In this post you can read about my visit to the mystical and exotic Monte Palace Tropical Garden on Madeira, Portugal in January 2024.

How to get to Monte Palace Tropical Garden

When we visited Madeira in January 2024 we stayed at a hotel, where we could easily reach the lovely Funchal city centre by walking or taking the public bus.

One day, we went sightseeing in Funchal and took the funicular (cable car) up to Monte and Monte Palace Tropical Garden. There are two well-known botanical gardens around Funchal, but only Monte Palace was reachable with the funicular when we visited, as the other funicular line heading to Madeira Botanical Garden was closed for maintenance.

The funicular ride took only a few minutes and offered great views of the mountain crowning above Funchal, which lies right by the seaside.

Getting back down to Funchal from Monte Palace

There are several options for returning to Funchal when you have visited Monte Palace Tropical Garden.

Funicular return ticket (cable car)

A return ticket with the funicular to Monte costs roughly 15 EUR, and is the safe choice if you are content with visiting the one botanical garden.

A sleigh ride you say?

Close to the entrance to Monte Palace is another choice – a very touristic one!

It is a ‘sleigh ride‘ operated by teams of two men in matching costumes for each sleigh, reminding me of the gondola guys in Venice! The sleigh ride, or ‘Wicker Toboggan Sled Ride‘, originates back to when they used the sleighs for transporting goods swiftly down the mountain to Funchal.

Today, if you want to use the sleighs to get down to Funchal with an adrenaline kick, it costs 27.5 EUR for one person and 35 for two, and then you are racing down the streets.. (They even got their own website!) Notice that you need to walk for 10+ minutes to reach the harbor in Funchal, from where the sleigh ride ends.

Here are my other suggestions for returning to Funchal (budget friendly transport)

You can also take the public bus down to Funchal (the cheapest option). In general, it is quite easy to navigate the public transport in Funchal and the surrounding areas, as Google Maps shows all the bus lines!

Other options include taking the funicular (cable car) down to Madeira Botanical Garden and then walk back down to Funchal. There are also regular taxis, or the local version of Uber – Bolt (but they drive like mad!)

Finally, you can walk the entire way back to Funchal.

10 things to see and do in Monte Palace Tropical Garden, Madeira

1. Admire the thousands of years old olive trees nestled by the entrance
2. Count the colorful koi fish in the numerous ponds
3. Cool down while learning about minerals at the palace’s collection
4. Search for local bird species ONLY found on Madeira (photos below!)
5. Find the beautiful ceramic tiles covering the walls
6. Adore the flamboyant pink flamingos, the elegant mute swans and the Mandarin ducks
7. Walk through the Orchid garden and watch the pink hues of the many Azaleas
8. Stop by the cute café and keep the Madeira chaffinch away from your Pastel de nata!
9. Admire the tall, tropical palms and find other exotic fruit trees
10. Enjoy a cold pineapple drink while enjoying the view of swans and flamingos

Things to remember when visiting Monte Palace Tropical Garden

The entrance to Monte Palace Tropical Garden costs 15 EUR (January 2024), and you can pay by card. Read more about Monte Palace Botanical Garden here.

Here is a list of things that could come in handy at your visit to the Tropical Garden:

• Cash (much needed if you would like to take the sleigh ride back down!)
• Good walking shoes
• A comfortable bag with drinking water and snacks (you can also get this at the café inside the palace garden!)
• Charged camera or phone, powerbank
• Patience (as there may be crowded!)
• As the area is well shaded, you don’t need much sun protection, but I always use sunscreen when the sun is out (50+ spf)
• Any special outfit if you would like some nice photos in the gorgeous surroundings!

Conclusion

All in all, we had a great day in the Monte Palace Tropical Garden and we saw a large variety of plants and beautiful decorations mainly with Japanese influence.

If you are much more into botany and flowers as well as geometry, you should also visit the other popular botanical garden called Madeira Botanical Garden.

*None of the mentioned places or experiences in this post were sponsored.

© All photos are my own unless stated and may not be used without permission.