Toboggan ride

[dotalex]

We are sailing this Sat. on VENTURA to the canaries, we have a stop on Madeira can anyone tell me if you can do the toboggan ride on your own or is it better to go on the tour

[BrianI]

You can do it on your own. Just take the cable car up to the top of the hill.

Brian

[kevinyork]

Beware that you may have a bit of a wait if you arrive when a tour group do as they usually have priority. Also, at the end of the toboggan it's quite a walk down into town or requires a bus ride or taxi.

 

 

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[Thejuggler]

Cable car up, toboggan is a short walk from station at base of Monte church steps.

 

Cost in August was €15 per person, max three per toboggan, then you need to get back into to Funchal, but taxis are cheap enough.

[leesam]

We took a taxi from by the ship, which took us to the start of the ride where we took the toboggan down, he then met us at the end of the ride and dropped us off in town.

Unfortunately I can’t remember the cost but, you can negotiate with the driver before you commit.

Leesam

[sapphire4]

We went on the half day trip. Thoroughly enjoyable. Coach took us up to a viewing platform then on to a place selling the local port or sherry. No hard sell and plenty of tastings. Went to the front of the queue for the cable car. This was not my favourite ride as we were left suspended for a while. I believe this was due to a wheelchair at the bottom. No problem with that at all if we had been warned. At the top of the mountain there was time to look at the gardens and visit the little church. Again taken to the front of the queue . The toboggan ride was amazing. It did ,however , stop well short of the town and if you did your own trip you would probably need a taxi. We were then dropped off in the middle of Funchal or you could go back to the ship. Enjoy! It was definitely one of the highlights of our Canaries trip.

[Florry]

Hi, we got the cable car up and paid ourselves for the toboggan. Whilst we were waiting in the queue we agreed with another couple to meet at the end and share a cab back [emoji106]🏼

[john watson]

If you take the official cruise line coach - cable car - toboggan ride it is quite pricey. Frankly the coach takes you up a big hill and back down for sight seeing and drops you off near cable cars area but there is not that much to see. Included in your tour is the cable car fare toboggan ride money and transport back to ship. I think transport back to ship was included or drop off at shuttle bus location in town for a postponed return if you wanted.

 

If you do this on your own it will be cheaper and you can hone it even cheaper by doing long walks instead of taxis.

 

The ship is berthed wrong side of bay so you need a taxi to cable car station. If you want to walk scan horizon for where you can see cable cars and head for the lower station by walking round the bay. Buy a one way ticket at the station and get on a cable car. When you get off at the top head uphill for the toboggan area. There is a nice little pub style bar at the top full of the toboggan guys, you cant miss it or them! Have a coffee, beer or coke. When you are ready just ask to ride and pay the fee. They give a choice of how fast to descend, we asked for fastest possible. If you want; fast they give the toboggan ahead a long head start, in our case 500 metres. Then they start the run which is just over a mile long. We caught up the previous toboggan three quarters of the way down. It may appear to the novice a bit dangerous in that traffic still uses the road as you do the run but they have guys at important cross roads to avert collisions. At the bottom there is a souvenir shop offering the usual tack but they also post photographers down the route to snap you and offer these for sale. Just past the shop is a taxi rank so you easily get a taxi back to ship or into town. I should schedule it at a similar time to the ships's excursion to ensure the guys are running the event. The toboggan guys all get in a mini bus and the toboggans go on a flat bed truck which takes them back to the top incidentally.

 

A very easy DIY tour to organise and will save you money.

 

Regards John

Edited October 26, 2015 by john watson

[tartanexile81]

It's not too far to walk to the cable car station as long as you don't have any walking difficulties etc. We've done it a few times and we're not young.

 

Last time were there with P&O we took the shuttle into town and when we were there in January, (with a different line) the new port and terminal were in full use and it was much closer to town.

[besberry]

In early October it was a 20 minute stroll to the cable car €10 (I think, maybe €15) on the cable car, €30 for a couple in a toboggan or €45 for three. Then we paid €20 for a cab back into Funchal. We left the ship about 10:30 and we waited maybe 15 minutes for a toboggan. It was great fun. My video of the ride is here

[toadie57]

We did this up by cable car looked at the gardens then to began down we then walked down the hill to the town center lots of taxis round where the toboggans stop don't except first price went from 20 euro right down to 5 though we enjoyed the walk all down hill and didn't take long loved it

[kruzseeka]

Agree easy to DiY - you get the benefit of the great views on the cable car and spend as little or as much time as you wish looking around at the top too. We walked to the cable car station - easy walk but about a mile I'd guess. However a word of warning about the return. I'd agree with others posters to get a taxi from the end of the ride (good idea to negotiate with other people in the queue to share). We are pretty good walkers and as we could see the waterfront in the distance when we got off, decided to walk. Mistake! The gradient is so steep we were actually zigzagging down like a ski run to try to reduce the angle of descent. It was punishing on the knees and at that time we hadn't any issues with ours! I'd recommend a taxi!

[dotalex]

Many thanks for all the advice and comments, We think we will book on of the tours as my legs are not the greatest walkers

Thanks again

[shallwe]

It is a lovely stroll to the cable car station. We then walked straight to the ticket office and bought return tickets including the botanical gardens at the top. We had a lovely walk around the gardens then got the cable car back down. You have to break the cable car journey if you are going to the very top as they are two separate cable cars, but the ticket I recall is for both.

 

We didn't do the toboggan ride so I'm not really answering your question, although we were thinking about it as we were descending. However Funchal is so easy to do on your own.

[Scriv]

If the toboggan ride is for any reason not running, don't be tempted to walk down the whole way - it really is a killer, especially on the back of the legs as it is unbelievably steep.

[john watson]

Many thanks for all the advice and comments, We think we will book on of the tours as my legs are not the greatest walkers

Thanks again

 

Self booked taxis all round on the day is still cheaper on this particular trip and will be same requirement in walking.

 

Regards John

[sapphire4]

We aren't ones for trips but we felt that the half day cable car and toboggan ride was excellent. You got to see a bit of Funchal as well. No hard sell, lots of wine and sherry tasting, priority in the queues and an informative guide. We were there in September and the weather was hot for walking. We didn't notice taxis around the end of the toboggan run. Have a lovely time. It was definitely a trip highlight. Just remember if the cable car stops its probably letting on a wheelchair.