Madeira on your own

Hello,

We are docking at Funchal on the 31st March and doing a morning tour which lasts from 9:30 to 13:30 to visit the caves. The question is do we have the time to do the toboggan on our own before AOB at 17:30/18:00?

Does anyone have suggestions for the quickest way to do it and approximate price per person?

Thanks in advance.

Sure, why not. To reach Monte on a 20 or 21 city bus is no more than 15-20 min (also there a funicular but its more costly, 10 o/w or 15 R/T). Ride should be around 30.

Get to Monte, bus or taxi for speed, cable car if you have the time. The cable car is a 20-30 minute walk from the dock area.

Toboggan was €15 per person last year then you need to get back into Funchal. A fair walk or taxi again.

We think the Funicular/cable car is worth the money for the views :). You can walk to the Tobaggan from the upper cable car station. But what they do not tell you is that the tobaggan ends only about half way down the steep hill (that ends in Funchal). After we did the tobaggan we were faced with a very very steep road/sidewalk stroll to get back to town...which is not easy for anyone with a mobility problem or arthritis in a knee. There are sometimes taxis around who will take you down the hill...but they often demand a ransom for the short ride.

Hank

If time permits, I also vote for the cable car - the views are beautiful. As previously mentioned, there is about a 15 - 20 minute walk from where the toboggan run ends to get back to town.

You can take bus #19 from the Estrada do Livramento (where the toboggan ride ends) back down to the market/cable car station or to the Palácio de São Lourenço (closer to the ship). You can find the bus map here.

If I have things right, there are two botanical gardens on Monte, where the cable car takes you: the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens (private, cost 10 euros0; and the Madeira Botanical Gardens, which I guess is public and free. The former gets better reviews on Tripadvisor. What do experienced cruisers have to say? Which is better? What's the best way to do it on your own?

(We'll be there March 29 on Oosterdam).

We walked to the Cable Car and took it upto the top (Monte) , then had tea/coffee/cakes in the tea house attached to the Quinta do Monte hotel - the hotel is beautiful and worth a look on its own. Then we visited the Tropical Gardens (more or less in front of the hotel) which are magnificent and include waterfalls, tiling, tropical trees and plants of all descriptions, lakes, bridges etc etc. Well worth a visit. Next to the gardens is the Church - Igreha da Nossa Senhora do Monte and this is also well worth a visit- the views are magnificent. If time allows you may be able to visit the Botantical Gardens which are further up again but I would imagine that after this, time may be getting short.

Regarding returning to town, you can either return on the cable car or take the toboggan, but as been already said, the toboggans only take you part of the way so we always opt for the cable car as we buy a return ticket. It's a marvellous day trip and much cheaper than paying the excursion prices wanted by the ship. If you get off the ship pretty sharpish, you will also have a lot more time to explore the gardens etc.

If I have things right, there are two botanical gardens on Monte, where the cable car takes you: the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens (private, cost 10 euros0; and the Madeira Botanical Gardens, which I guess is public and free.

IT is a very steep walk down from the end of the toboggan And not for anyone who is not fit. We did not realise just how far it was and although quite fit we were glad to collapse into a seat at a cafe for a coffee and custard tart. We had walked to the cable car and taken a one way ticket.

We walked to the Cable Car and took it upto the top (Monte) , then had tea/coffee/cakes in the tea house attached to the Quinta do Monte hotel - the hotel is beautiful and worth a look on its own. Then we visited the Tropical Gardens (more or less in front of the hotel) which are magnificent and include waterfalls, tiling, tropical trees and plants of all descriptions, lakes, bridges etc etc. Well worth a visit. Next to the gardens is the Church - Igreha da Nossa Senhora do Monte and this is also well worth a visit- the views are magnificent. If time allows you may be able to visit the Botantical Gardens which are further up again but I would imagine that after this, time may be getting short.

Regarding returning to town, you can either return on the cable car or take the toboggan, but as been already said, the toboggans only take you part of the way so we always opt for the cable car as we buy a return ticket. It's a marvellous day trip and much cheaper than paying the excursion prices wanted by the ship. If you get off the ship pretty sharpish, you will also have a lot more time to explore the gardens etc.

This is what I want to do, this time. :) For clarification- did you walk to the cable car from the ship dock? I've only taken day tours via vans, away from this area, and never did the cable car.

From the cruise port, will the direction be right or left with my back to the ship? And- this hotel and tropical garden is near, easy to find where you get off the cable car? Thank you for the details.

OK, I've made sense of a map, that I was looking at in the wrong area. :) It looks like I will turn right, with my back toward the water, from the cruise ship dock?? And the hotel, garden is right near the end of the cable car??? This is going to be my "day trip" in this port, so I should have plenty of time?

OK, I've made sense of a map, that I was looking at in the wrong area. :) It looks like I will turn right, with my back toward the water, from the cruise ship dock?? And the hotel, garden is right near the end of the cable car??? This is going to be my "day trip" in this port, so I should have plenty of time?

