Funchal Shuttle?

[roothy123]

I was wondering if anyone has stopped in beautiful Funchal, Madeira, and if so, if a shuttle was offered. It's a bit of a walk to town and cabs from the port aren't cheap, so I'm hoping the answer is yes. I know there was a thread started in which people posted their experiences with shuttles on Oceania cruises, but I tried a quick search and couldn't find it.

 

Has anyone been to Funchal?

[LHT28]

probably not up to date but is this the list you were looking for ?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1466724&highlight=shuttles

[Marisha115]

Is this the thread you were looking for?

[orchestrapal]

I was wondering if anyone has stopped in beautiful Funchal, Madeira, and if so, if a shuttle was offered. It's a bit of a walk to town and cabs from the port aren't cheap, so I'm hoping the answer is yes. I know there was a thread started in which people posted their experiences with shuttles on Oceania cruises, but I tried a quick search and couldn't find it.

 

Has anyone been to Funchal?

 

There was no shuttle four years ago when we stopped there.

[roothy123]

Thanks all for your quick responses! I'll take a look at the links. Of course, nothing is set in stone or guaranteed, but at least I'd like to have an idea of what my options are!

[sueu]

We were on the TA in April and there were shuttles from the ship into the town centre very regularly.

[roothy123]

That's good to know, sueu. Did they go to the area of the cable car/teleferico, I assume?

[ChatKat in Ca.]

The shuttle took you to a corner on the main street where there were street merchants, restaurants and shopping. Close to the Hop on Hop Off buses and waterfront.

[roothy123]

Oh, and I forgot to ask: Apparently there are 2 piers there and most ships dock at the longer, farther one, which adds a bit of time to the walk out of the port and to city center. Would you, orchestrapal or sueu, happen to remember if you were at the long pier farther away, or right next to Funchal? One cruiser (not sure if Oceania or other line) reported several months ago that a shuttle was announced and then canceled when the ship ended up docking at the "near" location. I checked the Madeira port site and while they list the ships in port by day, they do not provide any information on location.

[roothy123]

The shuttle took you to a corner on the main street where there were street merchants, restaurants and shopping. Close to the Hop on Hop Off buses and waterfront.

 

Thank you. That sounds like it is by the marina, and the closest stop of the HoHo bus, primary place to catch city buses, etc.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We were on the same ship as Kathy, and yes there was a shuttle. Not sure, it might have been provided by the port. We were out at the end of a fairly long quay.

[Hambagahle]

We have been to Funchal several times. The harbour is U shaped. If your ship docks on the side of the U near the town it is an easy 15 min walk right to the centre of town. if you are on the other side it will take about 30mins for the walk. And when we have been docked on the "sea side" there have been shuttles.

[pacheco18]

My two cents

 

To really see Madeira you need to get out of the city and take a tour.

 

We did so on a TA a few years ago with another couple. It was wonderful.

 

Here is a link to the company we used.

 

http://madeira-seekers.com

[DavidTheWonderer]

When Wendy and I were on the Riviera with Kathy and Frank last Fall, we were supposed to go to the Azores. But the weather was awful there, and so Funchal was added as a last-minute replacement. So we had nothing planned. Wendy and I took the shuttle (!) into town, were wandering around, and got sweet talked by a local cabbie into hiring him for the afternoon. It was one of the best tours possible. Fairly cheap too. The town is nice but, as others have said, getting out to see some more of the island is an excellent idea. And if you go up on one of the mountains to look down at Funchal from above the views are spectacular.

 

Sorry, but I don't have the contact information for this cabbie, and pre-arranging a tour with a known tour company is probably a good idea if possible. We perhaps just got lucky with this particular guy.

