Monte Tour

High above Funchal, reached by winding roads through terraced hillsides and subtropical gardens, sits Monte — a village of a different atmosphere entirely. Cooler, quieter, and draped in the kind of lush vegetation that Madeira's elevated interior produces in extraordinary abundance, Monte has drawn visitors since the 19th century, when Funchal's wealthy built their quintas here to escape the summer heat of the city below. It has been surprising people ever since.

The Monte Tuk-Tuk Tour takes you there from Funchal on a private journey up through the hills — and brings you back down in the most memorable way possible.

The Ascent — Funchal From Above

Your tour departs from Funchal and climbs through the city's upper neighbourhoods, the streets narrowing and the vegetation thickening as the altitude rises. As the rooftops of Funchal spread out below and the bay opens up behind them, the scale of the island's topography becomes apparent in a way that the city streets never quite allow. Monte sits at approximately 550 metres above sea level — high enough to feel genuinely apart from the city, close enough to make the contrast between the two feel almost theatrical.

The Church of Our Lady of Monte — History More Strange Than Fiction

At the heart of Monte stands the Church of Nossa Senhora do Monte — Madeira's most important pilgrimage site, its twin-towered baroque facade rising above a dramatic stone staircase that has been climbed by pilgrims on their knees for generations. The church was built on the site of a 15th-century chapel and houses the venerated image of Our Lady of Monte, patron saint of Madeira, to whom the island's people have brought their devotions for five centuries.

But Monte's most extraordinary historical detail belongs to the church's small imperial chapel. Buried here is Karl I — the last Emperor of Austria-Hungary, who died in exile in Madeira in 1922 at the age of 34, having refused to formally abdicate his throne. He arrived on the island gravely ill, in poverty, and largely forgotten by the courts of Europe. He never left. His tomb, in this quiet hillside village above Funchal, is one of the most quietly remarkable historical sites in the entire Atlantic — and one that most visitors to Madeira never know exists.

The Monte Palace Tropical Garden

Adjacent to the church, the Monte Palace Tropical Garden occupies the grounds of a 19th-century palace and represents one of the finest botanical collections in Portugal — a landscape of koi ponds, azulejo-tiled pathways, endemic Madeiran plants, and curated collections of cycads, palms, and African and Asian flora spread across terraced hillside gardens with views over the valley below.

The Toboggan — A Tradition Unlike Anything Else

And then there is the ride down.

The carreiros do Monte — Monte's wicker toboggan descent — has been operating since the 1850s, when it began as a practical means of transporting goods and people rapidly down the steep hillside to Funchal. What began as necessity became tradition, and tradition became one of the most singular travel experiences in the world. Two carreiros — dressed in their traditional white uniforms and straw hats — guide a wicker sled on wooden runners down 2 kilometres of smooth cobblestoned road, using their rubber-soled boots as brakes, reaching speeds of up to 48 kilometres per hour.

There is nothing quite like it anywhere else on earth. It has been operating continuously for nearly two centuries. And it ends, conveniently, precisely where your tuk-tuk will be waiting to return you to Funchal.

The toboggan ride is booked and paid separately on-site. Your guide will provide full details and assistance.

Private tour. Expert local guide. Hotel pickup available. Available daily.