MADEIRA · JULY · 32.65° N
You have picked Madeira, and July fills in the rest: 77.7°F afternoons in Funchal, a sea near 75°F and light until after nine in the evening. July also sets what you book before you fly. Since January 1, 2026, every classified levada and vereda on the island charges an access fee of EUR 4.50 per person and requires an online booking.
The harbor is quieter than most visitors expect. On its 2025/2026 charts, the regional port authority counted 4,071 cruise passengers stepping off ships in Funchal in July, against 113,839 in February. That is roughly one July passenger for every twenty-five in late winter, and the old town streets around the Mercado dos Lavradores carry far fewer day visitors from the ships.
JULY AT A GLANCE · MADEIRA
July is Madeira at its driest on the Funchal coast, with a warm sea and fourteen hours of light, provided you book trail slots and the cable car before you fly.
HIGH SUMMER · FUNCHAL STATION NORMALS · LEVADA SLOTS BOOKED ONLINE
Go for: swimming in 75°F water, a sunset at 21:17 on the local clock, and a Funchal old town with few cruise ships in port.
Think twice before: packing for a mountain hike on the coastal numbers. PR1 climbs to 1,857 m, where it is colder and wetter than Funchal, and every classified trail needs a booked slot.
Climate: IPMA station 522 Funchal · Sea: Open-Meteo Marine · Trails: Visit Madeira · full sources at the end
On this page
- Madeira weather in July77.7°F highs and 0.3 rain days at Funchal
- Madeira sea temperature in July75.0°F, measured as daily maxima
- How busy is Madeira in July?3 cruise calls, a EUR 2 nightly tax and trail slots
- Things to do in Madeira in JulyMonte Palace, Cabo Girão and the Porto Moniz pools
- A two-day July itineraryFunchal and Monte, then a levada and the north coast
- Madeira in June or August instead?June at 74.7°F, August at 80.2°F
- Is July a good time to visit Madeira?Yes for swimmers and walkers who book ahead
Every weather figure here comes from one thermometer: IPMA station 522 in Funchal, at 58 m on the south coast. It does not describe the whole island. High ground is colder and far wetter, and the north coast keeps its own weather, so a walker bound for the PR1 ridge, which runs between 1,857 m and 1,491 m, should pack for the mountain rather than the harbor.
Madeira weather in July: average highs, lows and rain days
| July at Funchal (58 m) | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average high | 77.7°F (25.4°C) |
| Average low | 67.5°F (19.7°C) |
| Precipitation, whole month | 0.07 in (1.8 mm) |
| Days with 1 mm (0.04 in) or more | 0.3 |
| Days with 10 mm (0.39 in) or more | 0.0 |
| Daylight on July 15 | 14 h 08 min |
| Sunrise / sunset, July 15 (local) | 07:09 / 21:17 |
| Sea surface, mean of daily maxima | 75.0°F (23.9°C) |
The Portuguese weather service, IPMA (Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera), publishes 1991-2020 normals for station 522, a real thermometer at 58 m in Funchal. Its July average is 77.7°F (25.4°C) in the afternoon and 67.5°F (19.7°C) at night, with 0.07 inches of rain across the entire month. These are station readings rather than a reanalysis model’s grid cell. They hold for Funchal and for nowhere else on the island.
Rain barely registers on the coast. An average July at Funchal logs 0.3 days with at least 1 mm (0.04 inch), roughly one damp day spread across three Julys, and the 30-year record averages 0.0 days of 10 mm (0.39 inch) or more. IPMA counts from 1 mm, a lower bar than the 0.10-inch threshold US tables use, so a US-style count could only come out equal or lower. A Funchal day plan needs no rain slot.
Between the 77.7°F afternoon and the 67.5°F night sits a gap of 10.2°F, so a light sweater covers a Funchal evening outdoors. The daypack for the heights is another matter. IPMA’s figures stop at 58 m and PR1 starts near 1,857 m, so a windproof layer and long pants go in the bag for any trail start in the mountains (our Portugal packing list has the full kit).
On July 15 Madeira gets about 14 hours 08 minutes of daylight. The sun rises at 06:09 UTC and sets at 20:17 UTC. On Madeira’s summer clock, one hour ahead of UTC, that reads 07:09 and 21:17, so the light holds well past the 20:00 closing of the Cabo Girão skywalk.
Madeira sea temperature in July: can you swim?
Open-Meteo’s marine data puts the sea surface off Madeira at 75.0°F (23.9°C) in July, averaged over 2015-2024. That figure is a mean of daily maxima, the warmest reading of each day, so it runs a shade above a 24-hour average. Tables built on full-day means may quote slightly cooler water for the same month.
