Monte Sledges – Funchal, Madeira

One of the most fun things we did while in in Madeira was sliding down a long, narrow street in a rattan sledge (sleigh or toboggan) on wooden runners.

The sledges start their downhill journey in Monte, a picturesque community high above Funchal.  The views are wonderful with the city lying below us, all around us and the sea in the distance.  It’s also famous for its lush gardens.  We only peeked at the gardens and preferred to focus this day on the sledge ride.

The sledges have been entertaining tourists for over a hundred years.   It’s the fastest mode of transportation down the 2 km hill but sledges were once utilities.  Before cars, in the 19^th century, these sleighs or toboggans were used to transport people and goods down the hill.  They rode on cobblestone streets worn slick by heavy use.  It was and still is a superfast way down, but then, no way around it, the return trip is still a slow, hard trip back.

This outing was a bit pricey as today, this is strictly a tourist attraction.  The ride up the mountain can be accomplished by bus, by private car or by aerial cable car.  We took the cable car, the teleferico.  Of course, the views were spectacular.  We could see near and far.  When I say near, I mean near!  We passed just over rustic red tile roofs and green hillsides.   From the cable car at some points, we could look directly into the gardens and patios of houses we passed along the way.

After about a ten-minute walk at the top, we came upon the 18th century Nossa Senhora do Monte Church. At its doorstep we began to see evidence of the sledge operation. We saw rows of rattan sledges and maybe two dozen men, carreiros, dressed in all white wearing the traditional Madeira straw hats and bearing sturdy rubber-soled shoes on their feet (used as breaks).

We were greeted by two friendly carreiros.  Now, these guys are not merely boys in uniform.  They are adult men, members of a co-op that owns and operates the “Carro de Cesto” toboggan facility.  They have history and vested interest in making sure this unique and historical form of transportation lives on. 

We hopped in a sledge and got ready to run.  One of the carreiros took our photo just before we started the run.  Then the two guys started running, first pulling our sled by ropes, then pushing our sledge down the hill and away we went.  We sped down the narrow streets.  We went left and we went right.   When necessary, the carreiros put their feet down on the pavement guiding us through a thrilling sharp turn or dragging them to slow us down.  The narrow street was shiny like there had been recent rain, but it was not wet.  The shine came from constant wear.  The once rounded stones mortared together on their sides to pave the street had worn flat, smooth and shiny.

The 2 km ride was fast, exhilarating and was a once-in-a-lifetime event fun!  It’s a must-do for visitors in Madeira and only in Madeira.

I mentioned before that in comparison to many interesting things in Portugal, this one attraction is a little pricey.  The ride on the Teleferico up the mountain was 22 Euros, the sledge ride down the hill was 30 Euros and the taxi ride from the ending point to the city was another 10 Euros.  Point to point was maybe ¾ hour.  This explained to us why most people who live here have never done the sledge rides; it is just too dang expensive for most families.

But for us, it was fun to be a tourist for the moment, helping to keep the tradition alive and just doing it.