This is Route 2 of 5 round trips from Madeira's capital city, Funchal. Details for Madeira, Funchal and a motorcycle/car rental company are in Route 1's review. I have included a links to the hotel, rental company and Route 1 below this review.
After leaving the hotel, this route travels along part of Route 1 but in the opposite direction and as you know, this always gives a different perspective.

Places this route visits:
Santana:
Characterised by its small thatched triangular houses, Santana is a beautiful village on the north coast. These small houses, built of natural stone and thatched with straw, have served the locals for centuries as stables and dwellings. The “Casas de Santana” or “Casinhas de Santana” are typical thatched houses found only in Santana. The name Santana derived from a small chapel in the sixteenth century, the Chapel of Santa Ana. Santana is also the home of Madeira's most treasured and world renowned form of arts and crafts, the “Bordado da Madeira” (embroidery). This precious form of arts and crafts are on display in various shops in the Santana and available for sale.

RP 17 at Sao Jorge allows is an incredible viewpoint from on top of the 300 m sea cliffs allowing you superb views of the coastline and on a clear day you can see the other inhabited island in the Madeira archipelago, Porto Santo some 43 km (27 ml) away.

Arco de Sao Jorge:
Arco de São Jorge is a unique village by the seaside, surrounded by mountains and vineyards. Besides São Jorge village, the land of Arco de São Jorge is also very fertile and able to host many types of agricultural product due to its microclimate.
Its first settlers were known to be from the Algarve and Minho, Portugal. Originally this small village was once part of São Jorge then on December 28, 1676 Arco de São Jorge became a civil parish, deriving its name from the surrounding arc shaped mountains. While visiting the village, make sure you drop by Quinta do Arco Rosarium garden with its large collection of roses from Portugal.

Sao Vicente:
Sao Vicente is known for its volcanic caves as well as the church that sits prominently atop a basalt rock at the mouth of the small river that runs through the town. The Sao Vicente Caves were the result of an eruption that happened 890 thousand years ago that occurred in Paul da Serra. On the other hand, the locals did not report the caves to officials until 1885 and they became a tourist attraction in Sao Vicente in 1996. You can walk through the Sao Vicente lava tubes and caves and at the end of the tour, you can check out the Volcano Center that offers an educational perspective on the geological wonder.
They have a website and I have added a link to that below this review.

Leaving Sao Vicente and the north coast behind, the route heads into the hills again passing vineyards on terraced hillsides very reminiscent of those of the Douro Valley on mainland Portugal. The last 8 km to the south coast is on an unusually straight section of road that is flanked on both sides by shear cliffs forming a narrow gorge.
There is a final coffee stop 30 minutes before returning back to your hotel on the twisty coastal road.