Costa Luminosa Transatlantic crossing in Funchal, Madeira

Hi.

I am travelling next spring with my very active five year old to Funchal, Madeira on 15th April from 9am till 6pm. I don't like cruise excursions as they are far too expensive. Am in need of ideas though please. I don't drive so either walkable places or local transport really.

Hi.

 

I am travelling next spring with my very active five year old to Funchal, Madeira on 15th April from 9am till 6pm. I don't like cruise excursions as they are far too expensive. Am in need of ideas though please. I don't drive so either walkable places or local transport really.

Just look on this page re the person who lives in Funchal...info there.

Central Funchal has beautiful parks & gardens which are in walking distance from port. Also market is interesting. Most of the full day tours which btw are very inexpensive (25€ pp for 8 hr tour in minibus) are not suitable for 9 to 6 cruise schedule. But it's possible to book something private, can check http://www.madeirahappytours.com/en/component/content/article/8.html We took one of their day tours, very good service.

I just responded to someone about Funchal. I ended up walking all the way from the port to the downtown "Old Town" area, and while it was quite a walk, you could shorten that by jumping on a bus. I found tomsportguides.com gave good info on the bus system, so you might want to look at that. He has a guide for Funchal.

In the old town area, you can walk along and look at painted doors. You can see the tram go above your head in a couple places. You can go to the little public beach area behind the yellow fort, or go up into the yellow fort. On the way to the old town you can stop at the Mercado. You can take a bus up to Monte, where there's a pretty old church and the wicker baskets that go downhill. (They're expensive, and I think a bit dangerous, but it's fun to at least see them.) The cable car isn't all that fantastic for the price, but it also goes up there, too. With any luck, it's free for a five year old; if not, I'd skip it.

We did a short "out of the city" tour that wasn't terribly expensive or long. There are a number of options there, even for a 3 to 4 hour tour. We found two people on our ship (through the Roll Call) to share the cab and cost, so that helped.

Unfortunately, the local from Funchal is no longer able to help people out with questions - but at least there's plenty of info on the internet on Funchal that helps! Enjoy Madeira - we did!

Go up the cable car to the gardens at the top in Monte and then visit the gardens where there are fishponds and beautiful flowers and trees. The trip up is very exciting and coming down of course. You could even get the toboggan back down but there is a bit more walking with this option.

Walk through the town and visit the market, find an ice cream bar and have a glorious concoction of ice cream and fruit. Walk along the front and see all the boats in the harbour - pretty sight. All of these are doable without doing an excursion. You may need a shuttle into town as its a long walk but sometimes the ship provides this or even a shuttle boat across the water to the town centre. It's a very pleasant port.

We also did a trip with Madeira Happy Tours as mentioned by HKTO. They picked us up in the port in a Mercedes car with an excellent guide/driver. We paid 12€ each for a long half day tour.

There is plenty of information on CC and Tripadvisor about Madeira.

I meant to add that even though we did a short tour outside the city, there is plenty right in Funchal and Monte to provide a nice day's exploration. That's why I ordered a shortened tour from Daniel Madeira Taxi, and then explored the old town in Funchal - best of both worlds! However, I could have been happy just staying in Funchal - lots to do and see, and a very nice place to visit.