Full Day East Of Madeira Tour

Not clear where to meet hotel located several places. Met bus but tuck single seat last in bus behind partner. Guide didn't know we're from ship. Had to take taxi back. Guide was helpful.

Brilliant day, booked with booking.com. Luiz was excellent guide and driver. Good value trip and def recommend.

Timely pick-up, which Viator wouldn’t do. Friendly and informative guide and comfortable coach. Regrettably, a rather wet end to the tour, so couldn’t enjoy the view from the 3rd highest peak in Madeira, but thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the tour.

It was an excellent tour and the guides shared a lot of information about the island. We did the east, west and nun’s valley tours — all interesting and busy and gave us a great orientation to maderia

Wonderful day with Ilhatour to the beautiful East part of Madeira! Our gide Alberto told us a lot of information about the island. The program is rich and interesting. Is really good to take this trip...recommend!

We had already done the West tour and the Nuns' valley tour and had been very happy with our experiences (will write reviews for these). However this one did not live up to our expectations. Although we were picked up first, the guide ushered us into the back of an old, rickety minibus without introducing himself. The seats in the back were very low and uncomfortable so we asked if we could sit at the front but he mumbled a negative reply. However, at the next pick up he opened the front door to let two younger women in. We had to actually ask him what his name was (Antonio). The tour itself was interesting but we did not feel at ease with him. He kept on going on about getting us on to the Balcon without having to pay and saying "I have saved you money" and offering us a deal with his friend's restaurant in Santana (we declined). His driving at times was aggressive and at some stops he was shouting at people, sometimes in an aggressive way, sometimes in a jovial way at people he knew, but it didn't make a relaxing trip. He was hinting at wanting tips: "I saved you money!" and was repeating himself over and over with the same irrelevant information. We didn't give him a tip and he wasn't impressed.

Booked the East tour for Wednesday 14th January with Ilha Tours but they failed to pick us up. They said the computer was down so they didn’t have a record of the booking. After phoning several times the trip was rearranged for Thursday 15th. Yet again they failed to pick us up. I phoned several times and eventually they agreed to collect us by car to join the tour. The excuse this time was they had the wrong name and the wrong hotel. This was very stressful. Finally we joined the minibus. Later in the day the excuse was changed saying we were not at the pickup point. This was untrue as we had arrived 15 minutes before the agreed time. On our return I called Nelio to tell him how stressful the experience had been. He then offered us a free West tour which we accepted. However after consideration we decided we couldn’t face the possibility and stress of a third failed pickup and so declined the offer. The East tour of the island is spectacular so well worth taking but if you want a relaxing day I would not book with Ilha Tours.

What a marvellous tour - stunning scenery , great stops to enjoy the sights and lovely weather.We used ILHATOURS,having been nobbled by the lovely Nina , whilst passing their shop . ALBERTo collected us from our hotel and 13 others in a minibus and ragaled us with info about the island ,whilst driving and speaking two languages! What a star ! We stopped for lunch in Santana, a pretty place and found Restaurante BRAGADOS, having the best meal of our holiday - bacalhau ( salt cod) and picado ( beef stew) . This trip is marvellous - go for it !

The driver never turned up so not much to write about this. Got an immediate refund so no grumbles there. Had the tour next day with another company and availed ourselves of the 15 euro for 2 offer which required us to attend a sales pitch for the Savoy timeshare scheme. Didn’t realise it was timeshare until the end. Enjoyed a good tour of the Savoy hotels. Didn’t subscribe.

We had a wonderful day exploring the East side of the island. Our guide was amazing in terms of his knowledge and communication. He spoke mostly in English and Portuguese but at times he delivered in French and German too. He was friendly and knowledgeable. He imparted really interesting information about the natureNd history of the island and we even had a surprise stop!We had several stops for refreshments or to explore different places. The guide had a sense of humour and the bus was comfortable. It made for a very pleasant day and we made great memories.

We had a great day on the full day east island tour. We had mixed nationalities on board English, German and Spanis, our driver Alberto did our tour very well in all 3 languages. It was great value being a very full day with a decent amount of time at each stop.

Had an amazing time with Chico and Neilo they told us all the fascinating history of the island allowing us to explore some great spots and showing us local foods and drinks.

We booked this tour through Ilhatours. The price was cheaper than a similar Jet2 trip plus there were more stops included. Patrick, our driver and guide was professional, friendly, very knowledgeable about all the areas we visited, as well as a fantastic, safe driver! Thank you Patrick! I'd definitely recommend this trip with ilhatours.

An excellent trip hosted by Alcindo our driver and tour guide. Alcindo was both courteous and informative all the way. Brilliant!!!

