledges and open PR trails
January’s own advantage is the fit between opening hours and daylight. Monte Palace Tropical Garden keeps two timetables: 09:00 to 19:00 from April to September, and 09:00 to 18:00 from October to March. In January that earlier close lands 25 minutes before sunset, so the shorter winter hour costs you nothing usable. In July the same garden shuts at 19:00 with hours of light still on the hillside.
Prices and hours for the fixtures above Funchal, plainly listed. Cable car: EUR 22 return, EUR 16 one way, 08:45 to 17:45 every day of the year except Christmas Day, free up to age 6 and half fare from 7 to 14. Monte Palace Tropical Garden at Caminho das Babosas, by the top station: EUR 18 for adults, 70,000 square meters of planting, tile panels, and a sculpture museum whose last entry is 17:00. Sledges: Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 18:00. Classified trails: EUR 4.50, or EUR 3 with a company holding an IFCN protocol.
Free in January is a shorter list than it was a year earlier. Children up to 14 enter Monte Palace at no charge with an adult, and school groups go free. Residents of the Autonomous Region walk the classified trails for nothing, visitors do not, and free access to every PR levada and vereda ended on January 1, 2026. The Botanical Garden Eng. Rui Vieira, on Caminho do Meio at Bom Sucesso, holds more than 2,000 exotic species; we have not verified its current admission, so budget for a ticket.
Madeira in January: two-day itinerary and 10 hours 17 minutes of daylight
Day one runs on the light. Coffee on the Funchal seafront at 08:08, as the sun clears the ridge. First cable car at 08:45, EUR 22 return, ten minutes to Monte. Monte Palace opens at 09:00, and the sculpture museum inside wants you through its door long before the 17:00 last entry. Sledge queue from 09:00 any day but Sunday, EUR 30 for a solo run. Back down by mid-afternoon, when the valleys have already gone flat, with time for a swim in 68.6°F water before 18:25.
Day two goes uphill on a booked slot: PR 6 Levada das 25 Fontes or PR 1.2 Vereda do Pico Ruivo, EUR 4.50, reserved on SIMplifica for an early 30-minute window so the walk finishes in daylight. Weather turning makes some fallbacks worse than others. PR 1.3 Vereda da Encumeada and PR 4 Levada do Barreiro were both restricted on September 8, 2026, so swap instead to the low PR 3.1 Caminho Real do Monte, or move indoors to the museum before it stops admitting at 17:00.
Madeira in January vs December and February
| Normal, 1991–2020 | December | January | February |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 69.8°F | 68.0°F | 67.8°F |
| Average low | 59.9°F | 57.7°F | 57.0°F |
| Precipitation | 3.73 in | 2.64 in | 2.85 in |
| Days with 0.04 in (1 mm) or more | 8.6 | 6.2 | 5.5 |
| Sea surface | 70.3°F | 68.6°F | 67.2°F |
Across the three winter months, January is the dry one. It records 2.64 inches against December’s 3.73 and February’s 2.85, on 6.2 rain days against 8.6 and 5.5. Daytime temperature barely moves through the whole stretch: 69.8°F, then 68.0, then 67.8. The sea moves, and in one direction only, from 70.3°F down through 68.6 to 67.2.
Shifting back four weeks, December hands over 1.7°F of extra sea warmth and 1.8°F on the thermometer, then takes 1.09 inches more rain and 2.4 more rain days in return. Shifting forward, February cuts rain days to 5.5, the fewest of the three, while cooling the water to 67.2°F and adding 0.21 inch to the monthly total. The same table for the neighboring months sits on our December page and our February page.
Is January a good time to visit Madeira?
Yes for walkers, drivers and anyone who wants 68-degree days without a long-haul flight, and yes for gardens and viewpoints that stay open all winter. No for a beach week: 68.6°F water under a 68.0°F afternoon does not make a sunbathing holiday, and one wet day in five will land somewhere on a four-day trip.
If that reads like a no, February is the swap to make. It drops rain days from 6.2 to 5.5, the lowest of the three winter months, and holds daytime temperature within 0.2°F of January. The bill comes in the water, at 67.2°F, the coldest of the winter. Anyone who ranks swimming above dry mornings should go the other way, back to December’s 70.3°F sea and accept 8.6 rain days for it.
No other winter month pairs January’s total of 2.64 inches with a sea still at 68.6°F: December is wetter, February is colder in the water.
The last word
Book the trail slot before the flight, and buy the cable car ticket at the same time: the e-ticket stays valid for 60 days after purchase, so it survives a change of plan. Then leave one January afternoon unclaimed. An average month brings 2.3 days of 0.39 inch or more, the sledges refuse wet ground, and the island will choose that afternoon for you.
Sources & data for this guide
- January normals (high 68.0°F, low 57.7°F, 2.64 in) and rain-day counts at 1 mm and 10 mm · IPMA, climate normals 1991–2020, station 522 Funchal, 58.0 m · checked Sep 14, 2026
- December and February normals used in the comparison table · same IPMA station and reference period, not estimates · checked Sep 14, 2026
- Sea surface 68.6°F, given as the mean of daily maxima 2015–2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 14, 2026
- Daylight 10h 17m, sunrise 08:08 and sunset 18:25 on January 15 · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 14, 2026
- Trail access fee (EUR 4.50 / EUR 3), mandatory SIMplifica booking, 30-minute slots sunrise to sunset, trail status list · Visit Madeira, official regional tourism board, Hiking / Access Conditions · checked Sep 14, 2026
- Cable car fares and 08:45–17:45 hours, 60-day e-ticket validity · Teleférico do Funchal, official site · checked Sep 14, 2026
- Sledge prices, Monday to Saturday 09:00–18:00, no advance booking, no three-person ride on wet ground · Carreiros do Monte, official site · checked Sep 14, 2026
- Monte Palace Tropical Garden: EUR 18 adult, Oct–Mar 09:00–18:00, museum last entry 17:00 · official garden site · checked Sep 14, 2026 · several aggregators still list EUR 12.50, which the garden’s own site contradicts
- Funchal Taxa Municipal Turística: EUR 2 per person per night, 7-night cap, exemptions · Câmara Municipal do Funchal, official FAQ · checked Sep 14, 2026
- Botanical Garden Eng. Rui Vieira admission is not verified here, and no January festival date could be verified, so none is listed · trail status, hours and fares change · check operators when you book.