Water at 75.0°F against a 77.7°F afternoon means a small step down on entry, and after dark the 67.5°F air is colder than the sea. Porto Moniz on the north coast holds that water in natural volcanic pools. The serviced complex costs EUR 3 and comes with changing rooms, a children’s pool, a bar and a first-aid post, open 09:00 to 19:00 on its summer timetable.
We found no wind or swell series for Madeira in July, so we cannot tell you how rough the open coast runs this month. The 75.0°F reading is a surface temperature and carries no information about waves. Before swimming off rocks, ask at your hotel desk or the local harbor office about the day’s sea state.
How busy is Madeira in July? Crowds and prices
We found no hotel occupancy or room-rate series for Madeira, so we rank no month cheap or expensive. The port figures are firm. The regional port authority, APRAM, recorded 3 cruise calls in July against 44 in February on its 2025/2026 charts, and its count of 10,816 cruise passengers in June falls to 4,071 in July.
Booking is mandatory for every classified trail, online only, through SIMplifica, the regional government’s portal, in 30-minute entry slots running from sunrise to sunset. The 14 hours 08 minutes of light on July 15 works out to roughly 28 slots a day. Reserve your trail slots as soon as your flights from the US are fixed. A Funchal-Monte cable car e-ticket stays valid 60 days after purchase, so it can be bought at the same time.
Funchal charges its Taxa Municipal Turística at EUR 2 per person per night, capped at 7 consecutive nights, so a guest pays EUR 14 at most. It applies to every paid overnight stay in the municipality whatever the booking channel, and it starts again after an interrupted stay: a Funchal week broken by two nights elsewhere restarts the count. Children of 12 and under are exempt on showing an ID.
If you spend extra anywhere in July, spend it on the levada pass. A single trail costs EUR 4.50 per person, while EUR 9.00 buys a day pass for two trails or more, and the stretch from a 07:09 sunrise to a 21:17 sunset leaves room for both. Three days cost EUR 22.50 and seven cost EUR 52.50. PR1, the Pico do Areeiro to Pico Ruivo crossing, is excluded from the day pass and costs EUR 10.50 on its own.
Things to do in Madeira in July
July lets a morning trail and an afternoon swim share one day. Trail slots open from the 07:09 sunrise, the Porto Moniz complex stays open to 19:00, and the sea is 3.4°F warmer than in June. Funchal’s waterfront also escapes the winter mornings when the port authority can see four ships alongside at once.
At the top of the cable car (EUR 22 return, EUR 16 one way), the Monte Palace Tropical Garden spreads 70,000 square meters of exotic planting, tile panels and a sculpture museum for EUR 18 per adult. Some resellers list a lower price, but the garden’s own site says EUR 18. The carros de cesto wicker sledges run down from Monte at EUR 30 for one, EUR 40 for two and EUR 60 for three. Down in Funchal, Blandy’s Wine Lodge on Avenida Arriaga runs a 45-minute Premium Tour with three wines for EUR 23, and the Botanical Garden Eng. Rui Vieira holds more than 2,000 exotic species.
The summer timetables add hours. Monte Palace runs 09:00 to 19:00 from April to September, an hour later than in October, though its museum still closes at 17:00. The Cabo Girão skywalk above Câmara de Lobos opens 08:30 to 20:00 from March to October for EUR 3, a fare our sources agree on but that should be confirmed on site. The sledges run Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 18:00, and tickets sell on site for the same day only.
The neighboring Cachalote pools at Porto Moniz cost nothing and stay open at all hours. Children up to 14 enter Monte Palace free with an adult, children of 12 and under go free on the Cabo Girão skywalk and on PR1, and children up to 6 ride the cable car free, with ages 7 to 14 paying half.
Madeira in July: a two-day itinerary
Day one, Funchal and Monte. Open at the Mercado dos Lavradores at 07:00 on a weekday (it shuts at 14:00 on Saturday and all day Sunday, when the Mercado da Penteada opens 07:00 to 13:00). Board the first cable car at 08:45 and walk Monte Palace from its 09:00 opening, then take a sledge down before the afternoon peaks near 77.7°F. Book Blandy’s English tour at 15:00 or 16:00 on a weekday, and reach Cabo Girão before its 20:00 closing, with daylight to spare until 21:17.
