Toboggan Rides in Madeira

The Monte toboggan is one of Madeira's oddest and best-loved traditions: a wicker sledge on wooden runners that two straw-hatted carreiros push and steer down the steep streets from Monte toward Funchal, hitting a fair clip on the way. It started as a quick way for locals to get downhill in the nineteenth century, and it is still a ride you can take today.

The toboggan experiences on this page are ones we picked by hand, the tours that build the ride into a proper morning rather than a rushed add-on. Most pair the Monte toboggan with the cable car up from Funchal and the Monte Palace tropical garden at the top, so you ride up, wander the gardens, and slide back down. Some fold it into a wider island day with viewpoints and a levada walk. The run itself is short, a couple of kilometres, but the novelty and the views make it a Madeira rite of passage.

Do it for the experience as much as the transport, and have your camera ready, because the carreiros lean into the corners. Mornings are quieter before the cruise crowds reach Monte.

3 Madeira toboggan experiences from EUR 110. Handpicked tours with the cable car and Monte gardens, free cancellation on most - easy to book online.