McCanns plan emotional return to Praia da Luz this year
According to two national newspaper reports, husband Gerry said the couple planned to visit Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, before the end of the year.
The trip would mark her first return to the coastal resort since her daughter vanished in May 2007.
Mr McCann was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: "She would very much like to go back to Praia da Luz now that things are less intense.
"She would like that to be private as it's going to be a very emotional experience.
"It was the last place she saw Madeleine and there is an emotional bond."
He said that the family were looking at potential dates, but that no date had yet been agreed.
Last month the couple, from Rothley, flew to the Portuguese capital Lisbon to update their lawyers on the search for Madeleine.
The visit was the first time Mrs McCann had been back to Portugal since being quizzed by police over her daughter's disappearance.
Speaking at the International Bar Association's conference in Madrid, Mr McCann said: "We are looking at potential dates although no date has been set yet. We have very good friends there, and there are lots of people we want to see."
He also spoke of the "hope" he and his wife had taken from a Channel 4 documentary on the Jaycee Lee Dugard kidnapping, called Captured for 18 Years: The Jaycee Lee Story, which aired last week.
Mr McCann said watching the programme "had brought back some awful memories".
He added: "It was an incredibly tragic case, but it gave us hope."
