Getting Around Madeira: Buses, Passes, Cable Cars and Ferries

Horários do Funchal, the city network

Horários do Funchal runs the urban network inside Funchal, including the lines to Monte, Curral das Freiras and the Botanical Garden. Its line-by-line detail sits behind the Planeador HF planner on horariosdofunchal.pt rather than on a static page, so look your line up there. It is also the operator whose counters on Avenida do Mar sell the GIRO card.

Rodoeste, the west

Rodoeste covers the western zone. Served destinations include Câmara de Lobos, Cabo Girão, Ribeira Brava, Calheta, São Vicente and Porto Moniz. Timetables are published as PDFs on rodoeste.com.pt, and the Câmara de Lobos and Calheta pages of this guide sit on its lines.

CAM, the east

CAM, the Companhia de Autocarros da Madeira, runs the eastern zone: Caniço, Santa Cruz, the airport, Machico, Santo da Serra and Porto da Cruz. Timetables are hosted on the shared siga.madeira.gov.pt portal under the legacy SAM filenames. Our Machico and Santana pages sit in CAM territory.

If an old guide says SAM bus

SAM stopped operating as a public passenger carrier from 1 July 2024. Its former routes now run under CAM within SIGA. Any guide that tells you to take the SAM bus means the CAM service on the same corridor.

Single tickets

The first table compares the cash price you pay the driver with the prepaid price on a GIRO card, split between municipal trips inside Funchal and intermunicipal trips beyond it.

Day passes and the Regional Tourist pass

The ordinary Bilhete Diário day passes come in municipal and intermunicipal versions and are not valid on the Aerobus. The Regional Tourist pass costs more but covers unlimited trips across the whole region including the Aerobus, and is valid 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 days from first validation. It has been on sale since 22 January 2026 at SIGA operator counters and Payshop agents.

Our own sums

Our sum: three days of four intermunicipal GIRO trips a day is twelve rides at $2.30 (€2) each, which is $27.60 (€24). The 3-day intermunicipal day pass at $19.17 (€16.70) wins that pattern outright. Our sum continues: the Regional Tourist 3-day pass at $26.40 (€23) only beats it if the pass also replaces two Aerobus rides at $6.37 (€5.55) prepaid each.

If your itinerary stays off the Aerobus, the cheaper intermunicipal pass is the better buy.

Rodoeste's own single tickets

Rodoeste also publishes its own singles for its Funchal routes, priced by zone: 1 zone $1.49 (€1.30), 2 zones $2.53 (€2.20), 3 zones $3.16 (€2.75), up to 8 zones $6.89 (€6). These are Rodoeste's published on-board singles. The SIGA tariff sheet is the network tariff, so the two can differ on the same route.

Steps

The process is short. Follow it in this order and you will never need to fumble for coins at the front of a full bus.

• Buy the GIRO ticket card for $0.57 (€0.50) at any SIGA operator counter, a Payshop agent, or one of the ticket machines listed by SIGA.
• Load it with credit, or load a day pass or a Regional Tourist pass onto it.
• Validate the card when you board, and the system deducts the prepaid fare: $1.66 (€1.45) municipal or $2.30 (€2) intermunicipal.
• Top up again at any of the same points when credit runs low.

Where to buy and top up

Horários do Funchal runs its own service points on Avenida do Mar in Funchal, plus a counter at Anadia Shopping. Payshop agents have offered full GIRO top-up coverage across Madeira and Porto Santo since 20 May 2025. Horários do Funchal's ticket machines sit at Anadia, the Loja do Cidadão, Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça (24 hours), the Marina, Baião and the Teleférico, and SIGA lists all machine locations on its points-of-sale page.

The cash-only warning

On-board tickets are cash only. The SIGA FAQ states plainly that tickets bought on the bus are paid in money only, and card payment is not possible. There is no contactless option at the driver.

Carry small notes and coins for the days you travel without the card.

Rodoeste to the west and Porto Moniz

Rodoeste's own destination list includes Cabo Girão, Calheta, Câmara de Lobos, Porto Moniz, Ribeira Brava and São Vicente, which covers the Cabo Girão skywalk, the Porto Moniz lava pools and the São Vicente Caves. Per the Porto Moniz council, public transport to Porto Moniz is Rodoeste, and Porto Moniz sits in fare zone H, with the fare depending on the zone where you board.

CAM to the east

CAM's former SAM network covers Caniço, Santa Cruz, the airport, Machico, Santo da Serra and Porto da Cruz, published as PDFs on siga.madeira.gov.pt. That makes CAM the ordinary local bus for Machico and the east coast. The Aerobus is a separate CAM express service, summarised on our Madeira Airport page.

