An Honest Review of the Monte Wicker Toboggan

I want to be upfront about something before I even describe the ride: I timed it. Not because I am precious about minutes on holiday, but because the wicker toboggan is one of those Madeira experiences that gets talked about so much, and photographed so often, that nobody actually tells you how short it is. So here is the honest version, from someone who has now done it and would happily do it again — once.

What the Carreiros do Monte actually are

The baskets are called carros de cesto, woven wicker seats mounted on wooden runners with no engine, no brakes in the mechanical sense, and no wheels. Two men in white cotton, straw boaters and rubber-soled leather boots, the Carreiros, stand behind and steer you downhill from Monte using ropes, their own weight, and the friction of their boots against the cobbles. The whole thing has been running since 1850, which makes it older than most of what else you will see that day, and it started as a genuinely practical way for Monte residents to get down the hill quickly, not as a tourist photo opportunity. It became one anyway.

You board at the top, near the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte, after most people have already spent the morning up at Monte Palace Tropical Garden or wandering the grounds. Two of you fit in a basket, the Carreiros give it a shove, and you are off.

The ride itself

It is genuinely fun, and it photographs well precisely because it looks a little absurd: two grown adults in a wicker chair, sliding down a public road behind two men jogging alongside in boaters. The gradient does the work, the Carreiros manage the speed, and the sensation is somewhere between a go-kart and a very smooth toboggan run, which I suppose is the point. There is no soundtrack, no safety briefing beyond common sense, and no illusion that you are in control. You are not. That is fine.

Where the honesty comes in is the distance and duration. The route covers about 2km down to Livramento, and depending on traffic and how enthusiastic your Carreiros are, it takes a matter of minutes, not the leisurely descent the photos imply. I have spent longer choosing where to stand for the photo than I spent actually sitting in the basket.

The bit every guide skips: this is not transport

I want to say this plainly because it is the mistake I see people make when planning their day: the wicker toboggan does not take you back into central Funchal. It stops at Livramento, which is still well up the hill, and from there you need a taxi rank or a bus to finish the journey down. If your plan is “toboggan down from Monte, then explore the old town,” build in the taxi. Treating the ride as your descent, rather than as a short, self-contained activity, is the single most common way people get caught out here, and it is worth repeating: the basket stops, your journey does not.

I have also seen the toboggan described as an alternative to the Monte cable car for getting up or down the hill. It is not an alternative to anything. It runs in one direction only, from one fixed point to another, and it exists parallel to how you actually get to and from Monte, which I cover properly in my cable car and toboggan guide rather than repeating here.

So is it worth the money?

Judged strictly on minutes-per-euro, no. It is one of the least efficient uses of holiday cash you will find in Madeira, and if you go in expecting a proper ride, you will feel short-changed the moment it ends. Judged on what it actually is, a living trade that has survived largely unchanged since Queen Victoria’s reign, performed by two men who do this dozens of times a day and still make it look effortless, I think it earns its keep. You are not paying for two kilometres of road. You are paying for a piece of Madeira you cannot buy anywhere else on the planet, packaged into a few minutes.

My honest verdict: do it once, for the anecdote and the photograph, not for the journey. Do not stack multiple rides expecting the value to improve, and do not let anyone plan an itinerary around it doing more than it does.

a private 4x4 day that pairs the Monte toboggan run with Pico do Arieiro, so the ride sits inside a fuller day rather than standing alone is the version I would book if I wanted the experience without the logistics of buses and taxis afterwards.

What I’d tell a first-timer

Go early, before the tour coaches arrive at Monte and the queue for baskets lengthens. Wear shoes you don’t mind getting a little dusty, and know that the price is per basket at the stand, not negotiable, and posted in plain view before you commit. Bring cash. Do not expect a safety briefing beyond a firm grip on the sides, and do not expect the Carreiros to pose for extra photos without it being part of the transaction.

If wicker baskets and boaters aren’t really your thing but you still want the Monte hillside covered properly, a guided hike through the hills above Funchal gives you a slower, more detailed look at the same slopes the Carreiros descend in minutes. And if your real interest is the mountains rather than the town, I would put the money toward a sunrise jeep tour up to Pico do Arieiro or an evening under a genuinely dark sky with a stargazing session at Pico do Arieiro before I would put it toward a second toboggan run.

For the rest of a Monte morning, I’d pair it with the botanical gardens and treat the toboggan as the closing five minutes of the visit, not the centrepiece. It slots neatly into a wider one day in Funchal plan, or into a single-day Madeira itinerary that already has the cable car and old town on the list.

The bottom line

The wicker toboggan is Madeira at its most theatrical: a genuinely old trade, kept alive because visitors keep paying to watch it, wrapped in a few minutes of very photogenic descent. I don’t regret doing it, and I don’t plan to do it again on my next visit, which is probably the most honest review I can give. For a wider sense of what else catches first-timers out here, my mistakes to avoid guide and this cable car or taxi to Monte piece cover the ground this article doesn’t.

Carreiros do Monte FAQ: what first-timers actually ask

How long does the wicker toboggan ride actually last?

A few minutes. The run down to Livramento covers roughly 2km, and on a normal day the whole thing, basket included, is over before you have finished laughing about it.

Does the toboggan take you back to Funchal?

No. It stops at Livramento, well short of the city centre, and from there you need a taxi or a bus to continue. Do not plan it as your way down from Monte.

Who are the Carreiros?

The two men in white outfits and straw boaters who steer each basket. It is a real profession, passed down since 1850, and they earn their fee through skill, not spectacle.

Is it safe?

It has been running since the Victorian era and the Carreiros know every metre of the route. It still feels faster and looser than you expect, so hold the sides and manage your own nerves.

Should I book the toboggan and the cable car on the same day?

Most people do, since both start or end near Monte. I cover how those two fit together separately, rather than repeating it here.

Is the wicker toboggan good value?

Weighed purely against the minutes it lasts, no. Weighed as a 170-year-old piece of living history you can only do in one town on Earth, I think it earns its place once.

Do I need to book the toboggan in advance?

No. It runs on demand from the stand near Monte’s church, and you simply queue and pay on the day. For the things to do around Monte, it’s one of the few that doesn’t need pre-booking.

What should I see with limited time at Monte?

If you only have an hour, prioritise the gardens and the church, then close with the toboggan on your way toward Livramento, checking Madeira’s best viewpoints and your budget before deciding how many extras to add.