Santana From Funchal: Fares, Tours And The Thatched Houses

Line 139 And Line 56

SIGA's regional timetable aggregator lists Rodoeste's Line 139, described as a Funchal-Santana service, as the direct connection. A second service, Horários do Funchal's Line 56, is also listed as serving Santana. Neither operator's own site, on the pages we could reach, states a specific Funchal departure point or a full Santana fare table, so we will not invent a departure time or a fare for either line.

What Rodoeste's PDF filenames do confirm is a related Line 6 running Funchal to Arco de São Jorge, close to Santana but not independently confirmed to stop in the village centre.

What The Bus Likely Costs

Rodoeste's published zone fare table, which covers its western routes, tops out at $6.88 (€6.00) for eight zones from Funchal. Santana sits on the north coast rather than the west, and the operator does not name it on that fare table at all, so treat any single-figure fare for this specific route as an estimate rather than a confirmed price. The honest summary: expect a bus fare broadly similar in scale to the longest western routes, paid in cash on board, but no official page prints the exact number for Santana.

The Casas Típicas

The triangular thatched houses, called Casas Típicas locally, are the reason most day trips stop in Santana. Their steep A-frame roofs once ran to the ground on both sides, built that way to shed the heavy rain of the north coast. The municipality's own site references a support programme for these houses but does not publish visiting hours, an entry fee, or which specific houses are open to walk into, so treat a look from the village square and roadside as the default visit rather than assuming a ticketed interior tour.

Several examples sit clustered near the centre of the village and are easy to see on foot in twenty or thirty minutes.

The UNESCO Biosphere Landscape

Santana municipality was awarded UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status in 2011, covering 96.2 square kilometres across six parishes, a designation that reflects the mix of farmland, laurel forest and coastline around the village rather than the houses alone. Part of that landscape is Ribeiro Frio, a forest park roughly on the road between Funchal and Santana. It is one of seven IFCN-managed forest parks in the reserve area and lets visitors see native Laurissilva flora and fauna, including a small trout hatchery, on the way to or from the village.

Parque Temático Da Madeira

The Santana theme park is the one ticketed attraction in the municipality. Adult entry is $14.90 (€13.00), children aged 6 to 14 and seniors 65 and over pay $10.31 (€9.00), children aged 4 to 5 pay $3.44 (€3.00), and children under 3 are admitted on request rather than at a fixed published price. The operator's own site describes a suggested visit of 2 to 4 hours across a village of traditional houses, a themed pavilion and a children's area.

It sits in the village at 9230-098 Santana and is confirmed as open and operating, despite older unverified reports online that it had closed.

The Bus, For Independent Travellers

Take Line 139 or Line 56 out and back, paying the driver on board. Since neither operator publishes a Santana-specific fare, budget on the higher end of Madeira's bus fares and confirm the price when you board. This route suits travellers comfortable navigating a regional timetable without a fixed pickup time, but be prepared for a long day given the distance and the lack of a published fast connection.

The Guided Tour, For The Whole East Coast

The Pico do Areeiro, Santana & Laurissilva tour costs $41.90, runs 7 hours, and holds a 4.8 rating from 3,409 reviews. It links the Pico do Areeiro viewpoint, a short flat levada walk at Balcões, the Ribeiro Frio forest and Santana's houses into one guided day with hotel pickup in Funchal or Caniço. The alternative, the Eastern Madeira tour with rum tasting, costs $40.20 for 8 hours and swaps the levada walk's included ticket for a rum tasting and Guindaste skywalk entry, both bundled in the price.

Both list free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance.