The 5 Shore Excursions in Madeira Worth Booking

1.Private & Customizable Safari 4×4 Half-Day Shore Excursion

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 40 reviews · 4 to 5 hours (approx.) Our pick

Take a private, customizable 4x4 trip from Funchal or Caniço, with pickup, live commentary and roughly four to five hours to explore Madeira. Guides including Nico, Tiago and Miguel have led routes with mountain and cliff views, local villages and off-road tracks. Your route can be shaped around your interests, though the exact stops depend on your plans and available time.

“This tour was one of the top highlights of our trip to Portugal. Miguel was an excellent guide and made the day fun, educational and special. We stopped at several great spots, as we asked him to take us "away from the tourist spots" and into the heart of Madeira. We saw spectacular views, local villages, off-road trails and many other unique places we wouldn't have seen with other tours. If you're like us and want to get off the beaten path, this would be a great tour for you. Family of four fit in the back of the UMM with no problem... definitely great to have the open-air top…”

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2.Shore Excursion – East Madeira Peaks & Santana

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 9 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $82

Spend about eight hours exploring eastern Madeira by open-top 4x4, from Machico and Porto da Cruz to Santana, Ribeiro Frio, and Pico do Arieiro. A driver-guide leads the route, with pickup in Funchal and Caniço included. Lunch costs extra, and some pickup areas have a fee. Guides have included Lino, Bruno, Diogo, and Spencer, though your guide is not guaranteed.

“So glad we booked this tour. It was such a great day, especially for my husband as it was his birthday. The humour, friendship and the knowledge of the island that Lino provided was first class. We have been on many tours of the Island, but this jeep tour was by far the best we have had. Great company and so many laughs. Lino isThe Grren Devil!!! We particularly enjoyed Lino's stunning ability to talk to the animals! Our travelling companions were also great fun and up for an adventure. Definitely recommend this safari jeep tour with Lino or Bruno. Thank yiu for such a memorable day. Silvia and Kevin.…”

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3.Shore Excursion Porto Moniz – Enchanted Terraces 4×4 tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 9 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $83

Spend about eight hours crossing northwest Madeira in a 4WD with a local English-speaking guide. The route strings together mountain villages, the laurel forest at Fanal, coastal viewpoints and Porto Moniz, where you may have time to visit the volcanic pools if conditions allow. Pickup is free in Funchal and Caniço, with extra fees for other areas.

“We booked a tour with Viator. We arrived at our vehicle that was to be just 4 people. Unfortunately we are small people. The driver of another jeep that was not for us, told us to come with him, which consisted of a group of Carnival Cruisers, and all much larger than we are. They did not want 2 others from their ship that were way larger even than they were with them on their excursion. They also had a ship leaving around 3pm so we had to cut the tour short. Then our driver wanted us to pay for a lunch we had already paid for, because we were…”

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4.Shore Excursion Santana – Northeast 4×4 tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 7 reviews · 7 to 8 hours (approx.) · from $78

Ride from Funchal into Madeira’s northeast on a guided 4x4 tour, stopping in São Vicente, Santana, Porto da Cruz and more. The route includes a short visit to Santana’s traditional houses and dramatic viewpoints that larger coaches may not reach. Pickup is offered, lunch is extra, and one guide named on a recent outing was Leno.

“We booked this tour as we had not been round east Madeira before ,we had a really great day with our driver /guide Leno ,he was really informative and took us to places we.would not have visited on a shore excursion from our cruise ship these included view points etc where coaches could not reach , he took us off roading which was very scary at times , we stopped in Santana for approx 1hr to get some lunch . Leno then took us to the only traditional Santana house which is still occupied by the decendants of its original owners . As most of them have been turned into…”

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5.Madeira South Tour: Cabo Girão, Waterfalls for Cruise Ship

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 4 reviews · 4 hours · from $70Best value

Join a small group of up to eight for a four-hour south-coast drive from Funchal, with stops in Ribeira Brava, sunny Ponta do Sol, Cabo Girão and Câmara de Lobos. Your English-speaking local guide handles the route, coffee and skywalk entry are included, and you can finish with Poncha, beer or a soft drink.

“Richard è stata una guida bravissima, molto simpatico, cordiale e premuroso. Il tour è organizzato nei minimi dettagli, ognuno dei quali viene accompagnato da una storia e aneddoti locali. Gita veramente consigliata!”

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