Madeira (Funchal) - Madeira Island Taxi

[CardFanDubG]

My wife and I are taking a NCL Epic Transatlantic Cruise April 2022. One of our ports is Madeira (Funchal). I am looking at a shore excursion using Madeira Island Taxi (LINK). Does anyone have any experience with this company? Thanks in advance. 

[iancal]

A few years ago we got off the ship and approached a taxi for a tour.  It was excellent.  We were a little worried when the driver stopped outside a condo.  Turned out his father was going to drive since he had better english.  He took us everywhere.  Car was a merc in pristine condition.

 

I still have the card for what it is worth.  Fernando Pestana.  Taxi 1198    (00351) 963 801 664

 

I 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I don't remember which company we used, but it was one of the taxi drivers who do a lot of tours there. You can see where we went here, with annotations of what you're seeing:  https://pbase.com/roothy123/iberian_sojourn__portugal_spain_gib&page=all    You'll need to find Funchal - maybe half to 2/3rd down the page.  The tour was great, a little over a half day, and customizable. We shared with another couple.  We were out in the countryside for a while and then went back to Monte, which is very close to Funchal.  We went to Camara de Lobos, Cabo de Giroa, etc. We did not do the infamous "basket" toboggan ride down the hill - very, very occasionally they have an accident and we didn't want to ruin our vacation if it happened to be our day.  But we definitely wanted to see it!   We took the teleferico down from Monte and the driver met us below.  I went on into the town and found painted doors which I photographed (in separate "gallery" at same site) and the driver took my spouse and other couple back to the ship.  We absolutely loved Funchal. I don't remember how much the taxi tour cost, but it was well worth it. The man's English was fairly good. I may have his name if you need it.  All I remember was that it was a taxi tour company that was easy to find on Trip Advisor or other sites like that.  

 

 

[CardFanDubG]

Thanks. I should have returned to this thread after our cruise. We changed our NCL Epic TransAtlantic to November 2021. We did book a tour with Diogi's Madeira Island Taxi. He was a great guide with excellent English. Madeira is beautiful. Our tour was 80 Euro for 4 hours. The tour is for 1-4 people. His van was very comfortable and he was an excellent driver. Would definitely book him again. 

[cruise_rima]

I went to the link in your original posting.  I also did a google search for Diogi's Madeira Island Taxi with whom you toured.  They take me to different taxi services.  Please help me understand which you used.  Thanks.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Hi.  I'm the person who posted above, but not about Diogi's  Madeira Taxi.  However, I looked at my notes from Funchal in August 2014.  We used Daniel Madeira Taxis.  It was listed on Trip Advisor. The man's name was Joelle. He spoke fairly good English, but he didn't tell us a LOT of info about Madeira.  But  we didn't really need or want that, we mostly just wanted to see things, so it was perfect for us.  We apparently met him outside port at 8:30.  Just walked a little way until we saw his sign.  We were in Funchal 8 to 3 only, and we agreed on a 3 1/2 hour to 4 hour at very most tour of various places on the island.  It was 95 euros for 4 passengers in a large car.  If we wanted to do the cable car teleferico (we did) we would need 10 euros.   I imagine if you want to take a tobaggan/sleigh ride down from Monte, you'll need about that much too.  Otherwise, what we did was free or he paid.  We found someone via our Roll Call to share.  We went to a lot of places.  It's best if you look at my photos/narrative on photos at the link above to see exactly where we went.  I did some research before hand and discussed the plan with Daniel Madeira Taxis by email.  They delivered.  Then driver dropped me off at the market (apparently very popular, but I didn't stay too long, just got a snack), and then dropped my husband off at the port (or ship? forget how far they can get).  The port is a bit of a walk from town, though not too much if you don't mind walking!.  I stayed in town, got a small snack, and went to see wonderful painted door in the little center part of pretty Funchal.  A link for those photos is https://pbase.com/roothy123/doors_of_funchals_old_town  

 

Funchal is wonderful.  I'd definitely take a taxi tour, but save a little time for the town itself.  And while we decided NOT to do a "sleigh ride" because we had heard they have a very occasional but still scary accident which could interrupt a nice cruise, and I didn't want to take a chance.  But it's hilarious to google "monte sleigh tobaggan basket ride" and/or to go to where the people board those contraptions and watch for a few minutes.

 

Have fun.  Hope this helps. 

Edited January 30, 2022 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea