Funchal: Pico do Arieiro & Santana Electric Tour with Pickup

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/40

Duration7h–8h

GroupUp to 7

LanguagesEN · PT +3

PickupAt your hotel

Mountain Peak to Coastal Cliffs: Madeira's East in One Quiet Day

You travel in a quiet electric vehicle through Madeira's eastern highlands and coast, starting at Pico do Arieiro's 1,818-meter peak and descending through a forest levada walk to the village of Santana for lunch. You stand on a glass viewpoint above the ocean and explore the windswept cliffs of Ponta de São Lourenço. Hotel pickup and drop-off in Funchal are included, and the small group size means the pace adjusts to your interests rather than a fixed schedule.

7h–8h

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore East Madeira's highlights

Visit Pico do Arieiro mountain peak
Levada walk in Ribeiro Frio forest
Lunch and see triangular houses in Santana
View ocean from Miradouro Guindaste viewpoint
Explore cliffs at Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula

The Experience

You'll wonder why anyone drives a regular car up here. The electric vehicle is so quiet that when you reach Pico do Arieiro at 1,818 meters, you actually hear the wind instead of an engine. The mountain opens up in every direction—the sweeping views from the peak are the kind you stand in front of for longer than you planned, and the air up there is sharp and clean. From there the day unfolds downward: you descend into Ribeiro Frio, a tiny village tucked into the Laurissilva forest, where a levada walk takes you through green so thick it feels like walking inside a plant. Firecrests and chaffinches move through the canopy. The path is gentle and the forest muffles everything.

Lunch happens in Santana, the village famous for its triangular thatched-roof houses—the kind you see in old photographs of Madeira, except they're still there, still lived in, still painted in bright colors. You eat local food while those houses sit across the street, and the guide doesn't rush you. After lunch the tour pivots to the coast. Miradouro Guindaste is a glass and steel viewpoint that hangs you out over the ocean; you're standing on a platform that feels like it shouldn't hold, but it does, and the drop below is real. Then comes Ponta de São Lourenço, the peninsula at the island's eastern edge where the cliffs are dramatic and the wind has shaped the rock into something that looks almost alive.

The whole thing runs 6.5 to 8 hours depending on how long you linger, and the group stays under seven people. Hotel pickup and drop-off in Funchal are included, so you don't navigate the roads yourself. The vehicle is air-conditioned, the driver knows where the hidden stops are, and the pace follows what the group wants to do, not a clock.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off within Funchal.
air-conditioned electric vehicle.
parking fees.
insurance.
booster seat if needed.
guided stops at Pico do Arieiro mountain peak, Ribeiro Frio levada forest walk, Santana village with triangular houses, Miradouro Guindaste glass viewpoint, and Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula.

Good to know

Easy physical levelNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Madeira Electric Tours

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see Madeira's eastern highlands and coast in one day without driving yourself or arranging separate transport and timing—the small group size and flexible pace mean you spend time where you want instead of rushing between stops on a fixed schedule.