Cabo Girão

The Cabo Girão is described as the highest cliff in Europe, though from a geological point of view it's actually African. A glass viewing platform juts out at a height of 580m providing views over Câmara de Lobos and Funchal as well as down to the narrow strip of cultivation by the shore below.

There is a restaurant/café and a souvenir shop and the location is a popular visitor attraction.

Given the elevation, there is some risk of fog which may sometimes reduce the visibility to a couple of metres, so it might be worth checking the webcam on the Sunset Bar (just wait if Cabo Girão isn't immediately visible) before you set off. The viewing point is a convenient starting point for a number of walks and the same applies if you're coming for exercise rather than just the view - check the weather and be prepared!

NOTE: there is now an entrance charge of 2 Euros, except for residents and children aged 12 years and younger. Residents will need a pass obtainable from the SIMplifica website. Non-residents can buy tickets on a separate page of the same website or from the kiosks on site on arrival.

Do look down!

A little further up the hill (just behind the car park) is a small road leading up to the Chapel of Our Lady of Fátima which is a large, modern and undistinguished church intended mainly as a destination for pilgrimages. There is a path past the (inevitable) transmitter that leads to a spot where you may also get some good views in more tranquility.

Getting There

Many organised tours call here, usually just before or after a visit to Câmara de Lobos. Rodoeste buses provide a rather irregular service as an occasional diversion from a number of different routes between Funchal and Ribeira Brava (and beyond). If you go to their website, switch to English and select 'SCHEDULES' from the 'SERVICE' menu and select 'CABO GIRAO' from the drop-down box. You'll get a PDF with the times, though be careful how you interpret it - "Carr." is the route number which will be displayed on the bus: there is usually an additional sign in the window saying CABO GIRAO MIRADOURO to confirm the stop. The timetable shows departures times from Funchal (the buses make limited stops along the Avenida do Mar and Estrada Monumental as well as in Câmara de Lobos) and arrival times at Cabo Girão for the outward journey. For the return, the timetable shows the departure time from Ribeiro Brava (where the bus will come from) and the time it gets to Cabo Girão before heading back to Funchal. Note there are separate timetables for weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The bus stops just before the turning for the viewpoint where there are yellow zigzag lines in the road.