40 minutes is the duration of our pick ups seeing we have guests in Santa Cruz, Caniço and Garajau.
Camara de Lobos Fishing Village driving down to the bay of this village where the boats are all docked, boats are used to fish the popular espada scabbard fish. The surroundings view of the cliff cabo girão is incredible landscapes makes one understand why Sir Winston Churchill loved to paint here. The name of the village comes from the many seals that once lived in the hidden rocks. Poncha our traditional drink with rum from the sugarcane is also popular in this village. The drive through to the next attractions is through the banana plantations, vines and terraces divided in small little gardens and cliffs where houses are also built.
Known as the hightest cliff in Europe and second in the world with its glasspatform looking down the terraces by the beach, the lanscape over Funchal, Bay of Camara de Lobos and surrounding villages leaves guests enchanted. To visit this attraction there is fee of 2.00€ that can be paid cash or card.
Surrounded by mountains almost hidden in the riverbed This village offers many monuments like the church with its amazing decorations, Fortress from the 17th century, the little market with all our vegetable and fruits. The famous queijada cake (cheese tart) the best in the island This is a stop for coffee and rest rooms before our drive to the mountains.
45 minute drive through the warmest coast south west coast. Along the coast overlooking the banana plantations, old steep roads unto Paul da Serra (route 66 madeira) mimosa trees, eucalyptus, pines. Wild flowers, the cows that you can meet on every road corner or lying on the ground to enjoy the warmth of the sun in the mountains.
At 1550m in the Plauteau of Madeira you will see the small levadas taking the water to the main levadas, this flat area surrounded by flat vegetation, when it rains it fills with water forming small lakes. In the winter this point is covered by snow almost like a perfect bed sheet. The springs and waterfalls is another great attraction. The rainbows in the winter season covers our skies with colour. This tour does not include any levada walk.
Everybody looks forward to this stop. Our drive to the Fanal takes about 15 minutes and a 35 minute stop in our Fanal Forest. Known for its old centenary anciente laurel trees with over 700 years. There are days that the clouds come in covering the trees a mystical affect. This forest has been compared to movies such as Harry Porter and Jurassic park. This forest has been chosen by Hollywood for the making of the movie Star wars. These amazing old trees with its enourmous trunks almost like arms ready to welcome you and give you a hug. On the other side of this forest you can see the Laurel Forest and the north coast. Sensation of living a true live fanatasy in nature.
Different landscape over the north coast on one side and on the other end the forest and right in the middle is the window valley surrounded by old paths, houses and vines. This village made history because of the whale hunting, therfore there are still a few short caves without exit where they once stored the sea mamals. Our drive through this village is of 30 minutes with a 10 minute photo stop.
Finally we arrive at our swimming and lunch break (this tour includes no lunch) This 2 hour break in summer/spring and one and half hour stop in winter. This stop will give the opportunity to swim in our natural old basalt volcanic pools the fresh natural sea temparatures is a challange for our tourists. There are two sets of Natural pools one is not paid for and the other is paid for. There is also restaurants, supermarkets. On the other side you can visit the aquarium of Madeira (there is an entrance fee to be paid)The surroundings with the vines are cultivated small gardens. The wave attractions especially in the winter are also a great must. The view of the northcoast and the window of the Ribeira da Janela are also visible in this stop. For this tour please bring your swimming wear.
Leaving Porto Moniz our drive through will be in Seixal known for its beautiful vine plantations, grapes used for the making of our Madeira wine and table wine the waterfalls along the road resembling brides veil where the water flows to the sea. During this stop you can see the beach of Seixal from the viewpoint. Due to the many rent cars that block the roads going down to the beach is now impossible especially in the spring and summer season. We will stop to see the waterfalls like the agua de alto.
This will be the last stop in this tour. The great waves makes this popular for surfing, surfers find these seas a challange for those with experience and without. Being a wine village we stop for madeira wine tasting free of charge in an old wine cellar still with its old wine presser. They also make good poncha and nikita cocktails. The river bed coming from the mountains with the old foot paths, very old church monuments both in the river bed and in the mountains. Surrounded by the laurel forest and the mountains looks like a museum post card village. The drive from the waterfall is of 10 minutes and 30 minute stop in the village.
the 30 minute drive to Funchal through the beautiful serra de Agua village in the southern part of Funchal is a nice way to finish our tour and drop off our guests.
