biaria

Hi everyone,

As I posted recently, following WWLL's question about the street address of two wineries, I contacted CC to ask if, as a local, I was allowed to post such info. What did I get as an answer?

Hi There!

I apologize but our ports of call forums are for cruisers to share info. tour guides, drivers, and the like are not to participate in our ports of call forums

JennK

Community Support

CruiseCritic.com

If after 5 years of posting on this and several other threads this is the type of treatment I get from CC, my contribution to these boards is closed right now!

All of the best to each and every cruiser and keep on visiting Madeira Island!

You're welcome, John. :-)

Dear WWLL,

As much as I'd love to answer your question, I got in touch with CC first to ask if I'm allowed to post such a detailed reply. In the meantime, if anybody else has the answer please post.

The least I can do now is say that Vinhos Barbeito is near Cabo Girao and D'Oliveira is in Funchal.

All the best.

You're welcome, Alohaaloha! :-)

Hi Alohaaloha,

Tea at the Reid's is served from 3pm to 5:30pm, it's 33.50 euros per person and advance booking is recommended.

Hi roothy :-)

Usually the toboggan photos from above are taken from the Monte church courtyard, but the church roof is also visitable.

The WiFi spot BigJon talks about is in Praca do Mar which is close to the pier and you'll go past it if you walk back from the Funchal town centre to the cruise ship.

If your husband can't manage to climb all those steps up to Monte church, the driver can pick him up after the cable car ride and drive him closer to the church.

To walk from the cable car to the bottom of the steps to the Monte church takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

From the church down to the toboggan ride you either go down all those steps or down the street which may take about 5 minutes. If the driver takes your husband up closer to the church he'll most certainly wait to take him down as well and will drop him off near the toboggan ride.

Hi BigJon,

Excellent review, lovely photos, thank you for sharing! :-)

Hello Jonathan,

It was my pleasure! I'm so happy to know that you enjoyed your visit to Funchal and that you managed to get your taxi trip back to town for 10 euros. That's what they should ask in the first place, but they never do and as you could see they double the price!!!

Good morning roothy! :-)

Both buses 20 and 21 have their last stop in Largo da Fonte and it's about a 10 minute walk to the bottom of the steps that lead up to the church walking at a normal pace. Bus 22 finishes in Babosas and it's also about a 10 minute walk to the steps. Bus stop 22 is closer to the cable car station though. Please beware that there's two cable car routes out of Monte: one goes to town and the other to the Botanical Gardens.

Yes, you can buy your cable car ticket with your credit card.

Have a nice day!

My pleasure! :-)

Good morning roothy,

Each Taxi Voucher only gives access to a specific service that is printed on it, meaning for 40 euros you can either: 1) go to Monte, stay there for some time and be brought back; 2) go to the Botanical Gardens and back; 3) go to Camara de Lobos and back. All this said, the only way you can visit Camara de Lobos plus Cabo Girao for 40 euros is by negotiation with the driver.

If you're interested, you can have a look at the Taxi Vouchers here: http://www.aitram.pt/

Instead of only trying your luck in town, I suggest that you see what you can get from the taxi drivers lined up at the docks. The further on to the back of the line a driver is, the easier it is to get a good deal from him.

Yes, the smaller taxis take 4 passengers, so having another couple to share the taxi with you is a very good idea!

No problem about the questions, I'll gladly help you if you have any further doubts :-)

Hello again roothy,

 

You're right, Rodoeste is the public bus company that will take you to Camara de Lobos. Yes, all those numbers in front of Camara de Lobos are the buses that stop there.

 

According to the Taxi Drivers Association's price list, for 40 euros a taxi based near McDonalds will take you on a 1h30m tour which can be, for instance, to Monte, allowing for some free time there, plus you can also take the toboggan ride if you wish and the driver will collect you at the end and return you to Funchal. The cable car ride will be paid extra. Instead of Monte, in 1h30m you can visit Camara de Lobos and Cabo Girao if you prefer. As I said, this is official price list, but you can get a much better deal if you approach a driver and negotiate, which will also give you the opportunity to see how good or how bad his English is.

 

Now, a taxi ride from the harbor to the cable car station or to the market is 10 euros. For 7.50 euros they will drop you off, say, near McDonalds for instance.

 

To drop you off in the old town I presume it will also be 10 euros, but to take you all the way to Socorro Church it may be a bit more, but it will depend on the driver. Yes, taxis can get to the church.

