Check out how my total transport costs came to €351.85 LESS THAN the cheapest rental car!
Content
Mapping and planning a trip to Maderia
Public transport
Taxi
Walking
Coach trips
My trip transport breakdown
Things I wish I knew before going
Mapping and Planning a Trip to Madeira
So…where to start?
Research all the places you want to see on the Island.
See the distances you would have to be travelling to see all of these places.
Write a priority list – this will encourage you to focus on specific areas on the island to see the most during your time.
Check out elevation (TOP TIP: Madeira’s elevation is something to be careful about if walking).
Plot ideal accommodation locations in your busiest areas of things to see near by.
Check transport connections (NOTE: be careful of weekend bus times).
Book accommodations.
Write a detailed daily itinerary.
Not sure how to do this, or need some extra help?
Public Transport
Busses are the only form of public transport available in Madeira.
4 bus Companies operate schedules across different areas of the island:
The official websites (linked above) are the best places to find the current bus routes. Bus routes are presented in a table format with estimated times of arrival for the main stops.
The bus websites also provide a useful bus stop locator for the selected route to make sure you know where to wait.
Bus stops have a post displaying the number of the bus that stops there.
When waiting for a bus, to get the bus to stop, simply put your hand out to signal you want to get onboard.
When you are onboard and want the bus to stop there is a red stop button or switch above your head.
TOP TIPS:
Get a good understanding of the location of different towns before you go to help you understand the direction of bus routes. Also, in Madeira they drive on the right, so think about your direction of travel and which side of the road to wait on.
Bus schedules are mainly reliable however, the nature of Madeira’s roads being narrow may lead to some busses becoming delayed (more relatable for the rural routes) so do not panic and walk off if your bus is late.
I would recommend getting to your stop early to make sure you are at the right place and to ensure you don’t miss the bus incase it is a little early as they do not wait at each stop if they are running ahead of schedule. This is especially important for the more rural routes as they operate less frequently.
If you get travel sick, be cautious and prepared for Madeira’s windy roads and make sure you have the appropriate medication.
Bus routes take a lot longer than the route a private car would take as busses go round the villages to serve as many people as possible along the way so when planning your trip factor in additional travel time.
Using busses as your main transport option will require more planning around bus schedules, but it is worth the money you will save.
Buying bus tickets
You can buy tickets on the bus or at departure kiosks.
TOP TIP: Be sure to hold onto your ticket as on some routes they will come onboard to check tickets and pierce a hole in your ticket to confirm you still have a legitimate ticket.
How much are busses?
Busses range from €1-5 depending on your route (see the video at the top of this post to gather a greater understanding for the prices you can expect to pay for bus routes).
NOTE: Buss fares are payed with cash so be sure you have Euros.
Taxi
There is no doubt a private car is the most convenient way of getting around Madeira. With the new highways, times of travelling longer distances have massively reduced.
The majority of busses will go into the towns and villages and therefore miss optimising the highways. Taxis will get you to your next location quicker as they will use the highways as much as they can.
Taxis can be found all over the island. The majority of taxis are distinctive yellow vehicles.
They do become more sparse as you go more rural, however, they are all reliant and friendly.
Taxis are also great for pre-arranging a pickup time so your mind can be put at ease – a great option for the sunrise pick up to Pico do Arieiro!
Taxi numbers can be found:
online
at bus stops
ask your accommodation for a local taxi number
Prices outside of Funchal are approved by the government, but you can still bargain. One trip we we got a €5 reduction so it is defiantly worth asking!
In general, the taxi prices are very reasonable.
There is a recommended app for Taxis called Bolt. However, from my personal experience with this app, it didn’t work well for us as there was never drivers available.
Walking
Madeira is a hiking paradise. The mountainous volcanic island provides spectacular walking routes with amazing viewpoints.
TOP TIP: Check the elevation of routes beforehand and try to avoid inclines are must as possible – some inclines are tough going!
Where bus routes are non-existent or the bus times are not ideal for your itinerary, walking is always an option. The pleasant weather makes walking a great alternative (just remember sun protection and liquids to stay hydrated).
Some roads in Madeira are inaccessible and are blocked off for your safety due to rockfall and instability. This is common on the old coastal roads where new roads and tunnels have been built as part of the highway.
NOTE: Walking through the tunnels is legal, there is a pavement on either side for pedestrians.
