Funchal To Cabo Girao: Bus, Tours And The Skywalk

Going Out

Buses leave Funchal Avenida do Mar and pass the Lido after 5 minutes, Forum Madeira after a further 5, Camara de Lobos at the 20-minute mark, then Estreito de Camara de Lobos and on to Cabo Girao. The fastest run, line 142 at 08:05 on weekdays, reaches Cabo Girao at 08:50 after 45 minutes. Later runs take a little longer, up to 50 minutes on the 15:30 departure.

The same buses continue to Ribeira Brava, which they reach 30 minutes after Cabo Girao, so if you miss the cliff stop you have not lost the day.

Coming Back

Return buses towards Funchal pass the Cabo Girao stop on their way from Ribeira Brava. On weekdays the times through Cabo Girao include 07:55, 10:40, 11:30, 13:00, 13:55, 14:55, 15:55 and 17:00. There are fewer runs on Saturday and on Sunday and holidays, and the operator's sheet does not list the weekend return times in the same detail, so check the timetable at the stop or on the Rodoeste site before you commit to a specific return bus.

Missing the last one means a taxi or a long wait, and no fixed taxi fare for this route is published.

What The Bus Costs

Here is the awkward part, and it is worth knowing before you queue. Rodoeste's route sheet for this line prints no fare at all, and the operator's general fare page prices single tickets by zone count without saying which zone Cabo Girao falls into. So no exact euro figure for this specific ride can honestly be quoted anywhere.

Fares are paid on board in cash. What can be printed is the zone table, which gives you the honest upper and lower bounds of what you might be asked to pay on a Funchal route.

One practical extra: the same buses stop in Camara de Lobos 20 minutes after leaving Funchal, which makes a two-stop day easy. Ride out, hop off in the town for lunch, catch a later bus on the same line up to the cliff, then ride back to Funchal from the 17:00 or an earlier return. How that town fits into the day is covered on our Camara de Lobos page.

Taxi

No fixed or metered taxi fare for the Funchal to Cabo Girao route is published anywhere in the official sources. Unlike the Funchal airport transfer, which does have a published metered flag rate on its own page, this route has no listed price. Agree a fare with the driver before setting off, or use the meter, and treat any figure a driver quotes as negotiable.

Return trips have the same gap, so budget for two negotiated fares or consider the bus.

Driving Yourself

No official drive time or distance for this route is published in the sources used here, so we will not invent one. What is on record is the shape of the road: the bus route runs west out of Funchal along the coast through the Lido and Forum Madeira area, then through Camara de Lobos and Estreito de Camara de Lobos before climbing to the Cabo Girao stop. If you hire a car, the GPS coordinates for the site are 32.656400, -17.004203, which will take you straight there on any mapping app.

Parking at the cliff top is not described in the sources, so allow a little buffer time in high season.

The Cabo Girao skywalk is a glass-floored viewing platform at the cliff edge, 580 metres above the sea on what Visit Madeira describes as the highest promontory in Europe. Entry is run as SIMplifica service 256 and costs $5.73 (€5.00) per adult, paid on site. Children up to 12 inclusive, residents of the Madeira autonomous region and visitors with reduced mobility or wheelchair users enter free.

It is open every day from 08:00 to 20:00, no booking required, and the site sits on Estrada do Cabo Girao in Camara de Lobos municipality. The fee was set under Portaria 591/2025 of 27 October, which amended the earlier Portaria 946/2022, so it is an official regional charge rather than a private operator's price.

The Bus, For The Cheapest Trip

Take the Rodoeste bus out and back and pay the skywalk on site. Your total transport cost lands somewhere between $1.49 (€1.30) and $6.88 (€6.00) each way depending on the zone the driver charges, plus $5.73 (€5.00) entry. The trade-off is timetable discipline: seven outward runs on a weekday, fewer at weekends, and the return buses thin out after 17:00.

It suits anyone comfortable planning a morning around fixed departure times.

The Half-Day Jeep, For Cabo Girao Plus Mountains

The Cabo Girao jeep tour costs $57.43, runs 4 hours, and is rated 4.4 from 82 reviews. Green Devil Safari operates it in open-air 4x4 vehicles with Funchal pickup included, adding stops in Camara de Lobos and the mountain viewpoints of Jardim da Serra. Note carefully that skywalk entry is NOT included, so carry the $5.73 (€5.00) separately.

Free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund. It is not suitable for people with back problems or wheelchair users per the listing.

The Full Island Day, For The Whole West In One Go

The full-island 4WD tour costs $79.25, runs 8 hours, and carries a 4.9 rating from 9,810 reviews, which makes it one of the strongest-reviewed day trips from Funchal. Cabo Girao Skywalk is one stop among many on a route that also reaches Porto Moniz, Seixal, Fanal forest and Ponta do Sol. According to the listing no attraction tickets are bundled and all stops are free to enter, so the skywalk fee is not covered here either.

Free pickup and drop-off in the central Funchal area and near the port.