Edited June 1, 2014 by DavidTheWonderer

[pacheco18]

When Wendy and I were on the Riviera with Kathy and Frank last Fall, we were supposed to go to the Azores. But the weather was awful there, and so Funchal was added as a last-minute replacement. So we had nothing planned. Wendy and I took the shuttle (!) into town, were wandering around, and got sweet talked by a local cabbie into hiring him for the afternoon. It was one of the best tours possible. Fairly cheap too. The town is nice but, as others have said, getting out to see some more of the island is an excellent idea. And if you go up on one of the mountains to look down at Funchal from above the views are spectacular.

 

Sorry, but I don't have the contact information for this cabbie, and pre-arranging a tour with a known tour company is probably a good idea if possible. We perhaps just got lucky with this particular guy.

 

The reference I gave above to madeira seekers provides cabs

[roothy123]

Thank you everyone. Yes, I am planning to go outside Funchal, but want to spend some time in Funchal as well, plus Monte. I want to go to Camara de Lobos and Cabo Girao and possibly the Nun's Valley, although that looks like it may have to wait until a future visit due to time constraints. I wish we had more time there, as we get there at 8 and leave at 3 to get back up to Spain, with a day at sea. I have scoured the whole island by internet and Google Earth (well, just about) and have found so many things that interest me that it has become really hard to make up my mind what to do. There certainly are a lot of choices, plus a lot of tours, and cab drivers willing to do tours, etc. Oceania's excursions offer some of the things I want, but not enough of them together to be feasible for me.

 

pacheco18, I was looking at Madeira Seekers tours last night. David, I've heard that cab drivers will offer tours for up to 4 people at a particular price, and that while there are official prices, you can negotiate. I've heard some are good, some not so good, and that mostly you'll get better prices if you walk into town and negotiate rather than getting one at the dock.

 

I'm planning to pre-arrange one (hopefully with taxi tour company of Daniel Madeira) and then explore in Old Town Funchal (waterfront, east of the cable car station) on foot, then take a taxi, bus, shuttle, whatever back to the ship.

Edited June 1, 2014 by roothy123

[pacheco18]

Thank you everyone. Yes, I am planning to go outside Funchal, but want to spend some time in Funchal as well, plus Monte. I want to go to Camara de Lobos and Cabo Girao and possibly the Nun's Valley, although that looks like it may have to wait until a future visit due to time constraints. I wish we had more time there, as we get there at 8 and leave at 3 to get back up to Spain, with a day at sea. I have scoured the whole island by internet and Google Earth (well, just about) and have found so many things that interest me that it has become really hard to make up my mind what to do. There certainly are a lot of choices, plus a lot of tours, and cab drivers willing to do tours, etc. Oceania's excursions offer some of the things I want, but not enough of them together to be feasible for me.

 

pacheco18, I was looking at Madeira Seekers tours last night. David, I've heard that cab drivers will offer tours for up to 4 people at a particular price, and that while there are official prices, you can negotiate. I've heard some are good, some not so good, and that mostly you'll get better prices if you walk into town and negotiate rather than getting one at the dock.

 

I'm planning to pre-arrange one (hopefully with taxi tour company of Daniel Madeira) and then explore in Old Town Funchal (waterfront, east of the cable car station) on foot, then take a taxi, bus, shuttle, whatever back to the ship.

 

Sounds like a good plan. You will love Madeira.

[ORV]

Thank you everyone. Yes, I am planning to go outside Funchal, but want to spend some time in Funchal as well, plus Monte. I want to go to Camara de Lobos and Cabo Girao and possibly the Nun's Valley, although that looks like it may have to wait until a future visit due to time constraints. I wish we had more time there, as we get there at 8 and leave at 3 to get back up to Spain, with a day at sea. I have scoured the whole island by internet and Google Earth (well, just about) and have found so many things that interest me that it has become really hard to make up my mind what to do. There certainly are a lot of choices, plus a lot of tours, and cab drivers willing to do tours, etc. Oceania's excursions offer some of the things I want, but not enough of them together to be feasible for me.

