A popular holiday destination - not just for German guests
To the east of Funchal, about 7 km away, is the town of Caniço, which is very popular with German holidaymakers. The village now has around 10.000 inhabitants.
The actual town center is around 200 m above the sea. Striking is the parish church, which is dedicated to both the Holy Spirit and Saint Anthony. In the center of the village you will find bars, various restaurants, a few shops and a small branch of the supermarket chain Sá, which is open non-stop from around 9 am to 21.30/22 pm. There is also a post office and several banks, some with ATMs.
Two other districts are Caniço de Baixo and Garajau, which are located directly on the coast. In Caniço de Baixo in particular, tourism has developed rapidly in recent years. At the end of the 60s there was only one old country house near the coast, the ruins of which you can still see today. Since the land there was very barren and unusable as a landscape, the locals initially thought it was useless. In the nearby bay of Reis Margos, only a few fishermen settled, who went out to fish in the direction of Desertas Islands.
Today, Caniço de Baixo is the most popular holiday resort on Madeira alongside Funchal. Many Germans have built a holiday home here or settled down permanently. There are many villas with beautiful, well-kept gardens, but the hoteliers have also discovered the beautiful, gently sloping hillside location and built up tourism. In the meantime, there is also a bank branch for guests in this part of Caniços (it is only open until about 11.30 am), some shops and several restaurants.
There are also various bathing options here: either on the rocky coast in Lido Galomar or on Lido Rocamar. While the former is public and can be reached by elevator (entry), the Lido Rocamar is only intended for hotel guests. A small, public, coarse gravel beach, Reis Magos, can be found at the Hotel Oasis Atlantic.
In the district of Garajau there is a viewing terrace, the Ponta do Garajau, from which you have a wonderful view as far as Funchal. In 1927 a larger than life statue of Christ was erected here. Here, too, there are some shops and restaurants as well as a small supermarket.
A bus line connects the districts of Garajau and Caniço de Baixo with the main town of Caniço. It is the country bus with number 155. You can get the current timetables at the reception of your hotel. This bus also runs several times a day to the capital, Funchal. Take the risk of a bus trip with the public bus - it is fun to drive across the country together with the locals and to be able to observe the country and its people.
