Excursions in Madeira?

[Greystones]

Hi has anyone had any experiences of the organised trips in Madeira?

Just wondering if it is worth taking one or shall we jsut do or own thing?

Thanks

[Poohb]

Go to the British Isle/western Europe drop down and ask there. Ask for info about private tours, also.

[focus]

We are on the same cruise.

 

Spoke to a lady who called into Madeira on a cruise that she was on and she recommended that we do our own thing.

 

There is a cable car from Funchal to Monte, at the top there are panoramic views plus gardens to look round and also the famous basket sledge ride back down the hill. I did read somewhere in these forums that the sledge ride does not go all the way back to the down so if you take that, which will be tempting, if not irresistible if you have children with you, you may need to budget for a taxi.

 

No doubt there will be official excursions from IOS. If you do DIY, the cable car fare is 15 euros return or 10 euros single. (Children half price) - sorry haven't discovered how much the basket ride costs

 

Have a great trip...............

[ainoh]

We did the High Tea at Reads Castle. We enjoyed it. It was a cruise tour. You can do it on your own.If you do it on your own you have to make a reservation. You can walk there or take a taxi.

[truffles2]

Try to see as much of Madeira as possible. It is a beautiful place.

[jbond]

We visited Madeira for the first time last year. We decided to do an RCI tour. It included the aerial tramway, visit to the cathedral, the must do toboggan ride, "downtown" tour and a visit to a wine tasting. We left the tour down town and then walked around by ourseves and had a great lunch on the former Beatles yacht, the Vagrant.

Funchal is a beautiful port of call. Do not miss the toboggan ride, it's awesome.

I have several pages posted on webshots. This is the first page of our day in Funchal.

 

 

The rest can be seen at http://family.webshots.com/album/564695088icbspV?start=120

[Greystones]

Hi

 

I am from Wigan originally living in Ireland now

Maybe see you in a couple of days time!

[PSCruiser]

The cable car up to Monte, and ride down on the wooden sled is unique gand a "must do". RC has an excursion that includes these, alon with wine tasting, etc. Beautiful island.

[tally10]

We have been to Madeira three times and will be stopping there again on the Westbound Indy in Nov. It is beautiful and one of our favorite places. We took the Scenic Madeira tour (an overview) plus a stop at Blandy's Wine Lodge for some wonderful Malmsy wine (18% alcohol). One word of caution though, if it is a sunday, most places are closed. Some, like Blandy's Wine Lodge, are open only for ship's tours. Ship's tours or maybe even the private tours are the way to go, if it is a sunday. You do not want to miss seeing this port.

[USTWORCREW]

Try to see as much of Madeira as possible. It is a beautiful place.[/quot

 

The cable car ride (one way if you want to take the tobbogan ride back down) is only a short walk (1/2 mile ish) along the promenade (harbour/ beatles restaurant/ Madeira balloon etc) if you wish to do it yourselves, all other trips, ie island, are better booked, clic into photo gallery above & search Madeira for local scenes. Enjoy your cruise. :D

[Tucker in Texas]

A group of us arranged a tour with Strawberry Tours which was cheaper than RCI and included more.

 

Tucker in Texas

[Greystones]

is that a Wigan court of arms?

[bdoster]

We are on the same cruise.

 

Spoke to a lady who called into Madeira on a cruise that she was on and she recommended that we do our own thing.

 

There is a cable car from Funchal to Monte, at the top there are panoramic views plus gardens to look round and also the famous basket sledge ride back down the hill. I did read somewhere in these forums that the sledge ride does not go all the way back to the down so if you take that, which will be tempting, if not irresistible if you have children with you, you may need to budget for a taxi.

 

No doubt there will be official excursions from IOS. If you do DIY, the cable car fare is 15 euros return or 10 euros single. (Children half price) - sorry haven't discovered how much the basket ride costs

 

Have a great trip...............

 

25euros per couple, couple euros tip for each gondolier

 

There is a bus that you can catch back into town, a couple of euros

 

Reids Palace is a fab place for high Tea...make reservations from their website email address...27 euros pp

 

Maderia is beautiful...enjoy

[USTWORCREW]

is that a Wigan court of arms?

 

 

Ancient & Loyal

 

Sure is, just like me, ancient.:D

[aggie1]

Tucker in Texas, were you on the Voyager on their TA cruise to Galveston in 07 from Barcelona? We were and took a tour in Madeira on Stawberry Tours with CC members. It was the best tour we have ever taken. My DH did not want to do the tobaggon down the mountain so I went with the 3 sisters from Texas. It was awesome!!

[powelweb]

We did an RCI tour this past westbound Voyager TA - one did a scenic drive into the mountains. I almost had a heart attack as our tourbus began backing down this winding, narrow 1 lane mountain road so that another car coming down the mountain could pass us. It was so beautiful when reached the top but I had had enough- I stayed at the gift shop and let DH and DD go walk out to look out point.

 

And then we did the tobbogan ride- my 5 year old DD's favorite thing of the whole 15 night cruise- she still talks about it.

 

Enjoy Madeira.

 

Hi Barbara!!

Wendy

[Tucker in Texas]

Tucker in Texas, were you on the Voyager on their TA cruise to Galveston in 07 from Barcelona? We were and took a tour in Madeira on Stawberry Tours with CC members. It was the best tour we have ever taken. My DH did not want to do the tobaggon down the mountain so I went with the 3 sisters from Texas. It was awesome!!

 

That be me! We did do the toboggan down. It wasn't that scary (lol). On our last stop in Madeira we did the ship's tour to the mountain top so we could "burn" some OBC. I agree Strawberry Tours did a great job.

 

Haven't decided what, if any, tours we will do this time.

 

Oh, yes, Hook'em Horns!

 

Tucker in Texas

[aggie1]

Gig'em Aggies!!!

Couldn't resist.

[dreadlockjack]

Hi all!

 

I've lived in Madeira years ago three month and visited it more than 15 times (worked as a scuba diving instructor there).

 

It's very easy to visit by yourself - no ship tours needed.

 

Here are different suggestions:

 

Take a cab and visit the Pico d'Areeiro - which is the very top of Madeira - app. 6000ft high. Very interesting - beautiful and amazing. Ask the driver then to drive down via Ribeiro Frio, which is a nice place to have Lunch. Then back via Porto da Cruz and Machico (near Airport - amazing RWY!!!) along the south coast back to Funchal.

 

or

 

Via the southcoast to the west end. First visit the fihervillage Camara de Lobos, then visit Cabo Girão, the highest cape in the northern hemisphere.

Ask the driver to visit the high plateau Paul da Serra. Flat at about 4500ft! Cool, somethimes foggy - very special. Go to Rabaçal and 35 fontes for a short walk.

 

Do not hesitate to ask more questions. Madeira is great - I love it!

 

Have fun!

DJ

[cinnamon]

We had a wonderful trip with Strawberry tours but a word of warning. They only got us back to the ship with minutes to spare which was nerve wracking. The guide insisted that as we were not due to leave until 5.00pm (according to the port authorities) we had plenty of time. In fact, our ship (Navigator) left each port straight after the due back time each day and she sailed from Madeira at 4.38!