A hillside village built on a bishop, an emperor and a sledge
Monte sits some 560 metres above Funchal, close enough to feel like a suburb and high enough to feel like another climate entirely. Locals have been retreating here since the eighteenth century to escape the summer heat of the port below, and the village still carries that holiday air: shaded squares, a pilgrimage church on a hilltop staircase, and a run of wicker toboggans that has been sliding down the same cobbled lane since 1850.
Most visitors arrive by cable car from Funchal’s old town, spend an hour or two around the church and the toboggan start, and either walk on to the Monte Palace Tropical Garden next door or head back down. This page covers the three things that actually define a Monte visit — the cable car, the church, and the toboggan — and leaves the garden, which deserves its own visit, to its own guide.
Monte rewards a slow half-day rather than a rushed hour. The cable car ride alone is one of the best fifteen minutes on the island for a first look at Funchal: the terracotta roofs of the old town give way to the harbour, the cruise terminal, and on a clear day the whole sweep of the bay as far as Cabo Girão to the west. Arrive with that pace in mind and Monte becomes one of the easiest, most rewarding half-days on the island.
Getting up: the cable car from the Zona Velha
The Teleférico do Funchal opened in 2000 and remains the standard way up to Monte. Cabins leave from a station in the Zona Velha, Funchal’s old town, and climb roughly 560 metres over about 15 minutes, gliding above terraced gardens, backyard vegetable plots and the rooftops of residential Funchal before the terrain steepens into pine and eucalyptus near the top. The cabins are small, enclosed, and run continuously rather than on a timetable, so there is rarely a long wait once you reach the front of the queue — the queue itself is the variable, and it lengthens sharply whenever a cruise ship is docked.
A return ticket is the more sensible purchase for most people, since the alternative descent is either a long walk or a taxi, covered below. Buy tickets at the lower station; card and cash are both accepted, and there is no advance online booking that meaningfully beats simply arriving early. The first hour after opening, generally around 9am, is consistently the quietest window, well ahead of the mid-morning cruise-passenger surge.
Some visitors choose to walk up instead: a signed path climbs from the old town through Funchal’s steep residential streets to Monte in around an hour to ninety minutes, gaining the same 560 metres on foot rather than by cabin. It is a legitimate way to see a slice of ordinary Funchal life away from the seafront, but it is a genuine uphill slog in the island’s warm, humid air, and few visitors do it as their only way up.
| Option | Time | Approximate cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cable car (Zona Velha to Monte) | ~15 min | €13–16 one way, less for return | Continuous departures, queues at peak times |
| Walking path | 60–90 min | Free | Steep, shaded in parts, no facilities en route |
| Taxi from central Funchal | 15–20 min | €15–25 one way | Fastest, useful if the cable car queue is long |
| Bus (Horários do Funchal) | 20–30 min | Standard city fare | Infrequent compared with the cable car |
The church and the emperor’s tomb
At the top of a long staircase in the centre of the village stands the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Monte, Monte’s parish church and one of Madeira’s most visited pilgrimage sites. Its twin white towers and black-and-white cobbled forecourt are a familiar postcard image of the island, but the building’s real draw for many visitors is who is buried inside: Charles I of Austria, the last emperor of Austria-Hungary, who died in exile on Madeira in 1922 at the age of 34. His tomb lies inside the church, and it draws a steady flow of Austrian and Hungarian visitors making a specific pilgrimage rather than a general sightseeing stop.
The church itself is modest rather than grand, and the visit is short — most people spend fifteen to twenty minutes inside and on the steps outside. Dress modestly, as at any working place of worship, and expect the church to occasionally close to visitors during services. The staircase up to the entrance, and the small square in front of it, is also where street vendors and the toboggan touts tend to gather, so it functions as the informal centre of the village as much as the church itself does.
The carreiros do Monte: Madeira’s wicker toboggan
A short walk from the church, on a steep cobbled lane, two men in white cotton suits and straw boater hats stand beside a wicker basket mounted on wooden runners. This is the carro de cesto, the Monte toboggan, and the men who push and steer it are carreiros — a tradition that has run, essentially unchanged, since 1850, when it began as a genuinely practical way for Monte’s wealthier residents to get down the hill quickly.
Two carreiros push the basket from behind and guide it with ropes, using the soles of their rubber-heeled boots as brakes on the worn cobbles. The ride covers around two kilometres and lasts a matter of minutes, reaching a fair speed on the steeper sections before levelling out. It is unmistakably a tourist experience today rather than daily transport, but it is a striking one, and the two carreiros’ skill in steering a basket with no independent brakes down a public road, around parked cars and the occasional pedestrian, is worth watching even if you do not ride it yourself.
Here is the point that catches almost every first-time visitor out: the toboggan does not go anywhere near Funchal city centre. It runs downhill from Monte only as far as Livramento, a residential district roughly two kilometres below the church — a fraction of the roughly 560-metre descent back to the harbourfront. From Livramento, riders need to find a taxi or a bus back into central Funchal; the carreiros’ set-up does not include a return service, and there is no toboggan link onward from Livramento. Treat the ride as a short, self-contained activity bolted onto a Monte visit, never as a way of getting yourself back to your hotel.
