Funchal Hop-On Hop-Off Tour 3 in 1

Did the full 3 in 1. Great service took us around 3 great sites

Bus was comfortable and as usual great service - HOWEVER - no stop buttons on top deck!! Also language choice for English was shown as 2 but turned out to be 3 after experimentation. Also advertised Free Wi-Fi total rubbish - no WiFi available on buses! Lastly no mention of transfer to minibus after 1 hour wait to go up to Skywalk - understand the need for it just wish we'd been warned.

Comfortable for an overview of the city

We tried this option for the first time and were very happy with it. We bought a 48 hour ticket (24.50 euro) and managed to get to all the attractions. First we visited the most far away Cabo Girao, then the town of Camera de Lobos. We got a general impression of Funchal and got off or later returned to where we wanted to spend more time. It was a very good facility, the drivers were kind and patient, they even took a few 10-20 minute practical breaks (toilet, coffee, etc) so you didn't have to wait for the next bus. The multi-lingual audioguide with headphones also helped with orientation, although the recording quality is not the best.

Good value

Lovely way to see the area. Good way to fill in time and get familiar with key spots. Got to see the countryside and the coast line

Lovely open top tour

Great tour and some interesting pointers, and being hop on hop off, it meant we could move around at our leisure. Friendly driver, and we got q great view of Funchal and the surrounding area.

Amazing views of Funchal

The hop on hop off your is a great way to see all of Funchal especially the amazing views all around the island. The bus takes you all around the island taking in the main stops. We booked the 3 in 1 tour which meant that we had the Cabo Girau skywalk stop included. To get to Cabo Girau you need to get off at stop 12 - Camara de Lobos and then wait to get on another bus which will take you to the skywalk. The bus comes at regular intervals and they take a break over lunchtime so take note of the times. Stop 12 is the town of Camara de Lobos which is a quaint little town with fishing boats,restaurants & little cafes so you can spend some time there and then get on the Cabo Girau bus. All in all this was a very pleasant experience and we highly recommend this activity to see amazing views of Funchal.

Hop on Hop off Bus

Well organised and prompt service. Provided what was offered in a polite and efficient manner. Well done to the driver. Only complaint is that some of the plug in's for the audio were out of order.

Absolutely hands down the best Hop on Hop off Bus Tour we have ever experienced. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Best Tour Ever. Madeira Portugal is top notch! Excellent restaurants, market was fabulous, shopping was top tier. Clean city and friendly people!

Hop on hop off bus

I had a problem with hearing the audio record message, I put it as high as it would go but there were times in traffic it would be hard to hear it. I enjoyed just driving around and seeing the scenery. Perfect for a beautiful day outside.

Disappointing

We were recommended this tour to see more parts of the south west of the island and in particular Camera de Lobos. We booked the 48hr ticket but were disappointed so didn’t do the second day. The running commentary was hit and miss with lots of music in between each point. Also, the stops are numbered and we had a map but it would have helped to have had a shout from the driver at each one. We enjoyed Camera de Lobos and spent some time there. We also spent a short time in the Forum shopping centre which served a purpose but it is like any other large shopping centre in the UK with lots of familiar brands. Pico de Barcelos had lovely views but little else. We did not go to Cabo Girão in the end. On reflection we should have taken a local bus or a taxi to Camera to Lobos as the public transport is excellent.

Excellent way to visit Cabo Girao

We picked up the bus at stop 3 near to marina/cable car. Buses run every half hour. We stayed on the bus to Camara de Lobos (fishing village) which took about an hour. We got off at stop 13 and picked up mini bus to Cabo Girao. Mini bus ride to Cabo Girao took about 15 mins and driver waited 30 mins for us to go on the skywalk. Skywalk costs 2 euros per person. After 30 mins (enough time) we returned to Camara de Lobos by mini bus where we then picked up the next yellow bus back to Funchal. We have a 2 day ticket so shall return tomorrow to spend time in Camara de Lobos. Excellent service!!

Great service - highly recommended

Excellent, efficient service. Booked for five days and used the hop on hop off regularly. A great way to get around and see more than just Funchal centre, at a more than reasonable price. Highly recommended.