It was a lovely and informative tour - sadly my partner and I were picked up last and ended up in a windowless seat at the very back so it was hard to take photos while travelling. Otherwise our guide Alberto was fantastic!

The itinerary is out of date, needs updating. Bus rather uncomfortable. The guide was good but we had to listen to the commentary in 3 different languages.

A great way to see the east side of the island. Alberto, our guide, was knowledgeable and friendly, and made the day run smoothly. Interesting stops along the way including the traditional houses in Santana. When we arrived at the top of the mountain the weather wasn’t that good, however it did clear a bit, and I think seeing the clouds, the mountains and the blue sky was more interesting than if it was a clear day. Would recommend!

Alberto was a brilliant guide, absolutely no stress and the timings at the stops were perfect not rushed and just enough time, really informative and interesting information given throughout the tour, would 100% book a tour with Alberto again

An excellent tour plenty of fantastic views and free time in traditional santana. A good way to see the island. The tour guide marko was the best I've ever had and I've traveled In 20 + countries. He explained things in great detail and went out his way to help me with a personal item going missing which he relocated and also joked with people on the trip and made them feel welcome in English/French.

Andrei was a perfect guide and also drove very safely. We saw lots of different places and he gave us a detailed account of the history and geography of each area.

The travel to the East Madeira is completely different to what ones experience in the North, being it mountains or forests with lavadas, villages, fruits and rum tasting, etc. And add to all that a knowledgeable guide who presents historical facts, tells about typical natural phenomena, and takes you to the most beautiful places.

Great to get taste of what island has to offer We had more than enough time at each stop would advise anyone to book Our guide was very informative regarding flora and fauna in Island was very interesting

This is a great way to see the eastern side of Madeira on a full day out. Our guide Benjamin was very knowledgeable and had a relaxed confident attitude. We really felt it was very good value with no pressure to buy products at the various stops. We didn't do the basket weaving visit, which was a positive for me although Mrs E would have liked to visit Camacha.

Better scenery than the West Coast tour. The mountains are spectacular if the clouds cooperate which they did for us. The driver/guide earned his money. Very good value. We tipped the guide 10€.

If you are not renting a car on the island then this is a great way to see a bulk of it. We also did the west tour and I would recommend both sides, as they are both unique.

Excellent tour. Guide very friendly and organised. Had lunch which wàs very good and booked for us in advance.

A fantastic day out with Alberto - possibly the best organised tour we have been on with a fantastic (probably the best ever host) Alberto. Visited some fantastic places and thoroughly enjoyed the day - a great day out. Don’t hesitate in booking this excursion - we will be back to do the tour of the west of the island. David and Denise Pickering

This was a tour of the East of the Island. The driver/ tour guide seemed more interested in flirting with the two single ladies that were both sitting in the front with him than taking the tour. It got a bit annoying after a while!

Great tour, fantastic tour guide Emanuel who had a great sense of humour and told us a lot about the island and the places we visited. Sadly the weather meant we couldn’t do our planned walk or get out at the Pico do Arieiro but we still had a great day out and would highly recommend this tour.

This is a very interesting tour, taking in a lot of the cultural and geographical aspects of Eastern Madeira. Our guide André was not only a very good driver, but also very entertaining and gave us a lot of background information about places we visited and aspects of Madeira life. It was unfortunately too icy to go over the top of the mountains and see the view, but André made up for it with another stop. With a small group tour it was possible to see a lot more, would definitely recommend this for content and value.

Too bad it started with an accident thus we lost about half an hour Then we couldn’t go to the top of the mountain because it snowed Which is understandable but still disappointing

We had a great day on the East tour, visiting several sites we would have struggled to get to if we'd hired a car. Our guide Alberto was very friendly, relaxed and so informative (both in English AND German!)

Can be wet and cold at mountain top take layers and water proof. Great views and time for a short flat lavada walk.

A great day out with the stops well planned and just the right amount of time at each place. Very informative and helpful guide. A really nice day out and much better than the western tour.

To be fair the weather was dreadful. But our tour guide did very little to lift the mood of the group. Pick up was 20 mins late. He constantly moaned about the low temperature, rain, wind and how cold he was etc and remarked that this was typical British weather that we should be used to! He was not used to it and made it clear that he would be staying in the vehicle when we stopped as it was warm and dry. We eventually left the tour before the half way point and paid to go back to our hotel. Disappointing but felt we couldn't continue this tour.

Fantastic day trip with Alberto who was the guide and driver. Our group of 23 were taken to the best sights of this East ofIsland tour which included a trip up to the highest point of the island with amazing views. His comentary was full of very useful knowledge of how the islanders live their lives.

