Monte Palace Tickets

The Price List

Adult entry is $20.63 (€18) every day of the year, whether you buy online or walk up to a ticket office. The operator publishes no reduced adult rate and no online discount, so do not expect one for booking ahead. Children up to 14 years old enter free when accompanied by an adult, which makes this one of the better-value garden tickets in Madeira for families. There is no family bundle and no senior rate in the published material.

The single ticket covers more than the plants. It includes the garden itself across 70,000 m², the three-floor museum (minerals and precious stones on the ground floor, modern and contemporary art from the Berardo Collection on the upper two floors), and a Moscatel wine tasting at the Bluehouse Café. Plan for 1.5 to 2.5 hours inside. The palace building itself is closed to visitors, so no part of the ticket gets you inside the old hotel.

Where To Buy

Three channels, two of them official. First, the operator's own online shop, reached through the ticket link on montepalacemadeira.com. Second, any of the three on-site ticket offices described in the entrances section below. Third, a tour that brings you to the gate, though as the table above shows, the two tuk-tuk tours in this guide do not confirm garden entry in their price, so you would buy your ticket at the desk as part of the outing.

There is no need to overthink this. The price is identical everywhere, so the decision comes down to validity and queueing, both covered next.

Yes, You Can Buy Online

Some older advice, including elsewhere on this site, says Monte Palace has no online sale and that you must buy at the kiosk on arrival. That claim is out of date and contradicts the operator's own FAQ, which states plainly that you can purchase online in advance or at one of the three on-site ticket offices on the day. The operator also says you do not need to book ahead at all, so treat online buying as a convenience rather than a necessity.

Validity Is The Real Difference

Online tickets are valid for 365 days from the date of issue. If you buy on a Monday and your ferry is delayed by three days, the ticket is still good. If your whole Madeira trip moves by a season, it is still good. Tickets bought at a desk in Monte are valid only on the day of purchase, so a sudden change of plans, a rainy afternoon or a cancelled cable car can strand the money.

Neither channel allows date changes, and neither refunds unused tickets. That rule is worth reading twice before you buy a stack of online tickets for a large group. The 365-day window is your only safety net, and it applies to online purchases only.

Fast Track, Re-Entry And The Small Print

Online-ticket holders get Fast Track entry at two places: the ticket office next to the cable-car exit and the Belvedere, or East, entrance, a perk the operator built to reward buying ahead rather than queueing cold at the desk. Agency-bought tickets, including ones bundled into tours by third parties, get Fast Track only at the cable-car office, so a tour operator's bundled ticket carries less weight at the other two gates. In practice this matters most on cruise-ship days around midday, when the cable-car office queue is at its longest.

Online tickets do not need to be printed, show them on your phone instead. Once a ticket is validated at any entrance, it will not let you back in if you step out, so treat the garden as a single visit and plan food and toilet stops accordingly. There is no stated visitor cap and no timed-entry slots for regular tickets, which is why the Fast Track lanes are the only queueing lever you actually control.

The Cable-Car Office

The busiest office sits next to the exit of the Funchal cable car, on Caminho das Babosas A4. Almost everyone who rides up from the lower station at Rua Dom Carlos I walks out of the upper station straight into this queue. If you hold an online ticket, use the Fast Track lane here.

If you bought through an agency or a tour, your Fast Track applies at this office only. The upper cable-car station is at Largo das Babosas 8, a short walk from the gate.

The North Entrance

The North Entrance is at Caminho das Babosas 4, further along the same road. Arrive by bus (routes 20, 21, 22 or 48 serve Monte) or by car (free parking nearby) and this is often the quieter way in. It is also the stop for the garden's internal trolley-bus guided tour, which costs $5.73 (€5) per adult per trip between the central lake and this entrance.

The terrain here, as everywhere in the garden, is steep, and accessibility is limited.

The Belvedere, Or East, Entrance

The Belvedere entrance on the east side is the second Fast Track point for online-ticket holders, a status it shares with the cable-car office because both see the steadiest walk-up traffic while the North Entrance mostly serves buses and cars instead. If you have walked over from the Monte church area or from Monte Municipal Park, entering here can mean a shorter line than the cable-car office, especially once a cruise ship has just docked and emptied its passengers straight onto the cable car. Pick your entrance by arrival route and queue length rather than by habit.

Whichever gate you choose, remember the no-re-entry rule once your ticket is scanned.

Monte Palace Tropical Garden and Old Town Tuk-Tuk Tour

The 3-hour tuk-tuk tour to Monte Palace and the old town costs $57.43, rates 4.8 from 250 reviews, and runs as a private group with live guiding in Portuguese and English. You are collected from your hotel in Funchal, carried up the hill without any climb on your part, given time inside the garden, then driven back down through the old town. The fixed departure time is chosen at booking. It is not suitable for children under 3.

On the money question, the listing does not confirm that the garden entry fee is bundled into the tour price. It states that no tickets are included beyond the hotel pickup and drop-off. So plan to buy your own ticket at the gate, at the usual $20.63 (€18), unless the listing changes. Check the current listing before booking.

Monte Tropical Garden & Toboggan Ride by Tuk Tuk

The Monte tropical garden and toboggan tuk-tuk tour costs $126.34, rates 4.9 from 266 reviews, and runs in a small group with a driver-guide speaking Portuguese, English, Spanish or French over 3 hours. The format is the garden visit plus the wicker toboggan ride from Monte down to Livramento. Pickup and drop-off inside Funchal are included. It is not suitable for children under 3 or for wheelchair users.

The listing is explicit here: only the pickup, the driver-guide and a blanket are included. The toboggan ride, about $45.84 (€40) for two people, and the garden entry, about $20.63 (€18) per person, are shown as extras paid on site. Budget accordingly, because your garden ticket is a separate purchase at the desk on the day, which also means it is only valid that day.

The Checklist

- Last entry is 17:00, always. The garden's published closing time shifts with the season (9am-7pm April to September, 9am-6pm October to March), but the last entry figure stays 17:00 year round. Do not buy a same-day ticket at 16:30 and expect a full visit. - Know about the museum-hours conflict. The operator's Visit page lists museum hours as 09:00-17:00 while the FAQ page says 10:00-17:00. Both agree the garden's last entry is 17:00.

The exact museum opening is not resolved, so if the museum matters to you, go earlier rather than later. - No re-entry. Once your ticket is validated at any entrance, stepping out means buying again. Bring what you need for the whole visit. Food and drink may be brought in, just not into the museum. - Buy online if plans might move. Online tickets are valid 365 days from issue, on-site tickets only for the day of purchase.

Neither is refundable or changeable, so the year-long window is the only flexibility that exists. - Children up to 14 go free. With an adult, no ticket needed for them. There is no separate child ticket to buy at this garden. - No combo exists. The operator sells no bundle pairing the garden with the cable car or the toboggan. Any package you see combining them is assembled by a tour company, not by Monte Palace, and the tours in this guide leave the garden entry as a separate on-site payment.