Good way to get orientated

This tour, lasting 1hr 50 mins if you stay the whole course, is good value, and helps to get orientated with Funchal and its further districts. The commentary is informative, but the sound quality is not always clear. One of our sets of headphones didn't work (plenty spares on the bus), and one of our plug sockets didn't work. The somewhat annoying music between the various points is a necessary evil, I guess, so that there aren't long periods of silence. All credit to the driver who had to navigate a double-decker round some precarious mountain roads. A longer stop at the top-most point would have been welcome (if only to take photos and for a comfort break!). But definitely worthwhile.

Tour while ashore.

Lovely sightseeing on the hop on hop off buses. Didn't need to wait to long for next. Got off near the Lido for a comfort stop with drinks and tapas. Very reasonable price. Good commentary too 👍.

Wait is too long

Location of stops good but the wait is too long . Sometimes we waited 30+ mins. The local bus is faster and cheap

Great experience,great company

Excellent experience overall. Great stops,great staff, good prices. Lost my phone and was found and managed by a very helpful staff member. Couldn’t fault anything.

Poor

The commentary didn't match anything we could see, so it was purely a bus ride around a neighbourhood. The headphone connectors were hit and miss and had to sit behind my hubby as only one worked on each set of seats. I have given a 2 star because the seats were padded. We have booked a tour which visits actual landmarks and things you should see and the price is only 5 euros more so hopefully this will be the way to go

Yellow or Red your choice

Chose yellow bus as they trip advisor gave good value for 5 days use, there is a red bus which has an addl route to select but doesn't do 5 day passes, seemed more frequent but happy with yellow as used as taxi for resort.

A good way to see some sights.

We spent the day hopping on and off visiting all the places we wanted to see. It does what it says on the tin basically. Hop on, hop off. Listen to commentary with provided headphones. The “live” timetable app seemed a little inaccurate. Thankfully, we are always waiting a little early. When we reached the mountain top view point the driver gave us “…..20 minutes or wait 2 hours for the next bus.” Thankfully, there is only so many photos you can take!! (It may have been his lunch break?)

Well worth the money

We were dubious about using the yellow bus (or the other coloured bus used for the same purpose!) based on the reviews but, having done similar tours elsewhere we took them with a pinch of salt and just went for it. We chose the yellow bus because it offered a 5 day ticket for €24 each, which the other colour bus didn’t offer. We didn’t use it every day, we used it on the first day and did the complete tour and got our bearings and decided what we might want to do for the rest of the week. It was very useful and we used it again to go to Camara de Lobos for the day and visit Cabo Giroa the sky walk which was included in the tour (€2 entry to walk out on to the glass walkway). The buses were frequent and we were never waiting for long, maybe we were just lucky. The commentary was informative and relevant but, yes a little basic and once you’d heard it you didn’t need to listen again. All in all we felt it was a great way to get to know the area better and to identify where we wanted to spend more time exploring, we would definitely recommend it as a good way to get around and it stopped right outside our hotel too, which was a bonus!

Wish we'd used local bus services instead

We booked a 48 hour hop on hop off bus pass. To be honest we didn't get our money's worth. We visited the places we wanted to but could easily have gone this using bus local buses for alot cheaper if we had the confidence. The local bus services are really good and easy to use once you get to grips with them. Nothing wrong with the service - buses clean and in time - just not for us.

Good route, poor commentary

The bus was comfortable and the route was good. The problem was the commentary - it was very much out of synch with what we were passing, and periodically it would cut out in mid sentence.

Perfect way to get info and to visit the must sees

The Hop-On Hop-Off Tour offers a perfect opportunity to visit the must sees in Funchal and its surroundings. Very comfortable way of travelling to the different locations of interest. Frequency of the tour is OK.

Ideal for sightseeing Funchal

Great way to see the city and the higher areas surrounding the city. Also takes you to the fishing village of Camara de Lobos, we got off at this point and it was well worth a visit. Experienced a few problems connecting to the commentary, but was able to follow the map. Buses are quite frequent, so ideal for hopping on and off.

Recommended!

Great way to get around Funchal. Bus was always on time, easy to find the bus stops. Paid 57 euro for a 5 day pass - we felt it was great value as we used it daily to get about, it also takes you to Cabo Girao which was fab!

