Can I Bring My Dog to Cabo? Children, Mobility and Comfort

• Top choice Skywalk, Seixal & Fanal 4WD from US$79 Duration8 hours^[1]Rating4.87 from 9,297 reviews^[1]Group optionsPrivate or small groups available^[1]Guide languagesPortuguese, Spanish, English, French^[1]CancellationFree cancellation up to 24 hours ahead^[1] Check availability
• Enchanted Terraces 4WD from US$80 Duration8 hours^[3]Rating4.78 from 5,647 reviews^[3]Group optionsPrivate or small groups available^[3]Guide languagesSpanish, English, French, Portuguese, German^[3]CancellationFree cancellation up to 24 hours ahead^[3] See this tour
• Waterfalls & Fanal Forest from US$40 Duration8 hours^[4]Rating4.70 from 3,827 reviews^[4]Group optionsPrivate or small groups available^[4]Guide languagesGerman, Spanish, English, Portuguese, French^[4]CancellationFree cancellation up to 24 hours ahead^[4] See this tour

What the 4WD day asks of children

Family days out on Madeira usually work best when you know how long everyone will be strapped in. The Skywalk, Porto Moniz, Seixal and Fanal 4WD tour is listed at 8 hours, with a live guide who speaks Portuguese, Spanish, English and French, and private or small groups are available.^[1] In practice that means a full day of short hops between viewpoints, villages and pools rather than one long run on a motorway.

The listing does not set a minimum age, so if you are travelling with a baby or a toddler, ask the operator before you book about child seats, harnesses and how the seating works inside the vehicle.^[1] Children who can climb in and out of a high-seated off-road vehicle more than once, and who are happy to look at scenery rather than be entertained, usually get far more out of the day than children who need a screen.

One small thing in your favour: entry to the Cabo Girao viewpoint costs €2, and residents and children up to 12 years old are among those exempt.^[2] Madeira for kids often comes down to short bursts of interest rather than long attention spans, so build the day in small pieces and let the pools and the forest be the rewards.

Pregnancy, bumps and a long west-coast drive

Madeira when pregnant is mostly a question of comfort rather than anything being off limits. The west coast road rises and falls around every headland, and the stops come thick and fast, so a seat near the front of the vehicle and a window you can open are worth asking about. Speak to the operator before you book about the walking involved and how long the longest stretch without a stop is.^[1]

The climate helps. Madeira has a subtropical Mediterranean climate with even temperatures all year round, and an average annual temperature of 20°C (67°F).^[6] Warm air does not stop a vehicle from leaning into hairpin bends, though, so take water, wear loose layers and be ready to ask for a break. Drivers on these routes stop at viewpoints and villages all day anyway.

If you are in the later stages of pregnancy, or your midwife has asked you to avoid long journeys in a car, that conversation comes before any booking. The day itself is a long one at 8 hours.^[1]

Mist rolling through the laurel forest at Fanal, one of the last stops on the west coast loop.

Mobility, walking distances and vehicle access

Most of the stops are viewpoints and villages, so the walking is usually short and on paved ground, and you can stay near the vehicle if you would rather not wander. The off-road vehicle is the bigger consideration: the seats sit higher than in an ordinary car, and climbing in and out of a raised cabin over and over in a day takes some hip and knee movement.

At Porto Moniz the natural swimming pools complex has a lounging area of approximately 3,217 m2 and a swimming area of 3,800 m2 that is 2 metres deep, holding around 7,600 m3 of seawater.^[5] Plenty of people never get wet, and there is flat ground beside the water for watching the waves come over the wall.

The Fanal forest is the opposite. Paths under the trees can be soft, muddy and uneven after rain, and there is not a boardwalk underfoot everywhere you go, so shoes with grip matter more here than anywhere else on the route. If you use a walking stick, a folding one that fits in the vehicle is the easiest answer, and if wheels are part of your day, ask the operator what the vehicle can carry before you book.^[1]

Winding roads, motion sickness and comfort

Cabo Girao sits roughly 15 kilometres west of Funchal, and the road between the capital and the west coast bends around one headland after another.^[7] Add the climb onto the Paul da Serra plateau and the descents into Ribeira Brava, Seixal and Porto Moniz, and you have a day with a great many corners.

