How to Get to Cabo Girão from Funchal: Car, Bus, Cable Car and Tours

• Top choice Skywalk, Seixal and Fanal from US$79 Duration8 hours^[5]Rating4.87 from 9,297 reviews^[5]Guide languagesEnglish, Spanish, Portuguese, French^[5]Pickup11 pickup location options^[5]CancellationFree cancellation up to 24 hours^[5] Check availability
• Enchanted Terraces 4WD from US$80 Duration8 hours^[6]Rating4.78 from 5,647 reviews^[6]Guide languagesSpanish, English, French, Portuguese^[6]Pickup22 pickup location options^[6]CancellationFree cancellation up to 24 hours^[6] See this tour
• West Waterfalls and Fanal from US$40 Duration8 hours^[7]Rating4.70 from 3,827 reviews^[7]Guide languagesGerman, Spanish, English, French^[7]Pickup2 pickup location options^[7]CancellationFree cancellation up to 24 hours^[7] See this tour

Where Cabo Girão is and how the viewpoint works

Cabo Girão is the great sea cliff on Madeira's south coast, and the viewpoint on top of it is one of the easiest big views to reach from the capital. The cliff stands 580 metres high^[1] and sits approximately 15 kilometres west of Funchal^[2], close enough that you can drive out, look over the edge and be back in the city for lunch. The glass platform itself, the Cabo Girão Skywalk, was completed in October 2012^[9], and it hangs out over the drop so you can look straight down at the terraced fields and the sea.

The edge is fenced and paved, with room to walk along the rim, and the view stretches east towards Funchal and west along the coast. Entry costs €2, with residents and children up to 12 years old exempt^[1], and the site is open daily from 08:00 to 20:00^[1]. Below the platform, small farmed plots and a narrow beach sit between the cliff and the water, and the land drops away almost vertically to the sea.

Getting to Cabo Girão from Funchal by car

By road the trip is straightforward. Leave Funchal on the motorway heading west, take the exit for Câmara de Lobos or Cabo Girão, then follow the local road up through the village and on towards the cliff. The final climb passes smallholdings and terraces before the road ends at the viewpoint. Driving gives you the freedom to stop where you like, and Câmara de Lobos is worth a pause: its bay was immortalised by Winston Churchill, who painted it in January 1950 while sitting at the Espírito Santo Viewpoint facing the sea^[10].

If you are driving yourself, parking at Cabo Girão is the part to think about before you leave, along with the steep, narrow approach road. Go early, take your time on the bends, and watch for tour vehicles turning in the small spaces near the entrance. Filling up in Funchal or Câmara de Lobos saves you hunting for fuel on the coast road, where stations are spread out.

It is also worth thinking about the light. The cliff faces south, so the platform is bright from mid-morning onwards, and the terraces below show up best in clear, settled weather. If cloud is sitting low on the ridge when you leave Funchal, it will often lift by the time you reach the coast, and the viewpoint itself can sit above it.

Terraced fields fall from the cliff road to the sea on Madeira's south coast.

Bus and taxi from Funchal to the cliff

There is a bus to Cabo Girão from Funchal, and it keeps the cost down if you are happy to build your day around a timetable. Schedules change with the season. Check the current times a day or two before you travel and note the last service back. The viewpoint sits above the coast rather than in a town, and the last bus of the day is not a thing to miss.

The taxi fare from Funchal to Cabo Girão is worth agreeing with your driver before you set off, along with any waiting time for the return. A round trip usually means either keeping the car waiting or hoping to pick one up at the viewpoint. Apps work well in Funchal, though coverage thins out along the coast, so plan the trip back as carefully as the trip out.

The cable car down to Fajã do Cabo Girão

At the top, the Teleférico do Rancho cable car drops from the cliff to the fields below, and a return trip costs 10 euros^[3]. Down there, the Fajã do Cabo Girão beach is known for the impressive fertility of its agricultural land, and this narrow, lush piece of land can be accessed by cable car^[4]. It is a working landscape of small plots and paths rather than a resort beach, and the ride down gives you a completely different view of the cliff you were standing on.

