Hi! I'm Lisa, a Madeiran born and raised in Funchal — the city I've called home for most of my life.
My connection to Madeira, however, goes far beyond Funchal. My father's family comes from Boaventura, a small village on the north coast, and I grew up hearing stories of a very different island. One where travelling between villages could mean hours of walking across mountains and difficult paths.
Perhaps that's one of the reasons I've always been so fascinated by this place and the people who shaped it.
I knew from a young age that I wanted to become a guide. After working in different areas of tourism, studying Environmental Tourism and completing my Mountain Guide training, I finally started guiding in 2016.
My path eventually took me from Madeira's mountains to the streets of Funchal, where I discovered just how much history was hiding behind buildings and places I had walked past all my life.
For almost a decade, I've dedicated countless hours to reading, researching and learning about Funchal: its history, its people, its buildings and the events that transformed a small Atlantic settlement into the city we know today.
In 2018, I created Free Walking Tours Funchal so I could share those stories with visitors in my own way.
I'm not a historian, and I certainly don't pretend to know everything. I'm still learning all the time. But that's part of what I love about this job: there is always another story to discover.
So, when you join me on a tour, I hope to show you more than monuments and dates. I want to introduce you to the city I grew up in, the people who shaped it and the stories hidden behind the streets you're walking through.
Welcome to Funchal. Let's go for a walk!