Walking is a great way to explore an area at a slower pace and appreciate your surroundings. If you have booked multiple hotels, backpacking is a popular way of incorporating walking into your itinerary to reach your next accommodation.
When walking in more rural areas pavements may be non-existence, so walking on the roads is normal and cars are use to giving pedestrians space on the roads.
NOTE: Busses and cars will beep if they are going round tight corners where they cannot see so if you hear beeping, it is best to be cautious and stop.
Coach Trips
Coach trips are becoming an increasingly popular way of seeing the island of Madeira. Paying for an organised trip can allow you to cover mass amounts of land and see much more than you could via busses in one day.
If you are short on time or want to save some days for relaxing, then coach trips are a definite suggestion for you.
You will be paying more, but this is for the privilege of a driver and an organised tour to allow you to see a bunch of top rated sites on the island – some trips also include amazing Madeira-specific experiences!
Why not check out the Madeira collection?
My Trip Transport Breakdown
NOTE: this was my trip, there are many other ways of exploring Madeira and lots more to see. Writing a priority list allowed us to justify not visiting the south east coast due to our time constraint.
1. Airport to Funchal apartment (€5 Aerobus / ~30 minutes) – SAM operates the aerobus, the bus stop is located just outside the arrivals at the airport and has a set fare of €5 one way or €8 return and stops at all the major hotels in Funchal. The bus is cash only so if you haven’t got Euros with you there is an ATM just inside the airport at arrivals.
2. Return sunrise transfer to Pico do Arieiro (€70 private taxi / ~35 minutes one way) – Taxi transfer organised through Madeira Best seated 8 so the more people, the cheaper it would be. The Taxi was waiting outside our accommodation at the pre-arranged time and drove us to the viewpoint at Pico do Arieiro. We had enough time allowing us to explore, then at an arranged time a taxi then took us down back to our accommodation. We paid online so no cash was needed.
WATCH MY EXPERIENCE OF THE HIKE IN THIS SHORT VIDEO!
3. Funchal to Encumeada (€4 / ~1 hour 45 minutes) – A Rodoeste route departing from Funchal. I bought my ticket (cash only) at the kiosk located at Funchal’s Rodoeste main bus station along the coastline.
4. Encumeada to São Vicente (€0 / ~2 hours) – With a sunny weather forecast and only a 200m incline at the start of the route, walking was the decided way of reaching our next accommodation in the valley of São Vicente, and what a choice it was! The views were spectacular surrounded by vegetation and hardly any cars passed us on the roads which made it a very tranquil and enjoyable walk.
5. São Vicente to Porto Moniz (€2.60 / ~20 minutes) – Porto Moniz was chosen as an area to see solely because of the world famous natural pools. Rodoeste run a service along this coast which allowed us to plan Porto Moniz as a stop for a few hours and then to carry on to our accommodation for the night at Seixal. Unfortunately, the strong sea currents forced the pools to be shut so we just got the earlier bus towards Seixal.
6. Porto Moniz to Seixal (€1.95 / ~15 minutes) – The Rodoeste service down this coast got us to Seixal in less than 15 minutes. Seixal is a small village so when you get off the bus everything is within a 5-10 minute walk downhill. To find the beach just follow the roads downhill and you will reach the black sand paradise with incredible views of the mountainous north coast.
7. Seixal to São Vicente (€0 / ~2 hour walk) – On this day we needed to get to São Vicente to get another bus to Arco do São Jorge. The only bus from Seixal that would have worked for us would have required us to leave Seixal before the sun rose. We loved Seixal so much we planned to walk to São Vicente so we could enjoy the morning sun at Seixal. Along this journey was when we really got to see the poor condition of the old coastal roads. This isn’t a worry as you can walk through the tunnels they have built through the mountains, which also helps keep the journeys elevation fairly flat. We didn’t regret choosing to walk this as there was amazing views of the coastline and we got to get right up close to a few waterfalls we wouldn’t have even noticed going past on a bus.
8. São Vicente to Arco do São Jorge (€20 / ~20 minutes) – When we got to São Vicente we was pretty tired from the 2 hour walk with our backpacks and then found that the bus timetable was reduced because it was Saturday. We would have had to wait 8 hours for the next bus as there was only one early morning and one at night. At São Vicente there was two taxis waiting so we decided to ask how much. We got offered €5 less than the government approved fare so we decided to get the taxi direct to our next accommodation. This was a lot quicker than a bus, the bus was scheduled to take over an hour for this route.
