Funchal with the kids: tell me more, is this good?

[catharina]

Hi there

 

Our cruise leaves next week and we are visiting Funchal with our 3 and 4 year old. We have a private excursion set but seeing some youtube I have seond thoughts. Not about the excursion but the program.

 

With children this age, anyone got experience? We are planning on the Mercado, than a cable ride up and Toboggan ride down. Toboggan is extra costs for us above the excursion price (Cable also)

IS IT WORTH THE MONEY? and do you think kids that age would enjoy it?

 

Then we are off to Cabo de Girao (cliff), a seaside village and also the aquarium in Porto Moniz (now i KNOW they will like this) and a short visit to a winery.

 

Also if you have any more ideas for this port with kids (we have 2 days here) or a port from the Canary Islands with kids, let us know! we are deperately seeking fun things to do with our toddlers (we go to Las Palmas, La Palma, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura

[Mrs Miggins]

Hi - toboggan ride is fun - but it is fairly fast and as it is on a public road very different from a fair ground ride - may scare some small children.

I have also been looking for some feedback on the Canary Islands - although we have been to all of them on a cruise -but there seems to be no information and of course they are not in the Med - so this is not even the correct board -

In Lanzerote you can take a camel ride up to the Volcano - and that is also good fun - sure the children would enjoy that. Apart from that the weather should hopefully be good - so what about just finding a beach !

[aquilegia]

Well, the toboggan ride is certainly different and we enjoyed it. Like Mrs Miggins, I'm not sure whether kids that young would enjoy it. You don't have to prebook toboggan rides, there are plenty of toboggan men waiting around, so I suggest you watch them starting off down the hill and decide for yourselves whether it's something you would like to do.

 

One thing, if you don't know already, the toboggan doesn't go anywhere near right down into the town. You'll have to find a way of getting down from where the ride ends or face a very long walk back up the hill. When we went, we had a taxi and after we'd seen what we wanted to in Monte, he drove down to where the ride ends and waited for us to come down on the toboggan. There may well be a bus down from there, but I'm not sure.

[catharina]

Thanks guys!

we have booked a full day taxi tour with Danile Madeira taxis so they will take us to the cable car en to the toboggan etc etc and pick us up where we get off. I will let you know how it went!

Cat

[Jamie1963]

Hi Cat,

 

Having done the Monte toboggans myself, I would definitely ask your taxi driver to meet you at the toboggan end. Usually, there are other taxis waiting there for passengers, but they charge a small fortune to take you on the relatively short journey back to the city centre.

 

Whilst in Monte you might like to visit the Monte Tropical Gardens, we loved it. But, allow at least an hour for this as there is lots to see.

 

Only if you have a head for heights, get the cable car up from Funchal seafront to Monte. It is a short walk, about 400 metres, from the Monte cable car terminal to the start of the toboggan ride. Ask your taxi driver to drop you off at the seafront terminal. They could then meet you up in Monte or at the end of the toboggan run.

 

All three attractions are relatively expensive for Madeira, especially if you have children to pay for as well.

 

Out of the three, I would put the cable car as the best value. It takes about 20 minutes and you get some marvellous views of the city and the coastline. You'll definitely be about to see you cruise liner docked. I think the cable car does not charge for children under 5. See the reference below.

 

Monte Palace Tropical Gardens are a lovely place for children to run around and let off a bit of steam. There are plenty of oddities on display around the grounds. You could play, spot the giant vase or something similar. If you want to do something like this, prepare before you go, see the reference below.

 

The Monte Toboggans were a disappointment for us. They travel only about 1.2 km and it is soon over. They are also, what we considered, well overpriced. But, I cannot think of anywhere else in the world that you will find something similar. So, really it's up to you if you want to pay. An reference that seems up to date is below. Be aware, most references on the Internet tell you that the Monte Toboggans go right into Funchal City Centre, they don't, the route was truncated about 5 years ago.

 

The cable car and toboggans will have the usual tourist souvineer photo taken and they will want to charge you 4 euros or more. We didn't buy these, but if you want one I would try and haggle the price - afterall they will only throw away the print if you don't buy it.

 

For your reference:

 

Monte cable car info:

http://www.madeiracablecar.com/

 

Monte Palace Tropical Gardens info:

http://www.montepalace.com/

 

Monte toboggans info:

http://www.love-madeira.com/monte-toboggan-madeira.php

[cinanina]

I went on my first cruise as a small child to Azores and Madeira and that was one of the high points :D although I loved everything, but I do still remember riding on a cow conducted "car" and the toboggan down from Monte area :D I don't think they have the "cow-cars" any longer but the toboggan was fun, I didn't find it scary. My mother came down a different way because she was scared. I really loved this cruise and a lot of it was really calm villages where you just saw the landscape or small museums or you learned about vulcanos and such and I was amazed with everything. They'll love all of it, the market is very beautifull, you can buy them exotic fruit (like cactus pear or some fruit they've never tried) it has all the beautifull flowers and all the people, it's very collourfull, Monte is gourgeous, the rides are great, visiting the cliffs, small village, Porto Moniz, even the wine they might find interesting (I did find it astonishing to visit pineapple glasshouses or the tea plantations in Azores, I was marvelled, because I had no idea how pineapples or tea was planted :)).

 

In Madeira, there are a lot of things to do, there are pool areas, there's horseriding center, farms, golf, beautifull gardens you can visit in old palaces, and my favourite is really the walks but this is difficult for small children. You have the Santo da Serra area, with horseriding, animal farm, golf (http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesP/santo-serra-p.html)

Lido pools are nice if you're not going in high season when it gets crowded (http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesP/beaches/lido.html)

Quinta Magnólia is also beautifull (in Funchal as well) and has a pool area and other activities (http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesP/gardens/quinta-magnolia.html)

 

There's the botanic garden, the sacred art museum, the Quinta das Cruzes which also has a beautifull garden and a museum, there are so many beautifull places to visit. You can also take a boat trip to Desertas (islands where you will see I think it's sea wolves and birds). The Porto Santo island is beautifull, the beach is divine and it is where Christopher Colombus lived for some years while preparing his trip, so there is his house and museum to visit (I really enjoyed it) but it seems the boat trip is not so nice and it might ask for more than a day so I would come back another time for that visit ;)

[aquilegia]

I do still remember riding on a cow conducted "car" :D I don't think they have the "cow-cars" any longer:)).

 

I also can remember as a child the carriages pulled by bullocks or similar. They ran on sleds, rather than wheels. They haven't been around for years, I don't think they'd mix very well with modern traffic! About 15 years ago when I went back, they had a full scale model of one in the main street, but I was there a couple of years ago and the model has gone too.