Pricing is agreed on the spot rather than fixed by a ticket office, and it typically runs to somewhere around 25 to 30 euros for two people for the short standard run; longer or private runs cost more. Cash is the most reliable way to pay, though card readers are increasingly common. It is worth agreeing the price and the exact route before getting in the basket, and tipping is customary but not obligatory.
Combining Monte with the rest of Funchal
Monte works well as the first stop of a Funchal day, since the cable car deposits you back in the old town close to the Mercado dos Lavradores and the seafront. A common pattern is cable car up, church and toboggan in Monte, cable car (or toboggan-plus-taxi) back down, then lunch and an afternoon wandering the painted doors of Rua de Santa Maria and the market.
It is a natural fit for anyone building a one-day itinerary in Madeira or a slightly fuller two-day plan that pairs Monte with the botanical garden or the Quinta do Palheiro on a second morning.
For visitors who want to see more of the island’s high ground on the same day rather than heading straight back to the coast, a private tour is the more efficient option. The private 4x4 tour combining the Monte toboggan with a run up to Pico do Arieiro takes the toboggan ride out of guesswork, folding it into a wider day with the island’s high peaks, rather than leaving you to sort the return taxi from Livramento yourself. Early risers chasing the island’s signature view instead often book the sunrise jeep tour to Pico do Arieiro and save Monte for a slower afternoon.
Those who prefer their half-day on foot rather than by cable car or jeep can look at a guided hike in Madeira that takes in some of the hill paths around Monte and the wooded ridges above Funchal, with a local guide handling navigation and pace. And for visitors closing out a Monte morning with something entirely different in the afternoon, the dolphin and whale watching catamaran tour from Funchal departs from the marina a short taxi ride from the old town cable car station, making a clean split between hillside sightseeing and time on the water.
Practical notes for a Monte visit
Comfortable shoes matter more in Monte than the short distances suggest: the cobbles around the church and the toboggan run are smooth, sloped and can be slippery after rain. The village sits noticeably cooler and often cloudier than the seafront in Funchal — pack a light layer even on a warm day down at the harbour, since Monte’s elevation puts it closer to the cloud base more often than not.
Facilities are limited to a handful of cafés and souvenir stalls clustered around the church square and the upper cable car station; there is no need to bring much beyond water and a camera. Toilets are available near both cable car stations. The Monte Palace Tropical Garden entrance sits directly beside the upper cable car terminal, which is why so many visitors assume it is included in the cable car ticket — it is not, and it charges its own separate admission.
Timing the visit around cruise ship arrivals makes a real difference. Funchal’s cruise terminal sits close to the old town cable car station, and when a large ship is in port, both the cable car queue and the toboggan wait can stretch well beyond half an hour. Checking the day’s cruise schedule, widely published locally, and aiming for an early morning or late afternoon visit avoids most of the crowding.
| Element | What it is | Typical time needed |
|---|---|---|
| Cable car ride (one way) | Zona Velha to Monte, 560m ascent | 15 minutes |
| Nossa Senhora do Monte church | Pilgrimage church, Emperor Charles I’s tomb | 15–20 minutes |
| Carreiros do Monte toboggan | Wicker basket ride to Livramento | 10 minutes, plus taxi onward |
| Monte Palace Tropical Garden | Separate paid garden, own guide | 1.5–2 hours (not covered here) |
Frequently asked questions about visiting Monte
Can the wicker toboggan take you all the way back to Funchal?
No. The carreiros do Monte glide roughly two kilometres downhill to Livramento, not into central Funchal. From Livramento you need a taxi or a bus to complete the journey back to town.
How long does the Monte cable car take?
About 15 minutes each way, climbing roughly 560 metres from the Zona Velha in Funchal’s old town to the Monte terminal.
Is Emperor Charles I really buried in Monte?
Yes. Charles I of Austria, the last Habsburg emperor, died in exile in Madeira in 1922 and is buried inside the Nossa Senhora do Monte church, which draws a steady stream of Austrian and Hungarian visitors.
Do you need to book the cable car or the toboggan in advance?
Neither normally requires advance booking, though both can queue heavily when cruise ships are in port; arriving before mid-morning avoids most of the wait.
Is the Monte Palace Tropical Garden included in a Monte visit?
It sits beside the upper cable car station but is a separate paid attraction with its own hours; it is not part of the church, the toboggan run, or the cable car ticket.
How much does the wicker toboggan cost?
The classic short run for two people costs in the region of 25 to 30 euros, paid in cash or by card directly to the carreiros at the top of the run in Monte.
Can you walk from Funchal up to Monte instead of taking the cable car?
Yes, a signed path climbs from the old town through residential Funchal to Monte in around an hour to ninety minutes, though most visitors prefer the cable car given the steep gain in altitude.
