Tours in Funchal

Funchal climbs from a harbour up a bowl of hills. Most of Madeira's hotels sit on its lower slopes. The old town keeps to the flat part, by the water.

The old town and the market

• Zona Velha. The oldest grid of streets, laid out by the 15th century when Funchal ran the Atlantic sugar and wine trade; its back lanes are now a gallery of painted doors.
• Mercado dos Lavradores. The produce market by the harbour, tropical fruit stacked next to the fish hall; it sits five minutes' walk from the cable car's lower station.
• The Sé. Funchal's cathedral, begun in 1493 and finished two decades later, with a ceiling of Moorish-patterned cedar carved in a knot-work design rare on this scale in Portugal.
• The seafront. A promenade runs the length of the bay; most boat trips and the marina sit along it rather than in the old town itself.

Monte, and the ride back down

• The cable car. A run of more than three kilometres from the seafront up to Monte, gaining 560 metres in about 15 minutes; the gardens and the church are the reason to get off at the top.
• The toboggan. Wicker baskets on wooden runners, steered by two men in white, cover the two kilometres back downhill on the old road; transport dressed up as a ride, not the other way round.
• Around Monte. The Tropical Garden and the Quinta do Monte gardens sit by the top station, both walkable from it without a car.

Practical

• Weather. Funchal keeps a mild climate year-round, rarely far from 20 degrees; the wetter months run November to February, without turning properly cold.
• Beaches. The city itself has little real sand; most of what looks like a beach is pebble or imported, and locals go to Porto Santo or the Calheta strip instead.
• Booking the cable car. Queues build fast at midday in high season; an early ride up and a walk back down through the gardens avoids most of it.
• Cruise days. Several ships in port at once fill both the toboggan run and the market; the harbour schedule is worth checking before planning a morning there.