Great

Great day one got off to go to glass platform. And day two did markets and lido well worth the money very interesting ride around maderia

If you are in a city for only a day or two hoho's are always the way to see the major points to see

coastal viewpoints and beach areas were major but the whole ride was very enjoyable. Madeira is a beautiful island

Bus Tour in Funchal

Not a single complaint apart from the yellow hop on hop off bus at the ship was only for customers that had booked through Princess Cruises. Views were amazing. Beautiful city!

Great trip but commentary was more music than interesting information

The hop on hop off bus was great to see Funchal, but the commentary was not very interesting at times, with more music than interesting information being played through the earphones. Our first driver seemed in a hurry and barely stopped at any stops meaning if you want to get off you have to walk down the aisle while the bus is still moving, not easy for my husband who is disabled. If you want to go to the viewpoint at Cabo Girao, be sure to get off at Câmara de Lobos and wait for a smaller bus, it is a bit confusing so double check with your driver. All in all a good experience but takes a bit of getting used to. Thankfully all the drivers were very friendly and helpful. The views are stunning. We used the app (which is excellent) so we could track our journey, plan our stops and work out when the next bus would arrive.

To avoid

The office next to the Portomare hotel sold us a hop on and hop off as free transportation to a catamaran cruise. The bus never came and we had to pay for a taxi. When we raised the issue the person at the office was defensive telling us that the bus probably came late ( we waited for over 45 minutes when the bus is suppose to run every 30). They refused to refund us for the loss. We decided to use another company for the walking trail tour which is also cheaper. Also noting that when we tried to hop on yellow bus from village it was overcrowded and we had to stand with a child on the lower floor- it suggests they sell more tickets than there is room for. Do not recommend yellow bus.

It’s okay.

We bought a 5 day ticket and used it a few times. We felt it could go to different places but didn’t and although we did a complete loop a couple of times it soon became very samey. The local bus seems a cheaper and better option.

Skip this one!

Not the greatest. Wish I didn’t purchase. Much better to buy small group tour from travel agency. I bought 3 in 1 for 5 days and only rode it once. Recording was hard to follow and dull at best. Plus the route took forever and stopped in early evening, so public busses and taxis were much more convenient

Well worth the experience

Great value for money, reliable service with excellent drivers and informative commentary . Make sure you use your free vouchers for other experiences. Recommend for anyone visiting the area.

A Great Way to Explore Funchal

Using the Hop On, Hop Off Yellow Bus Service was fantastic for my wife and I to explore Funchal. We were staying at the Enotel Lido which is close to Stop 21. I purchased a 5 Day ticket for both of us online which proved to be a seamless operation. The tickets proved to be good value for money and we used the service for the full 5 days. The free headphones for the Narrated Guided Tour prove to be useful and was available in most European Languages including English. We’d certainly use the service again.

Great value

Brilliant value for money. we bought the 3-1 ticket for 5 days well worth the money we marked off the stops we wanted to do. They run often normally every 15 to 20 mins last bus 5.30pm it's a great way to get around.

Best way to see a new town

This the best way to find your way round any new city, gave ideas where to visit once you stop off the bus. I think these tours and the aility to hop back on the bus invaluable. One tip do where very slip proof shoes as Lisbon pavements are warn shiny .Also a hilly town, so be prepared.

Mixed experience, some excellent, one disappointment

In Madeira and used the yellow bus hop on/off service over 2 days. On the Fri 1st Mar 2024 we just stayed on the whole circuit and enjoyed it greatly - took about 2 hours. Good sight seeing opportunity and good audio guide too. On the Sat 2nd Mar we were let down in that the bus scheduled we intended to pick up was not showing on the real time map and had not arrived 10 mins after its time and so we presumed it was cancelled. We could not wait an hour for the next bus which was showing on the real time timetable so had to take a taxi to the hotel instead incurring a 15 Euro charge but whilst on our journey saw the yellow bus arriving at the stop - annoying! The tour was booked with Viator.com in the UK before our holiday and the booking process worked well.

