Madeira Island Transportation

4 more images

Like in many touristy places there are since the last years also the so called hop-on hop-off buses in Funchal. When you hp off there is every half an hour a next bus to hop on. A good opportunity to get familiar with a place when you visit for the first time.

Though we knew allready every place along the route for ten years or more, we decided to take the bus in 2011 for the first time. If your are too tired to walk, it's good way to go around. I liked the explanations by earphone. Even learnwed some new facts of the island.

I liked the views from a higher point of view and the relaxed way to see all the places we visited before.
The route of the buses passes not only the old citycentre, the viewpoint Pico dos Barcelos, the lido area in Funchal, but also heads to the fishing village Camara de Lobos. Here we made a longer lunch stop

4 more images

In 2008 I made a full day off landrover trip to the west of the island. After a visit to the view point Cabo Giraõ we followed unpaved tracks in the woods close to Jardim da Serra.

The most spectacular part of the trip was following the track from Ribiera Brava up to high plains of Pau da Serra. I loved the rough landscape along a stream. We saw only some cows along the track.

From Pau do Serra we followed unpaved tracks down to Porto Moniz at the North western point of Madeira Island.

The other parts of the route we knew from our trips by hired car.

4 more images

In the marina you can book a trip by catamaran two times a day. The main reason to do so is to see dolphins and whales in front of the coast of Madeira Island. The trip will take about 3 hours.

We made the trip in 2011. At sea the sails went in top. A pity the day we sailed out we didn't see any dolphins and whales like the day before. At the end of the trip two whales were spotted, but we couldn't reach them.

Finally the only things we saw at sea were fishing boats and a few jellyfishes. Anyway we enjoyed the relaxed boattrip with the great views at the coast.

2 more images

The airport Santa Catarina is built just at the shore of the ocean. Because of the mountaineous area it was necessary to built the runway on stilts in the ocean.

The first time we visited Madeira island, we went back to the airport the next day to have a look at its construction. We saw, they had started new construction works to extend the runway by building new stilts. By this extension it is possible, that also larger planes can come to Madeira.

From the air you have a great view at the runway just before landing.

4 more images

In the marina near the pier in Funchal you can book several boattrips like half-day trips or full-day trips and cocktailcruises. On sea you have the opportunity to sea dolphins and turtles. There are also deep sea fishing trips. In the port also leaves the ferry for Porto Santo island .

The first boattrip I booked was a half day trip with the Santa Maria, a traditional, newly built ship, like the one of Columbus used a few centuries ago. Especially for kids it is a lot of fun.

The Santa Maria heads west till Cabo Giraõ. If you are lucky you can see dolphins like we did.

The boat leaves in the port, west of the marina. You can't miss it.

In Funchal you can take the cable car to Monte, just in the mountains. It takes about 15 minutes.
There are 41 cabins with 8 seats each. So there can be transported 800 persons per hour !
We were lucky and the only persons in the cabine, when we go up, so we had very good views all around, at the mountains, the city, the harrbour, the ocean. It was also very nice to have a close look at Funchal from above.

One way: 8 euro
Roundtrip: 13 euro
Children 4-14 years: half money
Children 0-4 years: free

Operation schedule: 10.00 am to 7.00 pm

It's the only four lane motorway, at the southeast of Madeira, between Caniçal and Ribeira Brava. It passes along the coast through Machico, the airport, Funchal and Câmara de Lobos.

It is mostly made up of bridges and tunnels. Be careful as it has no shoulders. The entrances and exits are also too tight for a motorway.

1 more image

These are the modern road tunnels, the only way to deal with the rugged terrain of Madeira. There's a plan to encircle the island as well as the main towns in the interior with these tunnels. Most of them are already in use, mostly throughout the south coast and the interior. The ones to the north and west of Madeira island are still being built.

They enable to drive much quicklier and safer between towns in straighter roads under the mountains. Some of them are kilometers long.