iancM6296JX, Aug 2026
Good tour with great tour guide
Picked up in mini van just before 9am for a tour of the West of Madeira Island.
Location for pick-up had been changed by the tour operator, and we had been sent the revised location, with a link to a map. Transpired that the pick up point was actually about 200m away, and felt lucky that we hadn’t missed the trip departure.
Stopped off a few more times to collect others en route. All went smoothly. Van not air conditioned so a little too warm at times, but open windows kept the air moving.
The places we visited were mostly interesting and enjoyable to see. We were unable to visit one of the scheduled stops with small waterfalls due to rock falls.
Camara de Lobos, or Churchill’s Bay was very pretty and there was a festival of some kind at the time of our visit. We were able to sit within a cast statue of Winston C., painting, for a photo.
The view point was amazing. It cost 5 Euros per person, payable at a ticket vending machine by card. NB The toilets here require a cash payment of 50 cents which had some cashless people crossing their legs! Come prepared.
The natural pools were great to experience. Some, to the left of Porto Moniz are commercially operated with extensive fact, but quite crowded when we visited. A little further along the coast to the East were other pools without the same facilities such as changing rooms. These looked more appealing and less crowded and had we seen these first we’d have had a swim. Swim shoes annd a changing robe or towel are a good idea for this area.
We had lunch at the cafe recommended by the tour guide in Porto Moniz, which we enjoyed and considered good value.
The places we visited high up on the island were not to be missed. Amazing scenery and views, and areas we’d like to re-visit and explore more in future.
We hadn’t been sure what the temperature would be like as we’d read reports that it could be quite cool high up in the mountains. The temperature did drop to around 17 degrees C, but we were very glad of the cool air at that point and didn’t need the extra layer of clothing we’d taken with us.
Tour guide was top notch. Multi lingual, and very knowledgeable of the island. His commentary along the way was very well rehearsed, and timing right on point every time.
Some of the roads were extremely tricky, being narrow, twisty, very steep, congested in places, and with sheer drops off the side of the road on very high mountains. However, Joel (?) was brilliant at negotiating the terrain and traffic. I’m quite a cautious driver, and nervous passenger. Although I’d rather the highway speeds had been a little less hurried at times, I felt overall very reassured and comfortable throughout.
Really pleased we did this day long tour, finishing just after 5pm. Great value, and we plan to do their East of Madeira tour on a future visit.