Hello roothy,

I have an update regarding this info I gave you about what's possible to do for 40 euros by taxi.

The Taxi Drivers Association launched a new service to customers - the Taxi-Voucher and if you get one for 40 euros it will give you 2 hours of their time, however the tour is exactly like the first example I gave you: Monte and back, the only apparent difference being that you can stay there for longer.

My pleasure, P&O SUE! :-)

Hi Biaria,

 

Apologies if it's already been mentioned (haven't read the whole 52 pages!) But does the Hop on Hop off bus still run in Funchal?

 

Thanks in advance.

Hi P&O SUE,

Yes, the HoHo bus is still running in Funchal.

You're welcome :-)

Thanks anyway, Alphen. That must have been disappointing to you, but at least you got a shortish day in Funchal. That's all we have, and I've been tearing my hair out trying to cram in way too much!

 

Biaria (or anyone who has knowledge of the buses), i you have time to answer one more question, I'd greatly appreciate your help. I can't figure out which public bus goes to Camara de Lobos from Funchal. I thought it was a Rodoeste bus, but when I pull up their web site, they list multiple bus numbers across from Camara de Lobos. When I look at the schedules, however, they do not list C de Lobos. Do some buses simply go through a place and will stop if you want it to, or what else might explain a list of ten or more buses that go there but have no information for it? I know that the Yellow Carris sightseeing bus runs one line (blue) to Camara de L, but the frequency isn't very good for cruisers with limited time, and I was hoping to take a public bus. I could also walk to the taxi stand near McDonalds and hire a taxi to take me a few places, but I'd rather find a cheaper alternative if time permits. For the 40 euros from the non-port based taxi drivers, is there a particular amount of time that they allow, a standard tour they give, or how does that work? Also, for the 7,50 euro fare for a cab to town, does that cover letting us off at somewhere other than the teleferico station, I assume? I would likely want to go to the old town, or Socorro chapel, or something like that. (Can taxis get to the chapel, or would I be dropped near by?)

 

Thank you SO much for all of this great information!

Hello again roothy,

You're right, Rodoeste is the public bus company that will take you to Camara de Lobos. Yes, all those numbers in front of Camara de Lobos are the buses that stop there.

According to the Taxi Drivers Association's price list, for 40 euros a taxi based near McDonalds will take you on a 1h30m tour which can be, for instance, to Monte, allowing for some free time there, plus you can also take the toboggan ride if you wish and the driver will collect you at the end and return you to Funchal. The cable car ride will be paid extra. Instead of Monte, in 1h30m you can visit Camara de Lobos and Cabo Girao if you prefer. As I said, this is official price list, but you can get a much better deal if you approach a driver and negotiate, which will also give you the opportunity to see how good or how bad his English is.

Now, a taxi ride from the harbor to the cable car station or to the market is 10 euros. For 7.50 euros they will drop you off, say, near McDonalds for instance.

To drop you off in the old town I presume it will also be 10 euros, but to take you all the way to Socorro Church it may be a bit more, but it will depend on the driver. Yes, taxis can get to the church.

Hi Alphen. I, too, am going looking for colorful doors in the old part of Funchal. I guess by now you're back from your trip, so if you're still monitoring this thread, do you have any words of wisdom for me? It looked to me, from messing around on Google Earth, that a lot of nice things to photograph, including doors, was around Rua de Sao Tiago and the fort.

 

Biaria, thanks for all this great information. I just discovered it and am doing my best to read all the posts. Our day in Funchal comes up in August. Once I get organized, I will probably have some questions for you. However, between all the info here from you, plus what I found on tomsportguides.com, I already feel like I know a lot! It's just a shame that ships only tend to stop there 6 or 7 hours, but I suppose it's because Madeira is way out there by itself and cruise ships have to travel a long way to get to their next port!

Hi roothy,

You're welcome :-) Funchal and the entire island have so much to offer that you'll need stop here several times to get an idea of what Madeira is all about.

Sure you're welcome to ask me whatever you may need to plan your day.

The painted doors are very interesting so whatever you do don't miss them. They are located in the Old Town area not far from the market, which is another place to include in your list of must sees.