Check that the cable car is running on the day you visit, and note how late it operates. Wear shoes you do not mind getting dusty, and take water, since there is very little shade at the bottom. Allow enough time to ride back up before the viewpoint closes.

Let someone else drive: guided west coast tours

If you would rather not drive, or you want to see the skywalk as part of a bigger day, the Madeira: Skywalk, Porto Moniz, Seixal, and Fanal 4WD Tour is the one booked from this site. It starts from US$79 and runs 8 hours, with a live tour guide in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French and pickup included at 11 pickup location options.^[5]

The day starts in Funchal and calls at Quinta Grande, the Cabo Girão Skywalk, Campanário, Ribeira Brava, Serra de Água, São Vicente, the Véu da Noiva viewpoint, Seixal, Porto Moniz, Lombinho waterfall, Ribeira Da Janela, the Fanal Forest, the Laurissilva de Madeira, Fanal Pond, Paul da Serra, Calheta, Canhas and Ponta Do Sol before the run home.^[5] It is rated 4.87 from 9,297 reviews^[5], you can reserve now and pay later, and you can cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund^[5].

What to combine with your visit

Cabo Girão sits on the road west, and most visits stretch into a longer loop along the coast. Porto Moniz is the natural next stop, and its natural swimming pools have a swimming area of 3,800 m2 that is 2 metres deep, holding around 7,600 m3 of seawater^[11]. Swimming in saltwater pools cut into black volcanic rock is a different kind of morning from a hotel pool.

Further up on the plateau, Fanal is presented by Madeira's official tourism board as a mystical, century-old forest that visitors are invited to discover^[12], and the laurel forest around it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999^[12]. If you prefer walking to driving, one Levada do Norte walk runs from Estreito de Câmara de Lobos to Cabo Girão^[13], following the water channel above the terraces. Further east, the Guindaste Viewpoint sits on one of the slopes of the Foz da Ribeira do Faial in Santana and offers a view over Madeira's north coast^[14].

Timing matters if you want several stops in one day. The west coast road is slow in places, with tight bends and village traffic, and the plateau can be in cloud while the coast is sunny. Choose two big stops rather than four, and leave room for an unplanned pull-in at a viewpoint or a waterfall.

When to go and what to take

Madeira has a subtropical Mediterranean climate with even temperatures all year round, and an average annual temperature of 20°C (67°F)^[8]. There is no month when the viewpoint becomes a bad idea, though the cliff can be in cloud while Funchal is sunny. Mornings tend to give the sharpest views, with cloud sometimes gathering on the cliff later in the day. The site is open daily from 08:00 to 20:00^[1], which leaves room to be first at the rail after breakfast or to linger into the evening.

Take a light windproof layer, shoes with grip for the steps and the glass floor, and a hat in summer. Keep some coins for the entrance, and if you are on the guided tour, pack a swimsuit for the natural pools at Porto Moniz and something warm for the plateau, where the air is cooler than on the coast. Binoculars earn their place on the cliff, and a spare battery never hurts on a day this full of views.

Getting there and back

1. Decide how you will travel

   Driving is quickest from Funchal, while buses and taxis remove the steep climb but tie you to someone else's schedule.

2. Allow time for Câmara de Lobos

   The town sits on the way, and its bay was immortalised by Winston Churchill in January 1950^[10].

3. Check hours and entry

   The site is open daily from 08:00 to 20:00^[1], and entry costs €2, with residents and children up to 12 exempt^[1].

4. Plan the cliff and the beach

   A return trip on the Teleférico do Rancho cable car costs 10 euros^[3] and lands you below the cliff at the Fajã do Cabo Girão beach^[4].

5. Or join a guided 4WD tour

   The tour booked from this site starts from US$79 and runs 8 hours with pickup included^[5].

Things travellers ask