Arrived at pre arranged pick up point prior to alloted time if 8.40 am on 7 June but no one arrived. Waited for an hour but still no pick up and unable to speak to anyone on contact number despite promise of 24 hour helpline available. Very disappointed and left feeling cheated after paying for trip that didn't happen.
I picked this tour for its comprehensiveness and it surely delivered. Our guide Tony was excellent. The pleasant surprise was seeing the brides veil waterfall. I highly recommend this tour and company!
Very scenic. You see all the main sites. Very knowledgeable tour driver. Experience big weather changes.
Tony was an excellent guide and we stopped at so many interesting spots… Fanal Forest, Camara de Lobos, several waterfalls , and others. We started out at 8:30a and ended at 17:20p Great tour & definitely worth the time and money.
East tour was way better. Not as much to see but it was nice swimming at Porto Moniz. Tour guide, Gama, was rude at the start of the tour. We were given two different meeting points, one in the app and one by email (very confusing), we weren’t allowed to be picked up right from our Airbnb so had to walk up a steep hill for 10 mins. Tour guide (Gama) was upset with us because we were 2 minutes early instead of 5-10mins early (none of the messages from Viator indicated we have to be earlier than the time they said). He wouldn’t even listen to me and continued to argue with me as if it’s our fault. I wasn’t even blaming him, I was just trying to explain why people may be confused to fix it for future tours. Then he proceeded to get mad at all the other people, he was picking up for the tour because they were having the same issue with the meeting point and time. Tour guide (Gama) was complaining about other drivers almost the whole tour instead of telling us about interesting facts of Madeira. At the end of the tour, he lectured us again about the meeting point and time. Very unprofessional.
Great value for money, tour guide was very knowledgeable and the locations that we stopped at were stunning. For lunch the guide recommended a restaurant which we took up and they served lovely food, but it would have been handy to know cash was preferred over card payment although they did let us pay by card.
The tour was announced as an English, but most of the time driver was speaking Portuguese. It was quite annoying. I am requesting full refund as well as $24 paid to the driver
A great value day out exploring Madeira’s West Coast. Daniel was an excellent driver and guide; providing interesting information between each of our stops, and with advice on what to see/try/eat/experience at each stop. We were a mixed party of twelve. I was solo, but shared the day with couples and two families. My pick up was at 8.50; on time and I was dropped back at my hotel just before 6pm. So a packed day. Highlights for me was the Cabo Girau cliff viewing and the Port Moniz swimming. We had a two hour stop here, so plenty of time to swim and change. Go for the 3 euro pools, with easy access steps, toilets, lockers and changing rooms. I don’t think I really needed to pay for the locker though, as there was a really lovely crowd there; quietly enjoying the sea, without waves crashing in. Daniel was courteous and positive. His minibus was air conditioned. He also had a step for easy access and booster seats for the children. He also pointed out where the toilets were. These were free at most stops. At 58, I was the oldest! But this trip is suitable for all ages and really interesting. I would highly recommend!
Pick up at scheduled time at hotel. Guide a very nice and informative guy. Itinerary adhered to, except for a wine tasting which didn’t happen, but wasn’t worried about that. Plenty of time to stop and take photos.
Overall this was a great experience and a good deal for what was included. Daniel, our guide, was knowledgeable on all things Madeira and engaging with all of the 12 people in our van. I give him a lot of credit as he had to repeat everything in 3 different languages! We would have liked to have more than 30 minutes in Fanal Forest. Perhaps the stop beforehand where we looked at a horizon could be eliminated. We, also, enjoyed Sao Vincente and would have liked more time there. Porto Moniz ended up getting cut to around an hour and 20 minutes, which really isn’t enough time to eat and swim. We didn’t plan on swimming, but would have liked time to sit by the pools. Be careful when and where you dine during midday. The restaurant we ate at (Polo Norte) had excellent food, but they are incredibly short-staffed - so we spent over an hour of our limited time sitting there vs. at the pools.