Day two, the heights and the north. Take an early slot after the 07:09 sunrise on PR1 from Pico do Areeiro, 6.1 km in about 3 hours, rated Moderate, or on PR 6 Levada das 25 Fontes, both open on September 8, 2026. Spend the afternoon in the Porto Moniz pools until 19:00, and plan the drives with our car rental advice. If weather closes the heights, Visit Madeira publishes status trail by trail, and the Botanical Garden or the Monte Palace museum (last entry 17:00) fills the morning.
Madeira in July vs June and August
| Funchal, IPMA 1991-2020 | June | July | August |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 74.7°F | 77.7°F | 80.2°F |
| Average low | 64.8°F | 67.5°F | 69.3°F |
| Precipitation | 0.31 in | 0.07 in | 0.05 in |
| Days with 1 mm or more | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Sea surface (daily maxima) | 71.6°F | 75.0°F | 76.6°F |
On IPMA’s Funchal normals, July runs 3.0°F warmer than June by day and 2.7°F warmer by night, and August adds another 2.5°F to the high and 1.8°F to the low. Rain days fall from 1.0 in June to 0.3 in July, then sit at 0.4 in August. The sea climbs from 71.6°F to 75.0°F and on to 76.6°F.
Moving four weeks earlier gains you afternoons 3.0°F cooler and loses 3.4°F of sea temperature, with June’s cruise count at 10,816 passengers against July’s 4,071. Moving four weeks later buys 1.6°F more sea warmth and an 80.2°F high, while the port still logs 3 cruise calls in August, the same number as July.
Is July a good time to visit Madeira?
Yes, for swimmers, families and walkers willing to book slots before the trip. Children ride, walk and enter many sites free, the sea reaches 75.0°F and Funchal sees almost no rain. It suits less well anyone who wants the coolest summer walking weather or who hoped to decide trails on the morning itself, since every classified route now requires a booking.
If heat is the worry, June keeps the Funchal high at 74.7°F and still offers 71.6°F water, at the cost of 1.0 rain days instead of 0.3. If the sea matters most, August pushes it to 76.6°F. Our Portugal best-time guide sets Madeira against the mainland across the year.
Of the three summer months IPMA’s Funchal station measures, July has the fewest rain days, 0.3 against 1.0 in June and 0.4 in August.
The last word
Book the trail with the flight, then build the rest around the long evenings. If PR1 is on the list, know its rule before you set out: from the Pedra Rija viewpoint onward the path runs one way only, toward Pico Ruivo, so anyone who continues past that point finishes the crossing and needs a ride back from the far end. Pack water and a windproof layer for the ridge, and keep the island’s emergency number in mind: it is 112.
Sources & data for this guide
- July, June and August normals, rain days (1 mm and 10 mm thresholds) · IPMA climatological normals 1991-2020, station 522 Funchal, 58.0 m · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Sea surface temperature, mean of daily maxima 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Daylight, sunrise and sunset on July 15 (UTC, converted to Madeira summer time) · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Trail fees, SIMplifica booking, 30-minute slots, trail status on Sep 8, 2026 · Visit Madeira, Hiking page · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Levada passes and PR1 measures, fee and one-way section · Visit Madeira, 2026 hiking article and PR 1 trail sheet · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Cable car fares and hours · Teleférico do Funchal official site · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Sledge prices, days and on-site sales · Carreiros do Monte official site · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Monte Palace Tropical Garden fee and seasonal hours · official site (resellers quoting EUR 12.50 are wrong) · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Taxa Municipal Turística · Câmara Municipal do Funchal official FAQ · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Cabo Girão skywalk fee and hours · several concurring sources, no institutional page reached · checked Sep 24, 2026 · confirm on site
- Blandy’s Premium Tour · Blandy’s Wine Lodge official site (resellers quoting EUR 18 are wrong) · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Porto Moniz natural pools · Visit Madeira, with concurring guides · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Cruise passengers and calls · APRAM monthly charts, January to August 2025/2026 · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Market hours · Câmara Municipal do Funchal, Divisão de Mercados · checked Sep 24, 2026
- We found no hotel-rate, occupancy, wind or swell series for July, so we give no price ranking and no sea-state figure. Trail status and seasonal hours change · check operators when you book.
To plan your stay
- Things to Do in Madeira: Trail Fees, Cable Car Prices and Opening Hours
- Where to Stay in Madeira: Funchal, Monte, the North Coast and the Levada Trailheads
- Madeira Airport to Funchal: Aerobus Stops, Timetable, Taxi Cases and When to Leave
- Things to Know Before Going to Madeira: Trail Bookings, Mountain Driving and Late Dinners