Part of our complete guide: Activities and tours on Madeira
Cabo Girão
At 580 metres one of Europe’s highest sea cliffs, with a glass-floored skywalk cantilevered over the edge. You look straight down onto the fajãs — the narrow cultivated terraces at the foot of the wall — and out to sea.
The skywalk charges a small admission (a few euros), parking is free, and it is 20 minutes by car from Funchal. It is on practically every west and island tour, which makes it the most densely visited point on Madeira: before 10 am or after 5 pm it is a different place.
Cable cars
Madeira has more than one, and the famous one is not the interesting one.
- Funchal – Monte: the touristic one, 15 minutes, about €12.50 one way.
- Monte – Botanical Garden: the connecting line.
- Fajã dos Padres: straight down the cliff to a cove with a restaurant and orchards otherwise reachable only by boat.
- Achadas da Cruz (west): a working cable car down to terraced fields by the sea, spectacularly steep and almost tourist-free.
13 options combine cable cars with tours, from about €75.
The miradouros you drive to yourself
All free, all reachable by car:
- Eira do Serrado — into the Nuns’ Valley, Curral das Freiras
- Guindaste and Faial — glass walkways on the north coast
- Ponta do Garajau with its Christ statue
- Véu da Noiva near Seixal — the waterfall from the viewing platform
- Ponta do Pargo — lighthouse in the far west
- Pico dos Barcelos — the quickest view over Funchal
- Balcões at Ribeiro Frio — 20 minutes on foot, looking into the central massif
Book it or drive it yourself?
This is the island’s clearest case: drive yourself. Not one viewpoint here needs a guide, nearly all have parking, and the driving between them is precisely what a week on Madeira is.
Booking makes sense if you have no hire car — then island tours and jeep tours are how you get there.
Common questions
How much does the Cabo Girão skywalk cost?
The skywalk charges a small admission of a few euros, parking is free, and it is 20 minutes by car from Funchal. At 580 metres Cabo Girão is one of Europe’s highest sea cliffs, with a glass-floored platform cantilevered over the edge.
When is Cabo Girão quietest?
Before 10 am or after 5 pm. The viewpoint is on practically every west and island tour, which makes it the most densely visited point on Madeira — at the edges of the day it is a different place.
Which cable cars are there on Madeira?
Several, and the famous one is not the most interesting. Funchal–Monte is the touristic one, 15 minutes, about €12.50 one way. Then the Monte–Botanical Garden connecting line, the line down to Fajã dos Padres and a cove otherwise reachable only by boat, and Achadas da Cruz in the west — a working cable car, spectacularly steep and almost tourist-free.
Which viewpoints on Madeira are free?
All of these, and all reachable by car: Eira do Serrado above Curral das Freiras, the Guindaste and Faial glass walkways on the north coast, Ponta do Garajau with its Christ statue, Véu da Noiva near Seixal, Ponta do Pargo with its lighthouse in the far west, Pico dos Barcelos above Funchal, and Balcões at Ribeiro Frio after a 20-minute walk.
👉 See viewpoint tours on GetYourGuide (Affiliate link)
Next: Island tours and day trips · Jeep and 4WD tours · South Madeira