Like another reviewer I initially picked this tour because the description made it seem like it didn’t stop at as many villages as other western island tours. Please note that the number of stops is pretty similar to other tours. However, our guide was great and we did end up finding things to enjoy even on the stops I was not keen on visiting.
Nice restaurants, nice to walk, beaches are spectacular. Food and drink are reasonably affordable. Enjoy the seafood it’s fantastic
Excellent value and amazing sights, so much crammed into a whole day tour and Flavio was an excellent host and driver. We had a great time, the only way to see the island with limited time and on a budget.
A great trip. Guide/driver was very chatty with lots of information which helped pass the time. It's a long day. We booked last minute (night before) and the e ticket and comms were efficient.. It was a shame the sea was too rough for swimming.
Our driver and guide Tony was awesome! We learnt so much about the island, particularly the flora and fauna which I loved. A great way to see so many unique places on the island. We were a family of five and our group had twelve in total which was a perfect size. Loved the two hour Porto Moniz stop. The natural pools were wonderful.
Michael, our guide was so informative and passionate ate about his island. Great to be in a small group and be able to make so many stops and see so much you wouldn't see on a coach. Highly recommended
Many nice places with enough time to walk around and take pics. The driver was nice and told us a lot stories. The tour was better than renting a car if you’re not comfortable with mountain roads like us :) Wear trainers; bring a light jacket and flip flops with you, towel and water. For the organizers: please clean the AC in the car!!
Such good value for money! Was an amazing day out and our guide was lovely. Wish we could have spent longer at the forest as that was spectacular but other than that a great day. Saves you from bus hopping/ expensive taxis and hits all the important places in the west and the north. Would recommend :)
Overall the tour to begin with was enjoyable and pleasant overview of Madeira. However this was advertised as a 3 stop 8 hour tour, ultimately it ended up to be 11 hours in total from pick to drop off and multiple random stops that probably weren’t necessary. These didn’t add any extra benefits to the trip and seemed to be a gap filler The bus itself was hot and sweaty, with no functioning AC. Please review this before booking this tour,
Fantastic day doing the West of the Island Tour. Our guide Tony was very professional with a great sense of humour. Very enjoyable day with plenty of stop off's. Knowledgeable about the Island and its history. Well recommened
We were very well looked after by our driver, Tony who communicated a wealth of knowledge and gave everyone plenty of time to take photos. The itinerary was varied and interesting. We were phoned to tell us of a delay due to traffic which could have caused a worry. Looking forward to the east tour later in the week.
Lucy was amazing! If you can ask for her to be your guide! She is funny, very informative, she will tell you lots of stories about the places you’ll visit. This was our first tour in Madeira and we enjoyed it a lot! Worth a try, you’ll be amazed!
Amazing tour and brilliant guide. Its worth going on this tour. It takes to all the key locations in the west including 2 hours of swimming in natural/artificial pools next to the sea.
Very special and personalised tour by Lucy our guide/ owner of company - who told us a lot about growing up on the island and how people live. Took us to a few different places on route, and I really loved that she bought some special local bread from the bakery for us all to try. Best but was swimming in the natural rock pools at Porto Moniz ( bring beach shoes if you can as very slippy steps!). A great day out - amazing value too.
Excellent visit throughout the island. The driver is very nice and was able to convey good vibes to us and show us the good atmosphere that exists on the island. I share below a few amazing photos from today's walk.
Amei a experiência! A guia Lucy é super simpática e animada e o motorista Done conduz muito bem de maneira que a viagem foi tranquila. O percurso é belíssimo e muito bem organizado. A vista do Faial, a floresta do Fanal e o Porto Muniz são perfeitos! Pena que no dia do nosso passeio as ondas estavam muito altas por isso não pudemos nos banhar.
I recommend!!!! We know several tourist points and more. Impossible not to fall in love with the island. It should also be noted that our guide, Mr. Carlos, it is of a attention and kindness that makes us appreciate the visit even more. Mr. Carlos explains where we will stop, the history behind the locations, the curiosities, etc. Me and my husband were the only Portuguese on the tour and Mr. Carlos always took care to speak in Portuguese and English so that all the tourists in our group understood what they were talking about.
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