Madeira toboggan: Monte prices, opening days and where it ends

What is the Monte toboggan ride?

The Madeira toboggan is a wicker sledge on wooden runners, guided downhill by two carreiros. It is a short road-based attraction from Monte to Livramento, rather than a cable car, a snow ride or a transfer all the way to central Funchal. The operator describes a 2km route taking about 10 minutes; allow additional time for reaching Monte, buying tickets and waiting.

Choose it if the sledge ride itself is what you want to do. If your aim is simply to visit Monte and return downtown, a return cable-car journey avoids the extra transport leg from Livramento. You can visit Monte without riding a sledge.

Monte toboggan prices: pay for the number of riders

The operator prices checked on 25 October 2026 are €30 for one person, €40 for two people and €60 for three people. Those amounts are the total for the listed sledge occupancy, not a charge of €40 for each person in a two-person ride. Larger parties need separate sledges and their own applicable tickets.

A two-person ride therefore costs €20 per rider when shared by two. Do not extend that adult calculation into an assumed child discount: the published fare panel used here does not settle child eligibility, infant arrangements or all seating combinations. If your party includes a baby, or someone needs assistance transferring into the sledge, establish whether the operator can accommodate the party before buying transport up to Monte.

Tickets are bought on site, not reserved online

Carreiros do Monte explicitly says it does not accept online reservations or bookings. Tickets are bought at the departure location for the same day only. A private tour or transfer advertised online is not, by itself, an official reservation in the sledge queue. Read precisely what transport, ticket cost and waiting arrangements it includes.

The operator may close early when many people are already waiting with tickets or because of adverse weather. Arriving shortly before the advertised closing time does not guarantee a ride. No dependable queue duration is published, so avoid building the visit around a tight onward connection.

Opening days, departure cutoff and wet weather

The published operating schedule is Monday–Saturday, 09:00–18:00. The same page says the Monte departure location closes at 17:45 and the Livramento arrival location at 18:15. Plan around the departure cutoff and possible earlier closure, not a last-minute arrival at 18:00. Sunday is outside the published operating schedule.

Listed closure dates are 14 and 15 August, 25 December, 1 January, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In rain or on wet ground, the operator does not provide three-person rides. This restriction does not promise that one- and two-person rides will continue in every weather condition; the general adverse-weather closure rule still applies.

If you travel up on a Sunday or a closure date, make Monte a garden or church visit with a separate return. Do not assume the cable car and sledges share opening days.

Where to start: below the Monte church staircase

The official departure address is Caminho do Monte, Entrada 151, Porta 4, Monte. The operator locates the start below the staircase of the Church of Nossa Senhora do Monte. The church staircase is a landmark; riding the sledge is not a requirement to climb those steps.

If arriving by the Funchal cable car, its upper station is at Largo das Babosas 8, a different address from the sledge departure. Find the carreiros ticket location rather than expecting the sledge to start inside the cable-car station. A taxi can be arranged to the departure address if the cable-car ride is not part of your plan. These are separate journeys and fares.

Where it ends: Livramento, with another journey still to make

The arrival address is Caminho do Monte 82/84, Livramento. This is the most important distinction when planning the ride: you are still above central Funchal and have not returned to the waterfront or your hotel.

The operator identifies taxi, bus and walking as onward possibilities. A taxi is the simplest option when avoiding a further descent on foot matters; agree the destination and establish the fare arrangements before setting off. For a bus, verify the current stop, direction and timetable for your travel day. An old route number printed on an attraction page is not a reliable departure plan.

Walking is a separate choice, not an included final section of the attraction. Assess the actual street route, gradients and weather against your party rather than treating a downhill map line as a short, flat promenade. If you want to avoid that uncertainty, budget for onward transport from the start.

Cable car up and toboggan down: a workable sequence

On an operating day, go from the waterfront cable-car station to Monte with a one-way ticket if you intend to leave by sledge. Decide whether to visit Monte Palace or the church before joining the carreiros queue; garden time and queue time are additional to both rides. Buy the sledge ticket at the departure location, ride to Livramento and then take your planned onward transport.

For two adults, the standard one-way cable-car fares total €32 and the two-person sledge costs €40, giving €72 before garden entry and transport from Livramento. A solo adult using the same standard cable-car fare and a one-person sledge pays €46 before those extras. These calculations use separately published prices checked on 25 October 2026, not a bookable package.

Do not add the combination at the end of an already full island day. If the sledge queue or weather prevents the ride, return by another available mode rather than relying on a cable-car return leg you have not bought.