Driver was entertaining and enhanced the guided experience with information given in user friendly way.

We did this tour a few days after doing the West tour. Both were excellent - although in different ways. On the East tour you go high into the mountains (bring warm clothes because at 1800 metres it can be dramatically colder than at sea level!) The weather was very kind to us - which was a real bonus. We had stunning views. Our guide Flavio was excellent, courteous and informative. We'd have no hesitation is recommending Ilhatours and a big thank you to Maria in the office who helped us plan our various trips. There are lots of companies offering similar trips - but I'd stick with the one who we know has modern minibuses, courteous drivers and really helped make our days enjoyable. Thank you to all involved!

A very nice complete tour of the East side of the island with a great and very funny driver. Very nice sights and very entertaining

Beautiful ride through the island from the beach side to the mountain side. Who can go from a T-shirt to a coat in one day? In Madeira you can!

A good variety of fabulous sight seeing driven around safely in a minibus by our guide, Alberto, who was very knowledgeable and informative.

Went to good places but was not impressed with the guide- he spoke German and English but preferred speaking German as there were only 4 English on the trip! He did not make it fun and his voice was flat and monotones - nearly fell asleep !! Was not a memorable trip- I have always found the Viator trips good but this was disappointing

Beautiful views at pico do ariero. Santana was interesting. The other parts of the tour weren’t so memorable, the tour guide was satisfactory. Try not to get the seats at the back of the van!

The driver/guide Alberto was amazingly knowledgeable and also funny. Don’t forget to bring a raincoat and shoes that stands wet weather

Beside of being crashed by a stinky fat guy all day long, the tour was fantastic. The driver was very knowledgeable and shared lots of local culture with us. It was a brilliant experience. The lavadas walk was surprising and easy walk.

THIS was a day tour packed with things to see from start to finish. Our minibus took us to the beginning of a levada walk, a stroll alongside one of Madeira's many man-made channels bringing water to villages and towns. The walk itself was largely on the flat and very easy as well as being a nice cool route under trees on a warm day. We visited a viewpoint, retraced our steps and then cut away down a pathway and steps to rejoin our minibus which was waiting for us. I should mention a point here raised by other reviewers, namely the space provided in front of minibus seats. I'm 6ft and my knees were rammed so tightly into the back of the seat in front of me that I had to sit sideways until another man kindly took pity on me and suggested we swop places. It was the only negative point about the trip. Next we went to a wonderful viewpoint at Pico de Areira where we first clambered down to a lower viewing area before walking back up to the highest point of nearly 6,000ft close to a small military radar site. There were fascinating things to see everywhere during the day including a stone igloo which a long time ago was used to store snow and ice so rich people could have ice in their drinks in the summer. On we went and more sightseeing followed from picturesque triangular thatched Madeiran homes to spectacular sea cliffs. We even visited a rum factory and museum where we saw how rum was made, tried some tasting and learnt how it is an integral ingredient of the famous Madeiran drink, Poncha. All in all this was a great day out and one I would recommend anyone to try.

This was an amazing tour seeing spectacular landscapes, we particularly liked Porto Da Cruz. The driver gave us useful information without having a constant running historical commentary which made the whole tour very relaxing- thank you Brian. Top tip, it’s cold at the mountain stop so take a jumper!

The most awful experience we have ever had in 65 years of holidaying. Our party of 5 elderly people including an 80 year old and having paid some £145 we were asked to get off our ‘Viator’ Full Day East of Madeira Tour at the central Bus station because we complained about the lack of leg room in our seats for what was advertised as a 6 hour trip. The consequent inability of some of our party to 'buckle up' also compromised their safety. The vehicle had 22 seats with others apart from us grumbling about their 'leg room'. In contrast our West side tour a few days before at the same price also with 'Viator' had been an absolute pleasure with a knowledgeable and friendly host driving a vehicle with just 8 comfortable seats. After picking us and others up the Driver of the East Tour spent 50 minutes driving like a ‘madman’ over ‘speed bumps’ around the centre of Funchal throwing us around in our seats without any indication as to what he was doing or what was planned. Once the driver was aware of our concerns he agreed to discuss them and our options outside of the bus. Having all got off, the Driver made a phone call, and said that another vehicle would come and pick us up and then drove off. However after 30 minutes wait with no other vehicle arriving we called the trip organiser. We were told no vehicle was coming and that we had asked to get off! We had to pay for a taxi ride back to our hotel. A full refund for a tour we did not take has not been forthcoming.

I enjoy the ladva walk. And view points, and we'll plan out, on time the guid are excellent,very informative