Madeira with young kids often means short hops between stops, and this route is built that way, but the corners still come. If anyone in your group gets car sick, this is a tour to prepare for rather than one to test. A light breakfast, a seat with a clear view forward, ginger sweets and a bag in the door pocket are the usual kit, and looking at the horizon rather than at a phone helps most people.

The day is broken up constantly, which is the saving grace. The stops include Funchal, Quinta Grande, Cabo Girao Skywalk, Ribeira Brava, Serra de Agua, Sao Vicente, Veu da Noiva, Seixal, Porto Moniz, Ribeira da Janela and Fanal, so there is fresh air and solid ground between the twisty sections.^[1]

Heights, the Skywalk and vertigo

Cabo Girao is 580 metres high, and the skywalk at the top was completed in October 2012.^[2][8] It is open daily from 08:00 to 20:00, and entry costs €2, with residents and children up to 12 years old among those exempt.^[2] The platform sits at the end of a paved path, which makes it a quick stop rather than a walk.

A glass floor is not for everyone. The platform is a viewing point rather than a walk, so anyone who would rather not step onto the glass can wait on the solid pavement behind it, where the view over the coast is still enormous. Vertigo is not something to push through for the sake of a photograph, and children usually take their cue from the adults around them.

Can I bring my dog to Cabo? If your dog would be travelling with you, ask the operator before you book, because the day includes a high viewpoint, forest tracks and village stops.^[1] The Skywalk is a short paved stop rather than a walk, which makes waiting beside the vehicle simpler, but the answer depends on the vehicle and the driver.

Swimming is optional, not required

Porto Moniz is the swimming stop, and it is entirely optional. The natural pools have a swimming area of 3,800 m2 that is 2 metres deep, holding around 7,600 m3 of seawater, with a lounging area of approximately 3,217 m2.^[5] Some people swim, some paddle and plenty sit with a coffee watching the Atlantic hit the lava rock.

Seixal appears on the route as well, with dark volcanic sand and a natural pool beside the road, and the Veu da Noiva viewpoint stop is a short stroll and a photograph rather than a hike.^[1] Water on the north coast is bracing rather than tropical even in high summer, so a quick dip or a rash vest suits most children better than a long swim.

Take a towel and a dry bag if you think anyone will get in, and keep swim things where you can reach them easily.^[1] If nobody wants to swim, the pools are still a good place to stretch legs, eat something and watch the sea.

Off-road terrain and overall comfort

An off-road day here is not a rough safari. The vehicles are there to handle steep village lanes, forest tracks and the plateau roads that climb above the cloud, and the driving stays gentle even where the surface is not. The roughest stretch is usually the track towards Fanal, where the trees close in and the light drops.

Fanal is the reason many people book this route. Madeira's tourism board presents Fanal as a mystical century-old forest that visitors are invited to discover.^[9] The island's Laurissilva forest has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.^[9]

Comfort on the day comes down to layers. Madeira has a subtropical Mediterranean climate with even temperatures all year round and an average annual temperature of 20°C (67°F), but the plateau and the forest sit far above the coast and often hold mist, wind and drizzle.^[6] A light waterproof, a fleece and shoes you do not mind getting muddy will do more for your day than anything else in your bag.

Things to check

1. Check the seats

   Ask about child seats, boosters and how many people share the vehicle.^[1]

2. Flag any medical needs

   Pregnancy, back trouble and motion sickness are worth mentioning when you reserve.

3. Choose your pickup

   Pickup is included and the options appear when you check dates.^[1]

4. Book early in busy periods

   Small-group seats fill quickly, and free cancellation stays open up to 24 hours before.^[1]

5. Pack for two climates

   Coast and plateau differ, so a waterproof and grippy shoes cover the forest.

Things travellers ask