Palheiro Golf Course, high above Funchal, within the 200-year-old Palheiro Estate, this is one of Europe's most scenically dramatic rounds of golf. Designed by Cabell B. Robinson and opened in 1993, the par-72 course sits nearly 500 metres above sea level, looking straight down over the harbour and out across the Atlantic. Two holes were reworked in 2003, and the land freed up became a six-hole academy course, adding a genuinely useful practice option alongside the main event.
This is a course that rewards precision over power. Fairways are tight, greens fast and properly undulating, and four of the five par 3s play downhill, none more memorable than the 154-yard 11th, widely reckoned the most photographed hole on the island. Deep valleys and abrupt ridges keep the elevation changes coming, and bunkers have been deliberately trimmed back over the years without softening the challenge one bit. Book this if you want a proper test with a view that genuinely stops golfers mid-swing.
The clubhouse terrace looks straight down over Funchal and the ocean, with the Vista Balancal restaurant, a driving range, academy and resident professionals all on site. The course is working toward GEO environmental certification and already uses biodegradable, coffee-ground tees. One thing worth knowing before you book: buggy hire on Madeira runs higher than on the mainland, so factor that in. For golfers who want spectacular Atlantic views to go with a genuine test of golf, Palheiro is the one to book on Madeira.

Above the bay of Machico, where Portuguese navigators first landed on Madeira, Santo da Serra is one of the island's genuine golfing landmarks. The original nine holes opened in 1937; in 1991, Robert Trent Jones Sr. rebuilt the site entirely into the 27-hole course played today, split into three distinct nines: Machico, Desertas and Serras. Machico and Desertas have long hosted the Madeira Islands Open on the European Tour, a mark of a course built for serious competition.
Each nine has its own character. Machico and Desertas climb through pine, mimosa and eucalyptus with real elevation and demanding, undulating greens, while Serras offers a gentler, more forgiving round without dropping the standard. Four lakes and four tee options at every hole mean the course flexes from a relaxed round to a genuine championship test, whichever you're after. Book the full 27 if you've got the time, since each loop plays differently enough to be worth its own round.
The clubhouse, fairways and roughs are kept to a high standard throughout, and the mountain setting delivers Atlantic views at almost every turn. Buggy hire runs a little higher here than on the mainland, so factor that into your budget. For golfers wanting a proper mountain test with tournament pedigree behind it, Santo da Serra is one of Madeira's essential rounds.

Porto Santo's golf course was designed by Seve Ballesteros, the five-time major winner, and opened in October 2004. It runs the length of the island, from rolling dunes near the beach to dramatic basalt cliffs at the far end, and at 6,434 metres it's the longest course in the Madeira Islands. It's also hosted the Madeira Islands Open on the European Tour, a genuine mark of Ballesteros's design pedigree.
The course splits into two distinct halves. The South plays in an American style, dotted with lakes and demanding a long, precise game off the tee. The North is the dramatic part, running along high cliff tops with the Atlantic dropping away below. The par-3 13th is the hole to book this course for: a tee shot of around 200 yards over a gorge to a green perched on the cliff edge, with a 500-foot drop to the sea. The wind is a near-constant factor here, so bring every club in the bag and a game plan for it.
A nine-hole floodlit pitch-and-putt course adds a genuinely useful practice option, and the clubhouse, all dry-stone walling, natural wood and wicker, blends into the landscape as well as the course does. For golfers who want a Ballesteros design with real drama built in, this is the round to build a Porto Santo trip around.