Cabo Girão

Ladies and gentlemen, buckle up for the ride of your lives, because we’re about to visit a place so high up, even your fear of heights might need a vacation! Welcome to Cabo Girão! At a staggering 580 meters tall — that's taller than your excuses to avoid exercise — this is the highest promontory in Europe. But don't worry, it’s not just famous for being tall, because height is only impressive to a point (literally). No, Cabo Girão is also celebrated for its glass-floored skywalk that lets you experience what it's like to float in mid-air, or at least how it feels when your knees suddenly stop cooperating!

The skywalk is where you'll see people pretending to be brave for the perfect selfie, while secretly regretting that third coffee earlier. Trust me, your heart will be doing its own BASE jump as you step onto that see-through platform. But hey, it’s Instagram gold — hashtag "screaming on the inside!"

From this vertigo-inducing spot, you’ll be rewarded with views of Câmara de Lobos and Funchal, two towns that seem almost cozy from up here, like tiny toy villages in a real-life snow globe (minus the snow, obviously). These urban jewels are nestled in a natural amphitheater, surrounded by green mountains so lush they’ll make your house plants feel inadequate.

And if you look way down, you might spot the fajãs of Rancho and Cabo Girão — little patches of farmland clinging to the cliff’s edge like they didn’t get the memo about gravity. Farmers down there are truly living on the edge, quite literally. From up here, they look like the bravest gardeners in history.

Cabo Girão is also a playground for thrill-seekers. If walking on a glass floor wasn’t enough to make you question your life choices, you can try paragliding or BASE jumping. In fact, the legendary Portuguese skydiver Mário Pardo once rode a motorbike off this cliff — because apparently, jumping wasn’t exciting enough without a vehicle involved. Talk about overachieving.

And if all this adrenaline is making you think you need to start praying, don’t worry — you’re in luck! Just a stone’s throw away (please don’t throw actual stones from this height) is the chapel of Nossa Senhora de Fátima, a major pilgrimage site built in 1951. So, you know, you can literally say your prayers before taking on the skywalk. Divine intervention, anyone?

With views, thrills, and a dash of spirituality, Cabo Girão is practically begging for your visit — just don’t forget to hold on to your hats…and your nerves!