Travel Information

The main access to this Atlantic archipelago is the Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira International Airport, located in the city of Santa Cruz.

We should point out that international flights to Funchal from major European cities are quite frequent and affordable. They last, on average, about three to four hours. From Lisbon, the journey takes just 90 minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira International Airport

  • Primary Airport in Madeira
  • Located in city of Santa Cruz
  • 10 Minute Taxi journey to the Conference Venue

How to move around

To get around the archipelago you can rent a car or a motorbike, but you can also use the vast network of urban buses or tourist buses.

It is also worth mentioning the importance of the cable cars, which connect to some of the archipelago's most iconic points of interest.

  • National Emergency Number: 112
  • Police: 291 208 400
  • Hospital: 291 705 600
  • Red Cross: 291 741 115
  • National Information Service: 118
  • National Poison Centre (CIAV): 808 250 143

For more information, please see the Madiera Tourism and Travel Guide website ..here..

Additional Information

Currency of Portugal: The Euro

Electricity

The local current is 220 AC and the connection has a two-pin plug.

Travellers from the USA will require a voltage converter.

Travellers from the UK will require a plug adapter that can be bought at home or here in an appliance store.

Time
The islands of the Madeiran archipelago operate on the 24-hour clock, which can be quite confusing for those who are accustomed to 'am' & 'pm'. In this time convention, the day is divided into 24 hours (from midnight to midnight) instead of two periods of 12 hours (am & pm).

Madeira maintains Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT) and UTC+1 as summer time.

Water

Madeira Islands drinking tap water comes from underground springs in the mountains and always has a constant supply due to the high mountains where there’s enough rain throughout the year. Even though at sea level it rarely rains and its always summer all year round. Unlike its nearest neighbours, the Canary Islands, which have a permanent water shortage and most drinking water is desalinated sea water, Madeira has one of the best quality drinking waters in Europe.

For water purists who only drink bottled water, and as chlorine is added to Madeira drinking water we recommend a reserve osmosis water filtration system that has a mineral cartridge to add a balance PH and minerals to the filtered water.