We will be here for 1 day on a cruise stop (arrive in am and depart in early evening) in early May and wondering if we can get some advice on where to go and what to see while there for this day.
Obviously not a lot of time so want to maximize.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Vick,
I visited the island of Madeira in 2010 and we stayed a week and saw the entire island. But with the amount of time you will have, it is best to stay in the Funchal area. There are lots of ideas at cruisecritic.com, just search in the Europe port of call forum.
My opinion for a good port visit:
From the ship, walk along the waterfront to the cable car (near the yellow/orange fort) and ride it up to Monte. Visit the church then the botanical garden. The garden is unbelievably beautiful and worth 3 hours or so! Head back to Funchal by either the cable car or the famous sleds/toboggans. The sled option is $$$...it is extremely touristy, but a once in a lifetime memory. I believe where the ride ends there are three options back to town (bus, cab, or 1 hour walk). Have lunch, then visit the harbor/waterfront area, then check out the fort, too. Meander around the city streets and the municipal market back in town. The cathedral is beautiful as well. All this will take up your port time.
Another option to visit, instead of going to Monte, is get a cab to the village of Curral das Freiras. The drive there is not too long, 1/2 hour? You can have lunch there as well. Before you get there (and enter the long tunnel), make sure to stop at the overlook on the left of the road. From the lookout you can see the drop to the valley of Curral das Freiras...not for the faint of heart. Then head back to Funchal for the harbor/city area.
It is possible to visit the church in Monte (via the cable car or taxi), the garden for a couple of hours, taxi to Curral das Freiras and lunch there, taxi back to Funchal, and finish up near the waterfront. On cruisecritic.com there are guide recommendations as well to do all this.
I hope this helps!
Carl
Excellent advice. Thank you so much
Great ideas. Will be staying in Madeira for 7 days in November. Then over to Ponto Delgado for 4.
We did basically as Carl suggested for the first part.
Walked along the shore through the shops and village. Nice place. Took the cable car up. Nice view. Think it was 11 Euros each. They do take visa there. Didn't go through the gardens as it was really over priced IMO and couldn't justify the cost and time our of our day. For me, once you have seen a garden or a zoo (for example) there isn't much out of going to another unless you are killing time and have nothing better to do or if it is reallyinexpensive. This didn't apply for us here.
We did take the toboggan ride down and we do recommend it. Make sure to have euros not dollars. I had forgotten to get some euros before going up and they wouldn't take dollars. It was 15 euros each. Luckily someone else we knew from the cruise ship had enough for us.
The ride was not what we expected but still kind of cool and worth the experience.
They put you in a basket with wooden skids on it and 2 men push you down the hill and ride on the back and stear. It is mostly really slow speed and they have to actually pull you for a good portion of the trip. Lol. Not what we had pictured. A little touristy but just have to try it....
We took the cab ride back down. Cabbie wanted 20 euro. I offered $20 and he said "No! $30". I said $25 is more than fair and he wouldn't accept. I ended up giving him $30 but told him that was robbery and that he needed to look up the exchange rate. Oh well.
Back down in the village we took a local bus up to the cliff/overlook at Cabo Girao.
It was only like 6 or 7 euros each, round trip. Bus comes back by in about an hour for the ride back down. Make sure you understand the bus schedule. It isn't hard. Think it was #7 bus. About 30-40 minute trip up but well worth it.. The views on the ride are fantastic. Great experience as it goes through so many local neighborhoods and villages on the way.
At the top, the views and the overlook (with a glass floor and view down to the shore 500 meters below and of the island/city ) is awesome. This is a must do.
After the trip back down we had enough time to get a couple beers in a local pub called O-Avo. Great place! Located on Rua da Praia between Largo de Praca and Largo dos Varadouros. 3 beers was only 6 euros and the owners were great. Cool bar. True local pub like we always look for.
Nice little island.
Weather on the day is a huge factor on this damp island. We spent three nights, by plane, from Lisbon. A single day is going to be very touristy. We thought the opportunity to hike the levadas was a unique Madeira experience. We would not touch the sleds with a ten foot pole. I'm sure my grandmother did that when she went to Madeira by ship. (Not slamming the OP; I'm 64!)
The island seemed filled with the ghosts (and only, the ghosts) of past British vacationers. Even the linen store merchants greeted us in ... German. That said, the landscape is absolutely beautiful. But when our cab got to the mountaintop, it was socked-in with fog. No view.
There is a reason Madeira is so green. Rain is always possible, and on both my trips it was cooler than I would have expected, given the latitude. But it is lovely. I agree about the levada walks. I did a couple by myself, but I'm nearly certain there are organized walks, and that would really be more practical since transportation to and from is provided. You used to be able to buy locally a small book on the levada paths, and it was helpful in determining which should be avoided by those fearful of heights. If taking a group walk, the organizers should be able to assist with selecting an appropriate option.
I also hopped on a several local buses, including one to Curral das Freiras. My favorite thing on islands is to take a bus inland.
Hi Vick,
Great report of your time in Madeira!
It is difficult to get the full immersion from a port day at a place such as Madeira, but I commend you on accomplishing what you did, especially taking the local bus...great courage :-). That island has a tremenous amount of sites and areas to explore, but it is a big island and would take more time.
I hope you get back there for at least a week or head to the Azores islands one day, but there you would need 2 weeks...especially if you savor peace and tranquility.
Take care,
Carl
Regarding the sled ride. Even if you are in your 60's or 70's there is really nothing to fear whatsoever. It is VERY, VERY slow. As I mentioned, the 2 guys guiding us down had to push us quite a bit of the way and pull us quite aways as well. The incline just isn't that steep.
I really don't think there's any age or condition that is inappropriate for this ride. The hardest part for an elderly person would be getting in and out of the sled
There was a couple with a 10 year old child that we were speaking to on our way up on the cable car and she was scared to go on the sled ride and would not go on it. When we saw them back on the ship they said the little girl was disappointed she didn't do it after she saw how slow it was with us going down.
I always say you're only as old as you think you are.
