Full Day Tour Of Madeira West

We’ve just returned from the west tour hosted by Lionel our guide and driver. Speaking in Spanish and English Lionel imparted a mass of information covering the founding history of Madeira and each of the places we visited, the flora and fauna, the source of the island’s water and electricity and anything else you might think of. All done with a sprinkling of humour whilst providing a comfortable drive through the never ending hairpin bends and gradients of the island’s roads. Well done and thank you Lionel.

Really great experience, and Lionel was a great tour guide. Despite the rainy weather (in some parts) it was a great day. Saw lots of interesting sights around the island. Highly recommend.

Tour was informative and takes you to the sites listed in the itinerary however their vehicle is in poor condition with no airconditioning and unsatisfactory for a full day trip.

Fabulous tour, very informative and just the right amount of content and timing of stops.

Very old bus No air conditioning to speak off. Microphone/speakers not working so we didnt know really anything about the island. Tour guide not very helpful. Very disappointed.

The bus air conditioner did not work. The audio for the tour operator did not work and he could not explain much of what we were seeing. There were more people on the tour than we were told there would be. The tour was supposed to be in english but the tour operator repeated everything in another language. He told us where we were going, told us how long we had at each site and when to come back to the bus. He did not accompany us and explain anything. We were delayed close to an hour due to late passengers. There should be a time limit for being late. We saw most of everything that was described, but for the most part, a disappointing tour.

Visiting the West cost of Madeira had been the most beautiful experience, the sea cliffs and the volcanic natural pools are best. Beautiful place to spend the day with family.

This is less about a changed itinerary, more a warning about the shocking attitude and underhanded way this operator behaves when caught at fault. The original itinerary on Viator listed stop 4 as the Bica Da Cana viewpoint. This itinerary was live before, during and after our tour. However instead of Bica Da Cana, our guide took us to the Bishop's Fountain Viewpoint - a far less impressive stop but less work for the driver. When I questioned the guide on this, and showed him the itinerary on Viator, I was variously told "no that's wrong / no we never go there / no that was an old version of the tour / no that's just a road / no there's nothing to see there(!)". I was disappointed as the Bica Da Cana viewpoint was the main reason I chose this tour. As such, after the tour I contacted Viator - and that's where Feeling Madeira showed exactly what sort of people they are. Rather than admitting fault, they dug in. First, they claimed that I was wrong, and we did actually stop at Bica Da Cana. They provided Viator with "vehicle GPS data" that "proved" the stop. When they were proven wrong by my Google Maps timeline history, and a geotagged photo I took from Bishop's Fountain - they switched to making the bizarre claim that "actually, the Bica da Cana viewpoint corresponds to the Miradouro da Fajã da Ovelha, and that's where we stopped". Two problems there: 1. No it does not; 2. No we didn't! Despite several attempts by Viator to side with the operator and shut down the complaint, I eventually managed to get a 30% refund - which Viator had to pay out their own pocket because they were unable to get Feeling Madeira to admit fault. We're now a week later and - what a coincidence - Feeling Madiera has now quietly changed the itinerary for the tour, replacing Bica da Cana with Bishop's Fountain Viewpoint. What a surprise. Also, as soon as I persisted with Viator on the complaint - the first thing Feeling Madeira did was cancel our Full Day East Island Tour, with 1.5 days notice. I checked and there was still availability showing, this was done 100% out of spite. Saved me a job though, since with what I learned about them during the complaints process, I would've cancelled it myself. Thankfully it took two minutes to book an identical tour for the same date and time with Lido-Tours, who I thoroughly recommend. So in summary: when caught at fault, Feeling Madeira: 1. Lied. 2. Cancelled our upcoming East Island Tour. 3. Tried a different lie. 4. Quietly updated the itinerary to match where we actually went. Honestly, there are plenty of operators running these day tours...pick literally anyone else.

Absolutely shocking. This tour does NOT stop at Bica da Cana as advertised. It instead stopped at the much less impressive Fonte de Bisop viewpoint. When I raised this with the guide he fobbed us off, said the tour never goes there, there's "nothing to see there", kept saying he'd give me a leaflet with the 'real' itinerary. When I raised this with Viator, they refused my refund because the company claimed that we did in fact go to Bica da Cana, and provided fabricated GPS evidence. When I pressed further, the operator - in a childish spiteful act of retaliation - cancelled our Sunday east island tour with 1.5 days notice. Awful company, terrible vehicle too - bad suspension and poor ventilation.

We weren’t sure what to expect since this tour seemed cheaper than the others but you get a bang for your buck with loads of stops and enough time to explore each of them. The tour guide Lionel gave us lots of facts about Madeira too.

