Cable Car & Monte

From Funchal boardwalk one can take cable car ride to the neighborhood of Monte. Monte was originally a small town, a summer refuge for the wealthy, due to its mild climate. Today the city of Funchal has absorbed Monte and it is now one of its parishes.

The tickets are 10€ one way, 15€ round trip. It is also possible to buy combination tickets including trip to the Funchal Botanical garden (in order to do that another cable car needs to be taken from Monte). The terminal is safe and well organized so after a brief stay in fast-moving queue you will soon be aboard admiring the city views.

While in the city Funchal does not seem too big. Yet only from the birds’ viewpoint can you see how big it really is. 

See the cruise ships far at the distance?

You can also see what a tremendous job the islanders have done to build modern highways in such mountainous terrain. Numerous tunnels pierce the mountains allowing for efficient transportation between the cities.

As you float in the air city views open up below you: rich and well-kept houses, poor houses and ruins, cats sunbathing on the roofs and bananas growing in the backyards.

Cable car ride lasts about 15 minutes.


Another way to get to Monte is by city buses #21 and #22 but then you will be deprived of all the views.


As you exit the terminal turn left and take a walk to Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte – the church of Our Lady of Monte sitting atop the hill with a long staircase leading towards it.

Painted wooden ceiling in the church

 


Beautiful views of Funchal open up from Monte:

On the way to the church there will be Monte Palace Tropical Garden on your left and you can get in for 10€. We were told this garden belongs to the richest man in Madeira. The garden holds his collection of Asian art & pottery. If you are planning on it you may wish to buy a combination ticket in the terminal including round trip by cable car and visit to the garden.

Monte is symbolized by the toboggan drivers that race tourists down to the central town. Basket cars or toboggan run are essentially baskets with seats on wooden skis which were slid the inclined streets of Monte, guided by two pilots from behind. In the late 19^th century it was the quickest way to deliver goods down to the city of Funchal as the streets are too steep for the horses or donkeys to go down. Nowadays it has become one of the most popular tourist attractions as it is the only place in the world where the sledge runs without snow.

Toboggan drivers waiting for the next passenger

Toboggan "parking"

Toboggan ride is pretty much the same what a camel ride is in Egypt or a gondola ride – in Venice (the drivers are even wearing the traditional white uniform with straw boater's hats that resemble those of gondoliers). Some consider it a ‘must do’ and some think it is a typical "tourist trap". As we personally are not big fans of tourist traps we never took it but all the guests and crew who did – loved it.

These folks look happy (well, a bit scared, maybe?)

See how shiny the streets are? It did not rain the before, the streets are simply polished by wooden skis and thick rubber soles of toboggan drivers.

Financial side of it will depend on the number of people in your party and whether you are able and willing to walk around 20-30 minutes from the ship to the cable car station in Funchal. If not the cab ride will cost approximately 10€, cable car tickets one way are 10€ per person, toboggans will cost 25€ for one person, 35€ for 2 and 45€ for 3. Another catch is that the toboggan does not take you all the way down to cable car landing. Old times they did go all the way down but nowadays the old toboggan run is crossed by several big highways so it will only take you half way down to Livramento and it will either take you about an hour walking down the steep streets to Funchal downtown. Or you can catch one of the cabs thoughtfully waiting at the toboggan landing. We assumed it will cost another 10€ to get to the downtown. But on this site devoted to vacations in Madeira we read that

“The waiting taxis often charge an exorbitant fare to take you on the couple of minutes drive to the heart of Funchal”

However as we never used this option we cannot advise on the price but for sure it will be not less than 10€ and tourists stuck halfway between Monte and downtown have no other option. As we heard from the passengers they were asked as much as 30€ and only after they starting walking down did one of the taxi drivers follow them and offered his services for 10€.
And remember from downtown you still need to get back on ship and it will cost you another 10€ to get back. So for a party of 2 people the whole adventure will cost you approximately 85€. So unless you travel as a group of 4 and will share a cab an organized tour from the ship will seem a more viable option for you as it will include bus ride to the terminal, tickets for both cable car & toboggan and the ride back to town. Sometimes another tourist attraction (for example Eira do Serrado) and wine tasting can be included in the tour.
City bus offers more affordable way of getting up to Monte. Read more about it on Funchal Public transport official site.

As you return to the city reward yourself with a glass of Madeira wine and Bolo do Caco – traditional Madeira bread with garlic butter. Despite the fact that the name does not sound too appealing in English and does not make you mouth water as you hear it these breads smell so nice that you just cannot walk past the stalls without buying one.

As to us - we headed farther to Botanical Gardens. Another cable car needs to be taken to get to the gardens. The station is located a short walk from Monte cable car station (but this time you have to walk right) going by the picturesque street below:

Our trip to Botanical gardens - in the next post.