Yes, turn right. About 20 minutes walk to cable car.

OK, I've made sense of a map, that I was looking at in the wrong area. :) It looks like I will turn right, with my back toward the water, from the cruise ship dock?? And the hotel, garden is right near the end of the cable car??? This is going to be my "day trip" in this port, so I should have plenty of time?

From the ship to the bottom cablecar station is about a mile and a half.

- Depending how far along the pier you berth you berth, walking will take up to 30 minutes, it's further than it looks.

- There are taxis and ho-ho buses at the cruise terminal,

- I don't know if there are local service buses there but none are shown on the map linked by hawkeye

- There's a shuttle service provided by little historic buses (similar to those in Yellowstone and on Glacier Nat Park's Going To The Sun Road). About 4 euros IIRC. You can be dropped in town or a little further on at the bottom cablecar station. More fun than the other options & probably the cheapest. But the service only operates mornings, so no good for your return to the ship. https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/307863324497875495/

At the bottom cablecar station you can buy one-way or return, one cablecar or combo of both. Prices vaguely between 8 euros and 18 euros depending which ticket you buy.

Can't help with the Botanical Gardens, other than that you'll need to buy the combo tickets, and at Monte (top station of the first cablecar) you switch to the second.

If you want the toboggans you use only the first cablecar, Monte.

On this map

- the walk from ship to cablecar (Rue Jose da Silva) is 29 minutes

- the intermediate station (Monte) is at Largo das Babosa (ignore the blue walking route & timing between those two, googlemaps doesn't travel by cablecar ;))

- its a 5 minute level walk from there to the top of the toboggan at Caminho Do Monte (beware scamster taxi drivers who tell you its a couple of kilometres - it is if you take the long way round as they would do :rolleyes:)

- the bottom of the toboggan run is shown on this map as Estrada do Livramento.

I've not included the second cablecar.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/32.6418599,-16.9100882/32.6472827,-16.9028861/32.6755888,-16.9004929/32.6754617,-16.9025182/32.6642911,-16.9037601/@32.65868,-16.9257336,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m13!4m12!1m0!1m0!1m0!1m5!3m4!1m2!1d-16.9039427!2d32.6735079!3s0xc60607b98faf3c9:0xcc9a0a62ba09afbd!1m0!3e2!4e1

Use street-view at those points & you'll see the various features.

You'll see that from the end of the toboggan run it's a long downhill walk back to town. There are taxis & usually others to share with. Currently they look for an excessively high 25 euros, barter hard, even to the point of walking away ^ the price will come down to 10 or 15 euros, depending how busy they are.

There are tuk-tuks on the Ave Do Mar if you want to give up walking back to the ship, IIRC about 4 euros.

JB :)

Or take 20 or 21 bus, way cheaper (2.70 euro round trip + cost of a card) than funicular and closer to dock. One needs a card with preloaded fares (can be bought right on the water front) from a vending machine. http://www.horariosdofunchal.pt/index-eng.php, click on Sales outlet and Tourist Sports/Monte. There is a person there, they can show the bus stop. I took a screenshop of the map. Stop #6 is for Monte https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9OgfJibtcGRVGJNc3dnYWFlSjg

For anyone interested there is very decent guide in English published by the bus company http://www.horariosdofunchal.pt/guia-en/

Thank you for your information. I am not interested in taking the Toboggan. I'm thinking of just enjoying the cable car ride and views from the top. So, I'm thinking all the way- which means 2 different cable cars will be good. I am also referring to the Tropical Gardens- which are near the cable car (and different from the Botanical Gardens?).

I really would like to walk from the cruise dock to the cable car. I want the excerise anyway. :) It is a nice walk that isn't unsafe, I'm hoping? As I mention, this is all I'll do in the port, with a morning start. So plenty of time.

Plan sound OK?

Your plan sounds good - you should have a marvellous day. It's a beautiful port of call.

 

I really would like to walk from the cruise dock to the cable car. I want the excerise anyway. :) It is a nice walk that isn't unsafe, I'm hoping?

Perfectly safe. And all on level ground.

JB :)

Once out of port its a walk along the new promenade to the cable car. Keep the sea on your right and you can't miss it! Plenty of bars and cafes along the route,

The first cable car stops next to the Tropical Garden.

Sincerely, I appreciate all this great information. Thank you for taking your time to enhance my trip. :)

The basket ride is certainly fun...do it. In Funchal in early April we had a shore day off the Eurodam (great ship). We found Terry Laderia and spent 1/2 day with him. What a great tour in a comfortable car. He drove us around the island sights, waited for us at the wonderful sled ride, etc. What a great person and tour. We recommend him highly.maderiaprivatetaxi.com Terry Laderia. He will meet you at the ship if you make prior arrangements...avoid the long walk. Reasonable prices too.

Bill and Sandy

Vermont