SEE OUR STAY IN THE BEAUTIFUL ROSE GARDEN HOTEL IN THIS SHORT VIDEO!
9. Arco do São Jorge to Porto da Cruz (€1.60 / ~1 hour) – After an amazing stay in a rose garden hotel we chose to get the later 4:30PM bus so we could spend more time in the hotel’s grounds. The bus departed from Arco do São Jorge with Horários do Funchal towards Porto da Cruz (our next accommodation). It was a Sunday so busses were more limited than Saturday’s, this is something to pay close attention to when looking at schedules.
The bus wasn’t going directly to Porto da Cruz but it was the closest we could get with Sunday busses. We was a little unsure when the best time to get off would be so we just kept GoogleMaps open as we got closer to Porto da Cruz. The bus routes go up and down the hills to serve the villages so sometimes it was hard for us to predict which way the bus would travel. This is why I would recommend looking at the bus routes stops to pick the one you want to get off at and to become familiar with the 10 stops before it. Towns and villages are far apart so stopping in-between may be more beneficial for you e.g. if your walking elsewhere.
When we got off this bus is was around an hour walk to our accommodation and along the way we caught the last surfers out in the sunset light!
10. Porto da Cruz to Funchal (€4 / ~1 hour) – For our last day we had a change of plan and decided we wanted to head back to Funchal to see the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens. Horários do Funchal ran a direct service from just outside Porto da Cruz to Funchal. We found our bus stop online with the bus stop locator, it was about a 40 minute walk uphill from our accommodation (leave extra time for uphill walks as they are tough going so you will more than likely want to do a tactical stop to admire the view / get your breath back).
11. Funchal to Monte (€1.95 / ~25 minutes) – As soon as we arrived back into Funchal we got some food and then headed for Monte. Horários do Funchal run a service roughly every 20 minutes with two different bus lines (20 and 21) which reach Monte where the Tropical Gardens are within walking distance. These award winning gardens are defiantly worth the visit!
Also, Monte Palace is where you can get the traditional Tobbogon (basket ride) down to Funchal, but be warned that the line can get extremely long! Another way of getting back to Funchal is you don’t want to walk or get the bus is the cable car. It is £12.50 one way and arrives along Funchal’s beachfront near the main bus stations.
VIEW MY MONTE PALACE TROPICAL GARDENS SHORT VIDEO!
12. Funchal centre to Airport (€5 / ~25 minutes) – Finally we got the SAM aerobus back to the airport in time for our flight, at a set fare of €5 one way or €8 return.
Things I wish I knew before I went
1. Pico do Arieiro sunrise transfers need to be booked in advance as they get booked up quickly
I left it until a few days before to book with this company I had bookmarked but they were booked up for a week in advance. There was only a few options left of getting up to Pico do Arieiro for sunrise and these were priced higher.
Also, the options were limited. The companies fully booked offered different pick up locations which allowed you to do the whole hike. As I booked late the drop off and pick up points were the same so I was restricted on how far I could walk before turning back.
Overall, for the best transfer price and pick up/drop off options be sure to book early to claim your seat.
2. Elevation
I knew Madeira was a mountainous island but I defiantly underestimated the steep inclines and declines. I would recommend using maps that show elevation change, especially for routes you plan on walking to see if it is realistic.
Some routes I searched (incase we didn’t get the bus ranged) ranged from an hour to two hour walk. However, the incline for some of these routes were insane and unrealistic to walk. Additionally, the walk would have taken longer than the suggested walking time due to the inclines, so be careful of this when planning.
3. Specific bus stop locations
I had planned which bus to get and noted when it departed, and they were correct. However, I wish I had searched the specific stop I was going to ask the bus to stop at. I knew the areas it went through but it was the last stage of the journey knowing how close the bus went to my accommodation and how far I would have to walk.
Using the official websites become key to knowing where the best stop was that suited me.
4. Weekend schedules
During my week away the weekend was notably quieter in Madeira. There was less busses and taxis available so being sure when the bus schedules were for Saturdays and Sundays is something you must know before the weekend arrives.
5. Bus fares are cash payment only
You can pay at kiosks or on the bus, the exact change is preferred compared to large notes.
Thank you for reading, keep Creating Resfeber!
Why not check out my other travel guides and blog posts on Madeira?
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