Funchal Cable Car Tickets

The Full Price List

An adult pays $18.34 (€16) for a single ride and $25.21 (€22) for a return. Children aged 7 to 14 pay half those amounts, so a child's return works out at about $12.61 (€11). Children under 7 travel free. There are no student, senior or resident tiers published on the operator's price page for this line.

Online tickets are e-tickets valid for 60 days after purchase, so you can buy from home before your trip and ride on whatever day the weather suits. There is no discount for buying online on this line. That is worth stating clearly because the other cable car on the hill, the Monte-Botanical Garden line, does give 10% off for online purchases. This Funchal-Monte line does not. Same price at the desk, same price online.

One caution from the regional press: DNOTICIAS.PT reported new glass-floor cabins at a reported €26 one way and €32 return after the line's modernisation. The operator's own price page currently lists only the €16 and €22 fares, so we print the official figures and treat the glass-floor tier as a press report, not a confirmed published fare.

Where The Tickets Are Sold

The main ticket desk sits at the lower station in the Jardim Almirante Reis garden on Rua Dom Carlos I, right beside the Old Town, at GPS 32.6472, -16.9013. You queue, pay, and board the next cabin. Cabins carry 7 people, with a minimum of 6 when others are waiting, and the ride takes about 18 minutes. The upper station at Largo das Babosas 8 sells return legs and single rides down for people who walked or bussed up.

The operator's own shop at madeiracablecar.com sells the same fares as print-free e-tickets. Buying ahead matters most in peak weeks, when the desk queue at the lower station can stretch in the morning. The line runs 08:45 to 17:45 daily, with 25 December the only closing day of the year, and 17:45 functioning as last boarding.

If weather, a power failure or a breakdown makes the return trip impossible, valid-ticket holders get alternative transport back down or a 50% refund. That refund rule is part of the published fare conditions, not something you negotiate on the day.

Accessibility At The Ticket Stage

Boarding areas and cabins are accessible to reduced-mobility passengers, and both stations have adapted toilets, built to the same standard as the ride itself since there is no accessible alternative route up to Monte on foot. Cabins slow down inside the stations and staff can stop the line to help with boarding, so a group should not feel rushed at the platform. One wheelchair per cabin is the safety limit, a rule the operator applies because the cabins are compact and shared with other passengers rather than private.

Staff at the desk can arrange this when you buy your ticket, so it is worth buying in person rather than online if you need boarding assistance, since an online purchase gives staff no advance notice.

No Combo Exists For Cable Car Plus Monte Palace

There is no official combo ticket that bundles the Funchal-Monte cable car with entry to Monte Palace Tropical Garden. The two are separate businesses. You buy your cable car ticket from the cable car operator, and you buy garden entry from the garden. "Cable car and Monte Palace combo" is a search phrase people type, but no operator sells that exact bundle, and we will not imply otherwise.

The practical result is simple. Buy the cable car at the lower station or online, ride up, and buy your Monte Palace ticket at one of the garden's three on-site ticket offices or through the garden's own online shop. Garden entry is a flat $20.63 (€18) for adults with children up to 14 free with an adult, and there is no discount for holding a cable car ticket. The same goes for the toboggan. Monte toboggan rides are sold on-site only, same-day, with no booking and no bundle involving the cable car.

The only money-saving trick is not a combo at all. If you skip Monte Palace and ride only the cable car, your total is the return fare of $25.21 (€22). If you also visit the garden, your total is the return fare plus $20.63 (€18). Buying them separately is not a penalty. It is simply the only way it works.

The Other Cable Car Does Sell A Combo

Here is where the confusion comes from. There is a second cable car on the hill, the Monte-Botanical Garden line, run by a completely different company. Its lower station is at the Madeira Botanical Garden on Caminho das Voltas 15, and its upper station is at Largo das Babosas near where the Funchal-Monte line arrives. The two lines meet at Monte but share nothing else, including ticketing.

That second company does sell a genuine combined ticket covering its cable car ride and garden entry together: adult one-way $21.77 (€19) or return $27.50 (€24), child one-way $10.31 (€9) or return $13.75 (€12), with under-7s free and 10% off when bought online. None of that applies to the Funchal-Monte line we cover on this page. If you have read about a cable-car-plus-garden combo ticket, that was the botanical garden product, and you can read about it on our Madeira Botanical Garden page.

Some visitors ride the Funchal-Monte line up, visit Monte Palace and the church, then take the botanical garden line down through the garden as a second ride. That two-cable-car day costs the Funchal-Monte fare plus whichever botanical garden option suits, and it is a legitimate way to see both gardens without walking the road between them.

The 2-Hour Tuk-Tuk Tour With Cable Car Finale

This 2-hour tuk-tuk tour costs $91.89 per person and holds a 4.9 rating from 190 reviews on GetYourGuide. A local driver collects you anywhere within Funchal, so there is no meeting point to find, and the tour loops the city's highlights for two hours in a small group with commentary in English, Portuguese, Spanish or French. The finale is the cable car ride up to Monte, with your ticket included in the price.

What it does not include matters as much. The toboggan basket ride down is not part of the deal, so if you want the wicker sledge descent you arrange and pay for that yourself at the toboggan departure point near the Monte Church steps. Free cancellation is available up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund, and you choose a fixed departure time at booking. Compared with buying the cable car alone, you are paying roughly four times the return fare, but you are also getting the guided city tour, the transport and the pick-up. For cruise passengers with a tight port window, that packaged certainty is often the point.

The Checklist

- Which day of the week? The line runs every day of the year except 25 December, so the day itself rarely blocks you. Weekends and cruise-port days fill the morning queue fastest, so an early purchase and an early boarding help. - One way or return? Decide this before you buy. The classic Monte day is cable car up, then the toboggan partway down. If the toboggan is your plan, buy one-way up at $18.34 (€16) and skip the return half of the $25.21 (€22). The toboggan drops you at Livramento, not central Funchal, and no official shuttle fare is published for the last stretch back. - Online or desk? No price difference on this line. Online e-tickets are valid 60 days, so buying ahead only makes sense for queue-skipping convenience, not savings. - The weather refund rule? If weather, power failure or breakdown prevents your return trip, valid-ticket holders get alternative transport back or a 50% refund. Do not buy a return you do not expect to use. - Kids counted? Children 7 to 14 pay half and under 7s ride free, so a family of four with young children pays two adult fares, full stop. - Combo expectations? Remember there is no Monte Palace bundle on this line. Budget the garden's $20.63 (€18) separately on top of your cable car fare, or choose the botanical garden line if a genuine cable-car-plus-garden ticket is what you want.

Work through that list in two minutes at the desk or before you click buy online, and the ticket you end up holding will match the day you actually have planned.