Monte, Curral das Freiras and the Botanical Garden

Horários do Funchal serves Monte, Curral das Freiras and the Botanical Garden, but the operator keeps its line-by-line detail behind the interactive Planeador HF tool on horariosdofunchal.pt rather than on a static page. Look up the line numbers there before you set out for Curral das Freiras or the Botanical Garden. We do not print line numbers we could not verify.

Days with no Rodoeste service

Rodoeste states there is no service on 25 and 26 December and 1 January. Plan around those three dates, because the west coast buses simply do not run. Journey times between towns are not published in a comparable form by the operators, so build generous margins into day plans.

All three lines have separate operators and separate tickets, so a return on one line does not cover another. Hours are as printed by each operator.

Funchal to Monte

The lower station sits in the Jardim Almirante Reis garden beside the Zona Velha old town, close to the Mercado dos Lavradores, so it is an easy walk from central Funchal. Full detail, combined tickets and the toboggan link are on our Funchal cable car page.

Monte to the Botanical Garden

This second line crosses a valley from Monte to the Botanical Garden, saving a steep descent and climb. It is run by a different company from the Funchal to Monte line, which is why the fares do not match.

Achadas da Cruz and the Rabaçal shuttle

The Achadas da Cruz cable car near Porto Moniz costs $3.44 (€3) a trip and its opening hours are not published on the municipal page, so check locally on the day. Details are on our Achadas da Cruz cable car page. At Rabaçal, the ER105 road from Encumeada is closed, and the Calheta council runs a shuttle to the forestry post at $5.74 (€5) one way or $9.18 (€8) return, described in our Levada das 25 Fontes guide.

Note that the Monte toboggan ends in Livramento, not where it starts, so you need separate transport back from its arrival point.

What the bus covers and what it does not

Regular SIGA buses work for Funchal itself, the airport corridor, the south and west coast towns and the east to Machico and Caniçal. They do not work for a one-way hike on the PR1 ridge, for the Rabaçal trailheads while the ER105 access is closed, or for sunrise at Pico do Arieiro, which happens hours before the first bus climbs the mountain. That is where the bookable transfers earn their price.

Transfers and tours that fill the gaps

These are fixed-price shared services, all with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead and hotel pickup in their listed zones. A sunrise at Pico do Arieiro is only reachable this early by transfer or taxi.

• The Pico do Arieiro sunrise and PR1 transfer costs $38.00 and drops you at Areeiro for the ridge walk, then collects you at Achada do Teixeira near Pico Ruivo.
• The Rabaçal 25 Fontes and Risco hiking transfer costs $50.00 and collects in Funchal, Caniço, Ribeira Brava, Ponta do Sol and more.
• The PR8 Caniçal transfer costs $36.00 and serves Ponta de São Lourenço, with the trail permit included.
• The Skywalk, Porto Moniz, Seixal and Fanal 4WD tour costs $79.00 and wraps the whole northwest into one day.
• The Monte toboggan and old town tuk-tuk tour costs $46.00 with hotel pickup by tuk-tuk, so you are not stranded at the toboggan finish.

Bikes on buses

Horários do Funchal does not allow bicycles on board its buses. Rodoeste and CAM have not published their bicycle policy on the pages we read, so do not assume a bike can travel with you outside Funchal. Our bike and scooter rental page covers the alternatives.

Fares and timetable

A visitor adult return costs $82.70 (€72.02) in the April to September season and $67.60 (€58.90) in the other months, plus a monthly fuel surcharge. In the September timetable, most days sail from Funchal at 08:00 and return at 19:00, with no Friday morning sailing and a 19:00 departure instead. Bicycles travel free with a passenger, though a ticket is still required.

Because of technical reasons per the operator, the crossing currently takes 3 hours 15 minutes rather than its usual shorter time. Book at portosantoline.pt and check the current month's timetable before committing.

No official island-wide app or live journey times

The SIGA FAQ describes a future App SIGA as still in development. Its own journey planner is also noted as under development, and the SIGA site currently points users to third-party map apps instead. Horários do Funchal runs its own Planeador HF planner on horariosdofunchal.pt, which works for the city network, but there is no single official app covering all three operators.

We do not print journey times between towns because the operators do not publish them in a comparable form.

Bike rules outside Funchal

Horários do Funchal's FAQ says bicycles are not permitted on its buses. Rodoeste and CAM have not published a bicycle policy on the pages we read, so the rule for interurban routes is unknown. Ask the driver before boarding with a bike.

Card payment on board

The SIGA FAQ states on-board ticket purchases are cash only and card payment is not possible. There is no published plan for contactless on buses, so the cash-only rule is the working assumption for the whole network.

Aerobus detail lives elsewhere

The airport express is summarised in the comparison above, and its stops, full timetable and child fares are covered on our Madeira Airport page rather than duplicated here.