 

pacheco18, I was looking at Madeira Seekers tours last night. David, I've heard that cab drivers will offer tours for up to 4 people at a particular price, and that while there are official prices, you can negotiate. I've heard some are good, some not so good, and that mostly you'll get better prices if you walk into town and negotiate rather than getting one at the dock.

 

I'm planning to pre-arrange one (hopefully with taxi tour company of Daniel Madeira) and then explore in Old Town Funchal (waterfront, east of the cable car station) on foot, then take a taxi, bus, shuttle, whatever back to the ship.

 

We used Daniel's Taxi a couple of years ago and can vouch for the service. Esebia (sp), Daniel's wife, was a delight to communicate with via email and very helpful & informative. We had a wonderful day in Madeira, very beautiful Island.

[Hambagahle]

You need good weather for Monte (both for gardens and sled ride!) and also if you are going anywhere up high. The tops of the mountains can easily be in the mist. And if you are going up above 1000m anywhere remember that it will be a lot colder up there than down at the port. Take a sweater (I learnt the hard way!).

 

Funchal town centre is relatively small and very pretty. I also had the best cappucino I have had anywhere in the world there. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the café but it was on the main square next to the cathedral.

[TERRIER1]

We were in in Funchal on the Riviera in June 2012.There was a shuttle bus from the ship to town and left us off Plaza Autonomia where we caught the #21 bus to Monte. We were at the pier farther away from town. There were other ships at the piers closer to town.

 

We were there on a Sunday which happened to be Portugal Day so many places were closed. The Botanical Gardens are suppose to be very nice. There is an artist area called Rua de Santa Maria where all the doors are painted and some nice little restaurants.

[roothy123]

Hambaghale, thank you for the warning about the sweater, as I probably would not have thought about that for Monte, or for Cape Girao and the Nun's Valley too, should we go to those places. I DID read that taking the cable car in mist/rain would be iffy for views, and perhaps even for the cable car running, but I didn't think of the coolness!

 

Terrier, there is construction in the area of Plz Autonomia, so the bus is running from another location nearby. I suppose any shuttle I encounter in August may drop near there if there's still construction, or perhaps closer to where ChatKat describes. I can work with either one.

 

The painted doors are one thing I definitely want to see, and Fort Tiago too. An excellent cappucino by the Se would be wonderful, too!

[TERRIER1]

The painted doors are one thing I definitely want to see, and Fort Tiago too. An excellent cappucino by the Se would be wonderful, too!

 

We stopped at a small cafe on the back street for a couple of beers. It was warm. We asked if they had any local sausage to snack on. They gave us their "chorizo" but it came whole and you cooked it on a brazier. It was great. New experience.

 

 

 

 

[roothy123]

I really enjoyed looking at ALL your Europe 2012 pictures, terrier 1. We will be going to Santa Cruz, Arrecife, Cadiz and Lisbon on this cruise in August, so I especially looked at those pictures! You have some great ones.

 

Could someone give me an estimate of about how long and easy a walk it is from the cable car stop at Monte to the church? I'm having a little trouble gauging that, but I assume it's not more than 10 minutes? Also, do you end up at the bottom of the long steps, or the back of the church, or what? I've seen pictures of the basket ride from above (looks to be from a railing) - does anyone know where that is taken? I'm thinking near the side or back of the church, but I really haven't been able to pin it down. Also, are those steps going up the church really crowded with people, or is it maybe, possibly possible to get take a picture without a crowd?

[babysteps]

When we were on O in Funchal in September 2012 there was a shuttle provided by the port. It did however take a lunch break for an hour mid-day, so you may want to double check with the bus driver in the morning on that!

 

We are particularly interested in wine & spirits, so spent a very pleasant day on foot visiting a few of the Madeira houses around the city center that were open and had tastings available. We hadn't made any plans in advance.

[roothy123]

Thanks, babysteps. We ran into that situation in Helsinki (except that it was a 2 hour lunch break) and that threw a monkey wrench into my plans.