Brilliant tour around Madeira west by Lionel. He was very friendly and knowledgeable about the island! The particularly great areas were the first stop, a little fishing village covered in decorations. Also, the Porto Moniz stop. Take swimwear for the natural pools! They are amazing, there are free ones, and paid ones, I would recommend the free ones as they are more natural and less crowded. Great day, would definitely recommend.

We had a great experience on the tour. Paulo Coelho was our driver and guide. The tour allowed us to see the West side of the island. Paulo took the time to explain the recent history of the people which was really interesting. Some of the side roads were a 'bit hairy' so we were very pleased to have Paulo driving Highly recommended.

Excellent trip, lovely driver who carried out commentary in Spanish and English. He was happy to take peoples photos if they wished.

A brilliant tour from start to finish very informative friendly and helpful tour guide beautiful scenery

Such a great trip! Great value and so much to see. The trip made seeing parts of Madeira so much easier.

The pick up was on time and the actual west tour of the Island was very good and informative. Crammed a lot into one day.

A great chance to sample and see different parts of island life. Taking in scenic coastlines rugged cliff sides and forests along the way with the odd banana farms and vineyards. We had the bonus of having a local guide Joe giving an insight to his life on the island. He was informative and knowledgeable and amusing and gave us plenty of opportunities for snapping pics of Madeiras gorgeous landscape.

Fantastic tour guide, great communication, vast knowledge of the island. This is a great way to see the west of the Island, I believe the tour company offer other tours. I would highly recommend! Thank you for a great day!

Very interesting trip. Saw beautiful places along West Coast. Very friendly and informative guide,Dinarte. Would recommend. Good value fir full say out. Plenty of stops.

Excellent tour with lots of stops. The guide was very knowledgeable. Good recommendations for lunch and bars. Comprehensive.

If you are lucky enough to get Paulo Coelho to take you on this tour you will come back with a thorough understanding of the island. His wealth of knowledge and insight into the island was second to non. He also has a lovely sense of humour.

Variety of stops and a fantastic tour guide Paulo C. Very informative and incredible scenery. Very little walking required and convenient drop off to and from accommodation. However the Minibus was quite cramped and air conditioning was poor so bring your own fan and some snacks. Overall would recommend and fantastic value for money.

Our guide was engaging and informative from the very beginning of our journey. The day flew by with the interesting stops. I would recommend this tour. A fulfilling enjoyable day trip.

Friendly and professional guide. Renato was excellent in talking about the flora as we ascended and descended the narrow roads. He made some clever calls to reorganize the tour to avoid heavy traffic. This tour gave us a wonderful overview of the west and north of Maderia.

Joe was an excellent tour guide and driver. He had an awesome sense of humor and a great personality. He was kind, polite and a genuine great guy. Thanks Joe for a wonderful tour.

Joe was an excellent tour guide and driver. He had an awesome sense of humor and a great personality. He was kind, polite and a genuine great guy. Thanks Joe for a wonderful tour.

We had a great experience on our tour. The guide, Renato had a great knowledge of the Island and its history and delivered this in a humorous manner. We thoroughly enjoyed our day and would recommend this tour as a great way to see the Island when on a short stay. THANK YOU RENATO!

Excellent day long tour with a knowledgeable friendly guide. Experience the old fishing villages and see wonderful views

Sergio had a great sense of humour and had lots of interesting facts/was very knowledgeable about Maderia. George was a great drive.

Great tour. The driver/guide Joe was very informative and entertaining. Amazing value tour of west Madeira. A grand day out.

This is a really nice tour of the major features of the west of the beautiful island of Madeira. The tour stops at beautiful towns like Porto Moniz where you can swim in rock pools if the weather cooperates and have a gentle lunch; lovely fishing village camara de lobos - well these are all listed. As well as lovely towns the trip includes a lot of exposure to and info about Madeira’s gorgeous nature. There was no significant walking or climbing This was not my first time in Madeira and I had visited some of these places before but I leant so much more on this tour. The guide Lionel was kind and helpful and an excellent and safe driver. He had great knowledge of many aspects of the island which he shared in a way that was clear and fun. He made the trip really fantastic.

Beautiful sights and cool little towns to shop. So much to see. Very nice day trip to see the island

Very good and experienced guide Paulu. Thanks.

Very good and experieced guide, knowledgeable with a good sense of humor.

Pick on time and comfortable, drivers was friendly and informative. The scenery was stunning. The only negative is the lunch stop as it is too long (1hr 40 mins) in a place that you can walk around in 15 minutes. It would be better to spend an extra 5 minutes in some of the other locations and cut down the lunch break.

Picturesque sea towns. Lovely scenery. The skywalk a little disappointing as it wasn't a walk but a platform however, views over Funchal were superb and looking through glass floor was an experience. Just the right amount of time in places.

