Funchal Travel Guides (Updated September 2026)

The most incredible hike! I've done a fair few big hikes in my time and this was up there with the best! I can't recommend enough how much you need to do this trip!!!Our guide was Pedro, he was friendly, professional and an overall great guy.You get plenty of time for the walk itself and the transfers were smooth and easy.

We booked this trip during our first visit to Madeira and it became one of the highlights of our week. The timing was perfect and we were able to enjoy several amazing places with sufficient time at each stop. I was worried that with all the tunnels the transfers would be boring and tiring, but not at all, we had great views. What was also amazing was our guide Samuel talking about the sites, the history of Madeira and life on the island in a really engaging way. He was very friendly, attentive, and also an excellent driver.

We booked a sunset tour with Jimmy because I wanted to propose somewhere beautiful, private and away from the crowds. He found the perfect spot and went above and beyond to make the whole experience special.Jimmy is a genuine 10/10 guy - laid-back, funny and incredibly easy to talk to. We hit it off immediately, and it felt like he was part of our friend group. His English is immaculate, and his taste in music is at least as good. The proposal was a complete success, and we couldn’t recommend him enough!

What a fantastic experience, Romero our host and driver could not have been more helpful. His knowledge during the tour gave us a valuable insight into the history of Madeira.Romero also has a fantastic sense of humour which made the trip even more interesting. He took us to the fabulous views at Pico de Areeiro before the crowds followed by the short hike to Ribeiro Frio which had a stunning vantage point.The Miradouro do guindaste skywalk although nowhere near as high as Cabo Girão had lovely ocean views and not the crowds. We had a lovely stop for lunch in Santana to see the replica traditional Madeiran houses and then really enjoyed the stop at rum factory in Porto da Cruz where once again Romero carefully explained the rum making process. The final stop at Ponta de Sao Lourenco was amazing, the cliff views were absolutely stunning just be careful it can get quite windy but Romero made sure we understood and everyone was safe.We would totally recommend this trip especially with Romero - Obrigado

Amazing tour with an extremely prepared guide, Joseph, Italian speaking during our tour. Really appreciate the stops and the visited attractions, especially Fanal forest. By far the best organized tour of our stay in Madeira

We booked with Madeira Surreal for an unforgettable private tour of Madeira’s spectacular central mountains and dramatic east coast yesterday. The day exceeded our expectations; Ramon our guide was fantastic, with a route so perfectly timed, to maximise our time in nature - rather than a minivan! we were thoughtfully ahead of crowds at each location and able to enjoy our time there relaxed, exploring without pressure. Ramon’s knowledge of the island, plants, habitats and way of life drew our attention to things in a way that has given us a much deeper appreciation of everything we saw on the tour. We felt in such good hands. If this is something you can do while visiting Madeira, you won’t regret it. Memories to last a lifetime! Thank you

A wonderful and memorable day. Roberto Câmara was our passionate guide and professional driver. He helped us discover beautiful corners of this island. I recommend him to you without a doubt! Thank you very much! Joanne and Sylvain (Canada)

This was the highlight of our trip to Madeira! Madeira Surreal seems like a great tour company and Romero is an incredible tour guide. We've done many tours (often Cool Destinations) and he ranks as one of the best tour guides we've had.This specific tour (Surreal West Waterfalls, Pools, and Forest) was the perfect 1-day sample of what Madeira has to offer. You get Cabo Girao (sea cliff sky bridge), mountains, the ancient forest, rocky coastline (and possibly a little time to swim if you want), and gorgeous waterfalls. The tour was paced out very well. We had just a little time at each spot--enough to see everything, but not enough to get tired or bored. Every place was scenic and had wonderful photo ops. I think we took more pictures on this tour than the rest of our trip combined. Romero was personable and communicative, really bringing each stop to life with lots of additional information and context. Our tour was in English, but he speaks about 6 languages.I liked that our tour group was small (8 people plus our guide) so we were able to make lots of stops without taking forever to load and unload. Take the early tour if possible because you can beat some of the crowds at the most popular spots.I enthusiastically recommend this company and would definitely try to take a tour from this tour company, Madeira Surreal, if I visit again.

A great service. Luis was a class guide. Very knowledgeable and fun. I would say ask luis plenty. He likes to engage and tell you about the Island , its mountains and its history. Very informative guy. If you just want the sunset there is no trekking or even walking involved... the stairway to heaven is worth the walk. There isnt much hiking in it at all.I would recommend this. Thanks Luis.

What an amazing day, for the price of the 7hour trip it was so worth it, the atmosphere was great in the small group we was with, it was lovely to get to know everybody else and to learn lots about the island, our guides were fantastic and very funny, would highly recommend this trip.

It was an amazing experience, and the tour guide Carlos was a very nice and fun guy!! He knew much about Madeira and he even showed us some things that weren’t in the trip. Like we were riding past banana trees and he said the tour wouldn’t end if we didn’t taste a banana haha. It was amazing. Also he let us taste the grapes where de Madeira wine is made of, that was also very delicious! Best tour ever and I would recommend everyone to do it if you’re visiting Madeira!

Fantastic experience. A challenging hike that really paid off. We were fortunate enough to have great conditions for the sunrise and our guide gave clear instructions so we knew exactly what to expect with target times for specific spots on the route.

We really enjoyed this trip. Our guide was fun and friendly, and the drive was very pleasant. PR8 is a great trail and feels completely different from the rest of Madeira, with its unique landscape and coastal scenery. The views from the top were absolutely beautiful.

Harder hike than I thought, worth every step. This made my entire experience in Madeira! I will never forget this !

Amazing experience. The organization is really on point. The boat is very clean and secure. They really think of everything: clean towels for after swimming, cool drinks and photos the day after. We got some really cute couple photos thanks to them! We are so glad we booked with On Tales and would 100% recommend. The sightings are not guaranteed, but we did see pilot whales and rough-toothed dolphins!

Cool experience. The dolphins and whales were an experience.