Well worth it

Well organised, lots of information and enjoyable tour, lovely scenery, leisurely pace, interesting talking phone,

Excellent service from very helpfull staff

We did the 3in one experience over 5days very reasonably priced no problems with thr hop on and hop off service.Askef the driver best places to get on and off they were very helpfull

Not recommended for cruise passengers

Walking for a mile from boat to bus stop. Totally unacceptable. Drivers and itinerary ok but your info stand at pier was disgraceful

Great value for money when you take the 5 day ticket

We got the 5 day ticket and used the bus as a commuter bus from hotel into town. Frequent buses and the tracker on their website tells you when the next bus is due. We really enjoyed our experience.

The way to get around

We booked with the 5 day pass, it was great to go round Funchal first with the headphones in to listen to the commentary. After that we used it as a drop off service. A quick trip to the Stadium, a trip to Cam. De Lobos ect.

A must do in Madeira!!

These 2 days have been fantastic. We would never be able to see and experience the island on our own as we did with this tour. Our 2 drivers were very personable, knowledgeable and funny. My husband and I took our 2 adult children with their significant others. We all loved it!

Good overview

The ride as good but the speakers did not always work so missed a lot of the highlights . Stopped at a couple of the stops and busses were back ontime as stated . A good way to get an idea of the area

Outstanding Throughout

Left my phone on the 3-1 tour today. As you can imagine I was very worried, my bank cards, money, hotel room key etc I went to the office in Funchal and informed the young lady in here and she already knew about it!! I cannot praise the support from all involved, the person who found it, the initial driver and then the driver that dropped it off at the office. I cannot thank you all enough. EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. !!!! Ps I will be more careful PPS The tour was great as well from booking to drivers to the guide support at the bus stops along the way. Highly recommend.

Superb value for money

Great service we got a five day pass online and it was well worth the money buses were on time clean and staff helpful and friendly BRILLIANT

48hour ticket.

Reasonable service 1 and 2 routes very much duplicated. Route 3 on minibus over committed. Staff were helpful. Would advise checking if cruise ships are in since these take a lot of the capacity.

OK tour but unreliable for hopping on and off.

We have used Hop-on Hop-off buses in many world cities. We have experienced better and worse. Given the poor weather we decided to go on the entire loop plus a bit extra into centre. We bought tickets from the office near to the Porto Mare hotel. We were told the next bus would be in 15-20 minutes but it was actually a full 30 minutes. The route was fine but the audio was difficult to hear above the noise of the bus. Not as informative as it could be. The bus then stopped for lengthy periods at certain stops and took 2 and a half hours to do the loop. After we got off, we walked back along the route and within 10 minutes, 2 further buses came along having presumably caught up with ours. So, whilst a pleasant enough tour, the service with a nominal 30 minute gap between buses and such poor sticking to timetables, is pretty well useless as a hop-on hop off service. Better to use the local bus service and the occasional well priced taxis.

Excellent v enjoyable

We found the leaflet hop on of confusing. Just find your nearest stop and buy a ticket from the driver. 20 euros red bud with the green extension journey. You get ear plugs choose language sit back and exactly hop on or off. We got on near our hotel got off once for a stroll. Got back on until we arrived back to our original boarding. Very pleasant we were out couple hours & enjoyed the ride up the hills seeing bananas and some history etc. nice views too

Hot mess of an experience

The buses took way too long to even get started. We sat on the bus for 30 minutes before they would even leave to start the tour! One driver was extremely rude, he barely waited any time at a stop and the people up top didn’t have time to walk down and get off at the stop. He basically told them too bad. The buses only came every 30 minutes, we were told every 15 when we bought our tickets, then the drivers said every 30. It was a hot mess. I would not recommend doing the hop on hop off.

Hop On Hop Off waste of time!

Such a wonderful city but our Hop on Hop off tour was a disaster. As a cruise ship passenger we were only in for one day so our time was important to us. After 2 stops we got off to see the Old City and it was marvellous. We went back to the stop and waited over an hour for the next bus and finally gave up and left. We ended up doing our own thing . We had originally been promised that there were busses every 20 minutes but that certainly was not the case. A waste of money. Don’t be conned by the “sales guys’ on the street!