Monte Wicker Toboggan
- A 19th century ride
- Two kilometres downhill
- Turn up and queue
A wicker basket on wooden runners, pushed off the top of a public road and steered down it by two men in white with rubber-soled boots. It was how Monte got to Funchal before the roads, and it is still the strangest ten minutes on the island.
About the Monte Wicker Toboggan
The carreiros have been running sledges down this hill since the nineteenth century, when it was transport rather than an attraction and Monte was where people with money spent the summer. The basket seats two, sits on greased wooden runners, and the two men in white and straw hats run behind and beside it using their boots as the brakes and the steering. It goes down a live public road with cars on it, which is the part that surprises people, and it is over in about ten minutes.
Good to know
- Booking
- None. You queue
- Price
- Charged per sledge, not per person
- Busiest
- Late morning, when the cruise passengers reach Monte
- Where it ends
- Livramento. Take a taxi from there
- Getting up
- Cable car from the Old Town, or a taxi
- Weather
- Sledges do not run in heavy rain
- Photos
- Taken on the run and sold at the bottom
Staying in Funchal?
We are a local team with vacation rentals across the island. Book straight with us and there is no platform fee.
