Câmara de Lobos. 🎨 The fishing village (not only) Churchill fell for

Mid-March, about 21°C, my last day on Madeira. I took a taxi from Funchal with no particular plan – I just wanted to see the famous fishing bay that everyone talks about and that I had seen in so many photos. Wander around with my dog, walk back along the promenade to Funchal and pack before my flight.

What I didn’t expect was to stumble upon a book launch right in the middle of town, next to the harbour, surrounded by locals. For them it was clearly the event of the week – not a tourist attraction, not an “event for visitors”, but something of their own, familiar.

Nor did I expect Câmara de Lobos to feel as if time had stood still – a world running at its own pace, completely untouched by the tourist bustle just a few kilometres away.

And I certainly didn’t expect that walking back along the promenade with a small dog for more than two hours – with breaks for photos, ice cream at the Lido and chats with the cats – would turn out to be the perfect finale to my month-long trip to Madeira in March 2025. When I came back to Madeira in February 2026, Câmara de Lobos was one of the first things on my list.

Câmara de Lobos: the chamber of sea wolves

When João Gonçalves Zarco sailed into this bay in 1419, he saw something that must have impressed even a seasoned sailor: dozens of monk seals (lobos marinos) basking on the rocks.

A natural harbour sheltered from Atlantic storms and an amphitheatre of mountains dropping straight into the sea made the spot seem ideal for a settlement. Zarco named it Câmara de Lobos – literally a “chamber of seals”, although for years the popular translation was “sea wolves”.

This is where the first settlement on Madeira was founded. According to tradition, Zarco lived in Câmara de Lobos in the early years of settlement, before Funchal grew. As early as the 15th century the town became a parish, which in those days was a clear sign that the place mattered.

Sadly, there are no seals here any more. Hunting over the following centuries almost wiped out the population, and the survivors moved to the Desertas Islands. But the memory has stayed.

In June 2019 the Portuguese artist Bordalo II created a huge sculpture-mural of a seal by the harbour, made from household waste. You’ll find it on Rua Nova da Praia, though it’s hard to miss.

I saw it that March day. It stands right by the water – colourful, surreal, pieced together from plastic rubbish. For me it was more than street art. More of a silent comment on the fact that where there were once living animals, we are left with the rubbish thrown into the ocean.

Winston Churchill and his easel above the bay

In January 1950 Winston Churchill spent twelve days on Madeira, arriving on the ship Durban Castle. He fell for Câmara de Lobos at first sight.

He was captivated by the colourful fishing boats moored in a horseshoe of black volcanic rock and by the mountain ridges dropping straight into the bay. During that stay (1 to 12 January) he set up his easel at the Miradouro (viewpoint) and painted one of the best-known pictures he made on the island.

Today the event is commemorated by the Churchill’s restaurant – easy to spot from the harbour, with its distinctive terrace. I didn’t go in, because its reviews are only so-so. Looking up from the bay, I had the feeling that the building is still part of the same scene that Churchill captured seventy-five years ago.

The difference is subtle but telling: the boats are more plastic, and the terrace is full of tourists with cameras instead of a former British prime minister with an easel.

But the bay itself? The bay looks just the same. The same amphitheatre. The same light.

1

2

3

4

1: View of Câmara de Lobos from the promenade – lava rocks, natural pools and a town growing out of the rock, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, March 2025, 2: Panorama of Câmara de Lobos from the harbour – colourful houses climbing the slope all the way towards Cabo Girão, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 3: Colourful fishing boats pulled up on shore in Câmara de Lobos harbour – the heart of a village that still lives from fishing, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 4: Fishing boat details – each has a registration number and a character of its own, handed down through fishing families for generations, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026

The fishing harbour – the centre of gravity

Today Câmara de Lobos is Madeira’s third most populous municipality (after Funchal and Santa Cruz) – according to the 2021 census about 32,000 people live here, about 16,500 of them in the parish of Câmara de Lobos itself. But the town’s real heart doesn’t beat in the residential districts climbing the slopes. It beats in the harbour.

That is where the xavelhas are moored – small traditional fishing boats painted in bold colours: yellow, blue, red, green. Not for looks. So they can be seen from afar, and families can recognise their own boats coming back from fishing.

Fishermen here still make their living from the sea. Câmara de Lobos is famous for catching espada, the black scabbardfish – a dark fish from the deep, caught on long lines with hooks at depths of as much as 800–1200 metres.

Read nextEspada com banana. 🐟 When a deep-sea fish meets tropical flavoursA fish caught at night from more than a kilometre down, with terrifying fangs and huge eyes, served with sweet fried banana. Espada com banana is one of

That March day the harbour was full of life. A local author event – the launch of a book whose title I still don’t know – had drawn a crowd of residents. Not tourists. Locals. It was their event, their author, their town.

