One of the most visited places in Funchal is Monte, city part of Funchal. You can go easily there by cable car. Starting station of cable car is near the promenade and old city centre. You can not miss this. The cable car is visible from everywhere. But this is mostly turistic attraction. I belive, there are beautiful views, but one way is around 8 euros, retur ticket is 15 euros. It depends on your priorities. 🙂
The cable car middle stop is in Monte, city part at an altitude of 560 m above sea level, with beutiful view of the city, church Nossa Senhora do Monte and tropical garden – Jardim Tropical Monte Palace. From there you can continue by another cable car to Bonical garden of Funchal – Jardim Botânico. But you have to walk a few minutes to reach the next cable car stop and, of course, you need to pay another fee. It cost the same price one more time. Children under 7 years of age can go for a half price.
Church Nossa Senhora do Monte (July, 2012)
But we did not go by cable car. We went by bus. Buses in Funchal are very specific – the bus drivers are driving very fast on steep and narrow stress of Funchal. But I was assured that they do not have accidents at all. 🙂
The bus transportation in Funchal is a bit chaotic and the buses are not going as often as you wish to, but not always can be everyone happy. I got a tip to go to the Botanical garden by bus no. 31. This bus is supposed to go by very narrow streets and the journey is adventure itself. One day, I hope, I will find out if this is true or not, unfortunately we did not catch that bus. 
We wanted to go by bus no. 31 at 12:30, because there was no earlier one. But at the bus stop the bus driver from bus no. 31 told us, that he is not going that close to the garden as we expected. In the first few seconds, we did not believe him. On the bus map you can see that no. 31 goes very near to the garden. At least he recomended us another bus, no. 29, so we decided to go by that one. And we also found out that there is a bus no. 31A, which goes near to the garden and its schedule is more frequent.
So, a small sumary: To Botanical garden, final (third) stop of cable car, you can go by bus no. 31A. This bus goes from the promenade. You can also go by bus no. 29 from bus station near the cable car. The price is 1,15 euro (one way) if you have bus ticket with 10 or more pre-paid rides, 1,25 euro if you buy less than 10 rides and 1,9 euro if you will pay in the bus.
Bonical garden of Funchal – Jardim Botânico (July, 2012)
The entrance fee to Botanical Garden is 4 euros without a guide and approx. 15 euros with a guide – he usualy speaks english, french or german (maybe some other languages are possible) and will give you many interesting informations about the plants and how the are, or how they were, used. In the garden you can see various plants, traditional house of madeira, some viewpoints, exotic bird teritory and also snack bar, toilets and cable car station at the top. You will need approximately one hour to walk through the garden. If you are more interested in the plants, you can count with two hours and more.
Bonical garden of Funchal – Jardim Botânico (July, 2012)
If you want to go back to city centre by bus, is better to walk from the top to the bottom, where, near the exit, it bus stop. If you prefer to go to Monte directly, by cable car, you should go from the bottom to the top, because there is the cable car stop. We decided to go to centre by bus and from there by another bus to Monte. It saved us a lof of money and it is not that difficult or exhausting as it can seems to someone. You just need to check the timetables first! You can find them only at bus stops! Or be prepare to wait a bit. 🙂
From bus stop in the centre of Funchal you can go by bus no. 21, or better 21A or 20 (we went by this one) to the Monte. All the buses have final stop there so do not worry. 🙂 The journey up there is longer than to the Botanical garden, full of beautiful views and narrow strees. You can really appreciate the driving skills of local bus drivers.
Monte, Funchal (July,2012)
And what you can find up there?
Magnificent view, a little bit colder climate (is really high in the hills), church Nossa Senhora do Monte (free entrance), where is buried the last Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl I., private garden Jardim Tropical do Monte Palace (10 euros) and local attraction – sledges moving on wooden base/ toboggan rides. Some mountain tracks also starts there.
Toboggan riders, Monte, Funchal (July, 2012)
On your way down the hill you can use a bus again (as we did) or taxi, or cable car or the sledges. The sledges (or toboggan lets say) cost approx. 30 or even 40 euros and they will leave you in the middle of the hill. For the rest of the journey you can use taxi or walk. It is a local tradition and local bussines in one. 🙂
Traditional toboggan of Funchal (July, 2012)
Experiencemadeira 