Very full day lots to see. The knowledge of our guide Lionel was amazing. His insights really added to the day. We saw some amazing sights and would recommend this trip. It was half the price of the tour offered by Jet 2 and we booked via the hotel

Good option for seeing the west side of the island without a car but the tour itself was mediocre. The tour company did an excellent job with logistics - tickets were easy to book online, communication was excellent, and the pick up/drop off were well done. The van itself was very uncomfortable; my husband had to sit with his knees/legs in the aisle the whole time because the clearance was too short for him to sit facing forward. I'm short and even I found the space tight. Our driver/guide had a lot to say but it seemed very stream of consciousness and repeated a lot; she jumped around constantly between what we were going to see in the afternoon, what the next day's trip to the east side of the island would include, and what we were about to see which was confusing. I didn't learn a lot of factual things, just anecdotes like which houses were for sale last year and where the animals were roaming on the road earlier in the week. The driver talked constantly about poncha. We did see a number of pretty places and were given guidance on options for using our free time there. There was at least once stop where it wasn't clear why we'd stopped - virtually nothing was open and there wasn't a highlight to see. The guide talked negatively about one of the passengers behind her back which was unprofessional and awkward for the rest of us. At least one couple that had been booked for the following day's trip to the east side of the island said that they were likely to skip it given the day's experience.

Impatient guide stressed customers first 2 stops 15mins not enough time for loo or coffee and see highlights. Parked by steep steps could have been more considerate. Some inappropriate comments about immigrants and other drivers was unnecessary. Missed opportunity to talk about interesting points to see. Mentioned fish farm 5x other drivers 10x old abandoned houses. Too long at Moniz needs rethinking in bad weather. Been on this tour before in 2024 the company and guide then was vastly superior.

The tour is extremely well organised and takes you around most of Madeiras west coast. The knowledge given by our driver Paulo was impressive. We had an excellent day, with it felt like very little time on the coach. Our driver had an alternative viewing . We enjoyed each of the stops -Riberia brava was best alongside the waterfalls cascading over cliff edges.

It’s a busy day, hopping on & off the coach, made more annoying for us by the inclement weather. Our guide Renato made the tour all the more enjoyable owing to his extensive knowledge of the flora on the island. The day was very varied, despite having to change our route & employ plan b. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

Pick up time was perfect and driver / guide had great knowledge Great views and lunch was great with lovely view

Take in all the views especially if you have the tour guide Parlo. He was brilliant so polite and to make it special he got everyone to sing happy 60th birthday to my husband. He truly made the tour memorable I would highly recommend this tour.

Fantastic tour guide Lionel navigated us through the Western land marks with extensive knowledge and good humour. If you don’t plan on hiring a car this is the way to get an informed and succinct tour of the key western landmarks from a knowledgeable local guide. Well worth the money, and I would recommend this tour to anyone of all ages.

Renato was very personable and informative. I am so glad he was the one doing the driving. He was appropriately cautious. We covered so much area and I learned so much about Madeira from Renato.

Good way to see the west side of the island if traveling without a car although we were underwhelmed by the tour itself. The van was uncomfortable (very limited legroom even for a shorter person like myself; my 6’ 2” husband had his knees out in the aisle the whole time as he couldn’t sit facing forward). The guide had a lot to say but it seemed stream of consciousness and tended to repeat (eg, there was a lot of talk about poncha and its availability at our last stop of the day). We didn’t learn a lot of history or facts but did hear about which houses had recently been sold or where animals had wandered onto the road earlier in the week. The scenery was beautiful and the visited towns were charming. The guide kept jumping around between what we were about to see, what we’d see later in the day and what we’d see in the next day’s tour of the east side of the island (seemed to assume everyone was doing that). We were glad we hadn’t booked the second tour and the couple next to us said they had but were going to skip it based on the day’s experience. Smooth pick up and drop off in Funchal; tour operator did an excellent job sharing pick up time and location in advance of the tour and confirming that you’d received those instructions.

The tour itself was very good. Our guide Renato was very informative and friendly and did an excellent job. We gave 3 stars because the transit van was unsuitable for touring as the windows were too small and low so we could not see much of the scenery above 2m…we would only use your company again if we were reassured that we would be allocated one of your vehicles with panoramic windows like the other tour buses you use.

Our house was brilliant. She had a lot of knowledge about the landscape and wildlife, and was very considerate. My only quibble is that it advertised lakes. There were no lakes.

Worthwhile trip visiting some interesting places and with amazing views. (Apart from up in the mountains where fog persisted) Lionel our driver made the day with his good humour, expert knowledge and obvious passion for his native island. Thank you for a great day! 😊