I stood to one side and watched how much this place runs at its own pace, completely independent of Funchal’s tourist machine.

1

2

3

4

1: Boats on the quay, 2: Colourful boats, 3: The bay in Câmara de Lobos, 4: Câmara de Lobos seen from the bay. Photos: Ewelina Podrez-Siama 2025

What to eat and drink in Câmara de Lobos

Câmara de Lobos is the unofficial capital of poncha – Madeira’s traditional drink made with sugar-cane rum, lemon juice and honey. On weekend evenings the little bars by the harbour are bursting at the seams, serving poncha in all sorts of versions: classic, passion fruit or poncha negra.

Read nextPoncha. 🍹 The secrets of Madeira’s favourite drinkVisiting Madeira without trying poncha is like touring Italy without eating pizza. This local Madeiran drink made with unique sugar-cane rum, honey and

There is also Nikita – a local cocktail that sounds like culinary madness: ice cream, wine, beer and pineapple. In lots of flavours. I didn’t try it. I went for a poncha regionale, sitting by the harbour and watching life in the bay.

When it comes to food, Câmara de Lobos is known for:

Espada com banana – black scabbardfish served with banana (odd on paper, delicious on the plate)

Espetada madeirense – beef skewers on bay-laurel sticks, grilled over an open fire

Bolo do caco – the local flatbread with garlic butter

I had a piece of fish – nothing particularly classic. And yet it tasted better than anything I’d eaten in Funchal. Maybe it was the atmosphere. Maybe it was knowing it was my last day on Madeira (I didn’t yet know I’d be back in less than a year).

Back to Funchal – the promenade along the ocean

The promenade linking Funchal and Câmara de Lobos is about 5.8 km long and takes 1 h 15 min to walk.

So much for theory. In practice, if you’re walking with a small Jack Russell-type dog at 21°C, stopping every few minutes for photos, water, a rest in the shade, ice cream at the Lido and chats with the cats who live along the promenade, the walk can take more than 2.5 hours.

And it isn’t a minute too long.

At the time, part of the promenade was being repaired, so in places you had to step down onto the road. By February 2026 the promenade was open again and ran right above the ocean: the Atlantic on your left, slopes covered in banana plants and flowering trees on your right, and in front of you the endless coastline stretching towards Funchal.

1

2

3

4

5

6

1: “O mar começa aqui!” (Portuguese for “The sea starts here!”) – a pavement painting in Câmara de Lobos with a monk seal, an octopus and other sea creatures. Part of an environmental campaign reminding people that whatever goes down the drains ends up in the sea, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 2: A building tucked under a rock overhang by the promenade – a typical example of Madeiran architecture growing out of the rock, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 3: Tesla on the promenade by the cliff – the coastal path to Câmara de Lobos is dog-friendly, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, March 2025, 4: View from the promenade along the coast towards Funchal – silos on the left, the city in the background, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 5: Cabo Girão seen from the promenade – one of the highest sea cliffs in Europe (about 580 m), photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 6: A lit tunnel on the promenade between Funchal and Câmara de Lobos – a section of the route cut into the rock, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026

Read nextWhere to stay in Madeira. 🏨 A base that keeps everything closeFunchal, Caniço, the west coast or the north? The areas compared by access, weather and tourist tax.

Why it was a good place to say goodbye (and to come back to)

Madeira offers spectacular ways to end a trip: the Cabo Girão cliffs, the ridge of Pico do Arieiro, the rugged Ponta de São Lourenço. But Câmara de Lobos gave me something different.

The feeling that Madeira isn’t just about views. It’s about people living at their own pace. A community for whom a book launch by the harbour matters more than the tourists. Fishermen playing cards. A bay that looks just as it did in 1950.

You don’t have to end a trip on a summit.
Sometimes it’s better to end it with a walk by the sea.

1

2

3

4

5

6

1: The “Coroa do Ilhéu” sculpture – a fisherman monument with a mosaic figure, a tribute to the fishing tradition of Câmara de Lobos, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, March 2025, 2: A dog lying on the cobbles outside a restaurant in central Câmara de Lobos – four-legged locals are very much at home on the island, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 3: The narrow streets of old Câmara de Lobos – cobbles, colourful shutters and cars squeezing between the walls of the houses, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 4: Praia do Vigário and the cliffs towards Cabo Girão – the buildings literally grow out of the edge of the rock, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 5: The “All we need is love” installation on the waterfront – the Instagram spot of Câmara de Lobos, with a view of the harbour, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026, 6: The São Sebastião church in Câmara de Lobos with its distinctive chequerboard tower, next to the modern Coral Beach Club, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama, February 2026

Read nextCabo Girão – a 580 m cliff and skywalkTickets €5, opening hours, buses 267 and 340, the cable car down to the fajãs.

Câmara de Lobos – practical information