Full Day East Madeira - Camacha, Pico do Ariero, Ribeiro Frio, Portela, Santana

Funchal, Portugal

This full day tour gives you the opportunity to see artisans at work, a town famous for its cottages and to enjoy picture perfect scenery. Visiting Camacha, Pico do Ariero, Ribeiro Frio, Portela and Santana, this tour will be the highlight of any visit to Madeira.

Camacha is a village famous for being the wickerwork center. Visit the factory and see artisans working and perhaps purchase articles from a wide collection available.

Next you'll visit Pico do Arieiro, which is the second highest summit on the island (1,810 meters high) and offers wonderful views. Discover a natural park and take some time to explore a trout hatchery at Ribeiro Frio.

After visiting the beautiful area of Faial, climb up to Santana, a picturesque village where you will find enchanting cottages with pointed thatched roofs which are today known world wide.

Stop for lunch before visiting Portela (670 meters), a place where you can admire the impressive rock formations of the Eagle's Cliff, and part of the north coast, Pico do Facho.

Return to Funchal visiting the historic seaside town of Machico where the discoverers first disembarked in 1420.

USD $42.00

Review by: Barbara N	July 2011
Very good multi-cultural trip. Guests from Brazil, Belgium, Korea, Portugal and UK. Mini bus which enabled us to visit places a large coach could not. Driver excellent, knowledgeable, funny and very accommodating. Lunch was excellent. Very good value for the money. Would recommend.

Review by: Richard H	April 2011
We had a very short break in Madeira and wanted to sample some of the beutiful scenary. I've have used Viator several times before and was happy to book another tour with them. It was excellent, out hotel pick up was on time. The driver courteous and knowledegable giving us a commentary of facts and sights as we proceeded. Madeira has such a pleasant climate. Camacha, perched on the hillside with breathtaking views and flowers everywhere was followed by the drive up through the clouds to the mountain top.The views were stunning, looking down on the clouds and through the gaps down into Funchal and the harbour. It would have been nice to have seen to the island of Porto Santo, but the cloud did not break in that direction. The valley of Ribeiro Frio was wonderful, so green fresh with flowers everywhere. We had booked lunch and tucked into a feast of local produce with wine too. The traditional houses of Santana are so colourful and photogenic. The views on from the clifftops from Ponta do Rosto near the eastern tip of the island were beautiful. only spoiled by the fact we were nearing the ends of the day and making our way to Machico, the original landing place of the original settlers. A small but beautiful beach of golden sands topped it off. Alltogether an excellent day whcih I'd happily do again on any future visit.

Review by: John S	March 2011
Excellent trip lead by Manuel who drove us around the eastern part of the island and was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about everywhere we went. However, we would prefer not to have spent 3 hours in a Theme Park, although the history of the island pavilion was very impressive and informative. This is a good way to see quite a lot of the island if you're not on the island for very long.

Review by: Anonymous, Israel	October 2007
The weather was bad, and the guide wasn't flexible enough at the first half day to divert the tour. In the first half of the day, the tour was directed into tourist traps with a very long lunch break, which was a pity. Only in the second half of the tour, the guide took us to breathtaking places and really guided and was not just a driver.

Review by: Mark P, United States of America	September 2006
The tour to East Madeira was breathtaking - a must see. The island is beautiful! The coordination of the tour was perfectly implemented and our tour guide was outstanding!