Hello Biaria, I will be in Funchal this month on the Disney Magic. We are scheduled to exit the ship around 12pm. I want you to "critique" my plans for the day. After we exit the ship, I was going to take a cab (4 of us) to the cable car. Once we exit the cable car, I was going to walk to the church at Monte, and take in the view, and then take the toboggan ride. Once we exit the toboggan ride, I was going to take a cab, or a bus to the market. (prices for bus and cab?) Walk thru the market, and then walk directly across the street from the market, and walk down Rua Dr. Fernao de Ornelas toward the Cathedral. My daughter worked at a local winery, so I want to stop by The Old Blandy Wine Lodge. Then walk past the Jardim Municipal (is this something we want to explore?), and continue to the traffic circle, and turn left (south) and walk back to the ship.

Any tips, or modifications to this itinerary would be appreciated. Thanks, jonathan

Hello BigJon,

Your plan for the day in Funchal is very good.

I usually recommend taking the bus at the end of the toboggan ride because the taxi drivers there tend to overcharge, but as your time is rather on the tight side it may be wiser to take a taxi, however I advise you to negotiate a price before getting inside the taxi. The taxi fare from there to the market is listed at 10 euros per 4 passenger taxi, but they will most probably ask you 15 euros. If you take the bus you'll pay 1.95 euros per person for a ticket bought inside the bus, which I reckon won't be that much cheaper than the taxi as you are 4 people.

The Municipal Gardens (Jardim Municipal) is worth walking around to look at the beautiful flowers, but at this point you may already be short on time.

There's some construction work in the traffic circle area, so your best bet is to walk down the street between the Theatre and the shopping centre which is not far from the circle anyway.

Enjoy your day!

Hello Ethel5,

If you have no mobility problems you'll cover the distance from the cruise ship to the market in about 30 to 40 minutes, but if you don't like the idea there'll be taxis at the dockside and there may even be a shuttle service.

In a 4 passenger taxi you'll be charged 7.50 EUR for a trip to town.

You're welcome, shipgeeks.

If you remember any other phrases or words that you'd like me to translate, you're welcome to let me know.

Hello shipgeeks,

You're quite correct, in Madeira Island we speak Portuguese.

Sure! Here is small list for you:

Good morning! - Bom dia!

Good afternoon! - Boa tarde!

Thank you! - Obrigado/Obrigada (‘o’ if you’re a gentleman and ‘a’ if you’re a lady)

You’re welcome! - De nada!

Where is the toilet? - Onde sao os sanitarios?

How much does this cost? - Quanto e que isto custa?

water - agua

juice - sumo

wine - vinho

cool drink - refresco

English is widely spoken here, so you'll be ok speaking your language, however I know that it's always fun to compare languages...

Enjoy your day on Madeira!

Hello again wilson4,

I agree, as your time here is very limited, taxi transportation will be your best choice.

Ponta Gorda swimming complex is a good alternative to Lido and is not far from it, but you can always ask your driver's opinion.

Enjoy your visit!

My pleasure! :-)

Dear Biaria,

 

We decided not to go to Pico dos Barcelos and concentrate only on Camara de Lobos and Funchal for this trip. Can you tell me the approximate cost of a taxi from the cruise ship (or the MacDonald's in town) to Camara de Lobos, then back to Monte to the top of the cable car? Many thanks.

Hello Nelda,

If you take your taxi at the harbor you'll be charged something like 50 euros, if you take it in town the price will drop to about 40 euros.

Hi Biaria

 

I am wondering if you could please give me any information on the Lido on the promenade. Is it easy to get to from the port?

Many thanks for any advice.

Hi wilson4,

The Lido area is not that near to the port, but if you are good walkers you will enjoy walking all the way there. The Lido swimming pool was damaged some years ago and it hasn't been repaired yet, but the Lido promenade is in perfect condition.

Hello Biaria.

 

 

I wonder if you could us.

 

 

We will be in Madeira next week and would like to do the cable car to Monte and the botanical gardens and the toboggan ride. Could you tell us if we get the cable car to the Monte can we then get to the Gardens by walking or do we have to get the other cable to the gardens and then back to Monte to do the toboggan ride.

Your help as to which way round to do this would be much appreciated.

 

Ian & Julie

Dear Ian and Julie,

It's only today that I realized that you had posted this question for me. I'm so sorry as now it's too late to help you.

I'm still answering your question because it may be helpfull to other people.

To reach the real Botanical Gardens from Monte, you'll need to take a second cable car, however in Monte you can visit the Monte Tropical Gardens instead, which are very beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed your day visiting Madeira.