The Eastern Edge

Yes. This one is a drive, 43 km out with nine places to stop along the way. Any hire car does it: every road on the route is paved and ordinary, and nothing needs four-wheel drive.

It starts at the Cristo Rei statue above Garajau, fifteen minutes east of Funchal, and ends at Baía d'Abra, where the road across the island simply runs out. Coming back is about forty-five minutes on the motorway.

English, all of it, one voice throughout. Tap play on this page to hear the opening for free, and the map above shows every stop and the road between them before you pay.

No, and that is the point of it. Each stop begins playing on the road before you arrive, so you pull up already knowing what you are looking at. Connect the phone to the car by Bluetooth or a cable and the whole car hears it.

The car parks on the route are free. The two at the far end, Ponta do Rosto and Baía d'Abra, fill up in the middle of the day in summer, so an early start is an easier one.

No. The drive ends at the car park where that trail begins, which is deliberate: if you have the day for it, it is one of the best walks on the island. It is about three hours there and back with no shade and no water on the way. The drive stands on its own without it.

About an hour and a half of it. The rest is the stops: a whaling museum, a beach, two viewpoints and a chapel with a story about a flood. Stay longer anywhere you like; the tour picks up when you drive on.

Most of the distance is motorway, straight and through tunnels. The winding parts are short, the climb to Pico do Facho and the last stretch to the point, and anyone prone to car sickness is best off in the front.

Machico, about halfway, has the beach and the most choice. Caniçal, further on, is a working fishing village and the last place to buy anything before the road ends. There is nothing at all out at the point.

No. Download it on wifi before you set off and it runs on GPS alone. The east of the island has good coverage anyway, but the tour does not need it.

Only a long one. With the drive back it is a six-hour day from the port, and that is before the hire car. On a stopover of eight hours or more it is the best thing you can do with a car; on a shorter one, take one of the two walks in town instead.

The east is the driest, sunniest corner of the island, often clear out at the point when Funchal is under cloud. Rain only matters for the viewpoints, and the museum and the chapel are dry. Children get a beach, a whale museum and the end of the world, which is a good day for most of them; the audio is written for adults.