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Our Island trips
A brief Introduction:
We cater for a gap in the market by picking up our guests from their home, their hotel or their holiday apartment. Comfortably seated in the car, you are driven through the various villages, you can enjoy the natural landscape and we tell you all about the most important sights on the island - no stressful driving for you!
The major advantage for you is that you can get in and out whenever you feel like it or when you spot a pretty motif for a photo. We are flexible with our route; you can make your own suggestions.
We offer day trips and half-day trips.
Here are our recommendations:
The West Island Tour
We drive along the south coast to Câmara de Lobos, take a stroll around the village and then go towards Cabo Girão, the highest cape in Europe. We then take the “Via Rapida” (highway) as far as Ribeira Brava, then up to Serra de Agua and the Encumeada Pass. Up at the top you can look down to both sides, the north and the south coast. We are surrounded by imposing mountains to the East and the West. We leave the viewpoint and then stop for a while in São Vicente where we have a look at the picturesque village and visit the volcanic grottos. Afterwards our trip takes us along the romantic north coast to Seixal, Ribeira da Janela and to Porto Moniz (the northernmost point of the island). The natural pools invite you to take a swim and you will certainly remember the breakers on the rocky outcrops for a long time!
If you are hungry, you can eat in one of the local restaurants or you can take out the lunch you brought from home.
Going up the steep serpentine road, we can admire the sleepy village of Porto Moniz from above and then just after the small village of Santa we reach the road leading up to the Paul da Serra.
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This is a completely different world again. Often we meet cows, sheep or goats, alone or in groups, looking for food.
On our journey over the plateau we at times glimpse the north and the south coast at the same moment with their scattered villages and settlements.
At a height of about 1300m we walk along a short levada to the west. At “Cristo Rei”, a statue, we reach the road leading down to Canhas. Shortly afterwards we arrive in Ponta do Sol and then once again in the town of Ribeira Brava, where we stop to stroll around. With all these beautiful experiences behind us, we hit the highway and arrive safely back in our holiday village.
The East Island Tour
Our first stop is the wicker factory in Camacha. After visiting the exhibition we drive up to Pico do Arieiro, the highest viewpoint reachable by car. After that we arrive at the trout farm in Ribeiro Frio.
To stretch our legs, we walk up to Balcões, which affords us a great view down to Faial and quite often across to Porto Santo as well. Back at the car we go down to the coast and up the serpentine road to Santana. Here we have a chance to visit the village itself as well as a typical Santana house which is still inhabited.
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We take part of the same road back and driving around the eagle’s rock we come to Porto da Cruz, where there is a sugar-cane factory (still in use in April/May).
Taking the road via Portela we reach the nature and leisure park in Santo da Serra and enjoy the beautiful view from the golf course across to the Desertas Islands and down to the peninsula of São Lourenço.
Crossing the valley of Ribeira Seca we drive through the tunnel of Caniçal. We can already see this fishing village which has gained considerably in importance due to the newly built free trade zone. The barren landscape here lets us imagine how nature has developed over thousands of years. The various strata of rock in the steep cliffs at Ponta do Rosto are an impressive example of this development.
In Caniçal, we take a walk through the village and the harbour and finally reach the last viewpoint of the day at Pico do Facho, which affords us the view across the valley of Machico and of the airport. We then drive underneath the 189 supporting columns of the airport’s new runway towards Santa Cruz and about 10 minutes later we arrive, perhaps a little tired after all of the day’s different impressions, at our starting point.
Half Day Trip to the Nun’s Valley: (9.30 – 12/13)
Our destination is Monte, where you have the opportunity to descend into Funchal with the traditional wicker toboggans (not included in the price). From here we then drive directly down into the nun’s valley (Curral das Freiras). On our way back we stop at the viewpoint Eira do Serrado and you can imagine the winding ascent yet again. Finally we can enjoy a panoramic view over the city and the harbour of Funchal.
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Our prices for 2001 (not including meals):
Day Trips: Half-day Trips:
2 persons / € 34,- per person2 persons / € 16,- per person
3 persons / € 26,- perperson 3 persons / € 13,- per person
4 persons / € 21,- per person4 persons / € 11,- per person
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