Associação dos Carreiros do Monte — Attraction in Funchal

A unique experience that is worth trying if you're in Madeira. We enjoyed it, and I'm happy to recommend it to others. But, we queued 1hr for a 5 minute ride downhill, and at €35 for two people, it's expensive.

It's a stylish and historic tradition in Madeira, but not particularly welcoming. The Carreiros didn't speak to us at all. They all looked pretty fed up and were more interested in talking amongst themselves. The only interaction was at the end when they presented their tip hat, and apparently 10% doesn't merit a smile or a thank you.

The toboggans fit 1-3 people and go pretty fast down a steep road with a few bends which is still open for traffic (also, uniquely, driving on the left). There's a pause in the middle where they need to get off and pull, and half the time you could be going faster were it not for a queue of other toboggans in front.

We arrived at 3pm on a Monday and the queue was pretty long. While they are open until 6pm, worth noting they stopped selling tickets at 4pm.

They are closed on Sundays.

There are toilets at the start & finish.

Recommend to bring cash to pay for the tickets, the tips and the photos they want to sell you at the end. You can't book in advance.

The best way to get to the top is by cable car (€14.50 per adult). You can also get a Bolt or a taxi from Funchal (€6-20) or the bus (€2 per adult).

When you're finished it's a 30-45 minute walk to Funchal, or you can get a taxi. We heard the taxis charge a premium from there so we waited 8 minutes for a Bolt for €6.

Overall it was a fun, memorable experience, but I wouldn't...

This is the 5th time that we've done the toboggan. It was more thrilling the first 3 times but the 4th and 5th times it wasn't so good as a relatively long part of the ride is simply being slowly pulled down the road that was resurfaced over a year ago. Obviously this is nobody's fault as the road is now not smooth enough for the baskets to slide, but it takes a lot of the excitement out of the ride compared to how it used to be. I also dislike being asked for a tip by the men before you've even got out of the basket. This only happened on the last 2 occasions that we've taken the toboggan ride. My tips are: take cash to pay as although there is a card machine e, it rarely works. Biggest tip, we always walk around to the bus stop to the right of the steps, stop on the left, to get back down to the city rather than pay between €15 and €20 for a cab for a short trip. This time, 2 taxi drivers tried to tell us that the bus doesn't go to the city and we'd have to pay for a bus up then a bus down to the city. It clearly states on the timetable that the bus does go to the city and we've used it many times. They badgered us a lot, trying to make us get a taxi but we stood fast and 20 minutes later a bus arrived and took us straight to the city for under €2 each. So, the moral is, don't believe the taxis, they just want your money and have no issue lying to get it. As a first timer it's probably still a good attraction to do but definitely think twice before...

I’d give it 2.5 stars, it’s ok but it really lacks value and the harassment from the taxis afterwards really doesn’t help. This is a level 10 tourist trap.

We lined up on Wednesday afternoon at 3:30pm for what I can only imagine was a 2 hour wait and we had to leave or we wouldn’t have made our next reservation. We returned the next morning (11am) on the #48 bus and didn’t have to wait at all.

We were charged 45€ for 2 adults 1 child and a child under 5 who sat between my lap.

I’m thankful we didn’t have to wait in line, The speed at which the sleds travel isn’t very fast; to the point where my 5 year old found it a bit lame.

The drivers converse in Portuguese the entire way down, it didn’t sound like driving communication.

At the end you’re presented with two photos to Purchase for 10€ each which quickly turn into 2 for 10€.

You can grab the 19 bus from there back down to Funchal for about 1.75€ per adult. You will be asked repeatedly by taxi drivers to take a ride with them, they actively try to talk you out of taking the bus.

At the end of the day, it’s an okay experience that’s pretty underwhelming in excitement and feels like...