Madeira : Wine Tasting & Authentic Local Experience

What a fun, exciting, informative experience. João was our guide for the day driving us through agricultural areas and on to the cliff top viewing area, then some fun off-road driving through woodland. We had a spectacular stop at the viewing area of the Nuns’ Valley, a coffee shop/pancha stop, more off-road driving and finally a Madeira wine and cake tasting. Highly recommended experience.

Today we've experienced an amazing tour with our guide David. He picked us up right on time in an amazing and authentic jeep. Afterwards we picked up two more people and then our tour started. During the tour David takes you through different points of interest and explains things about the scenery and Madeira itself as only a local can, with background information and personal experiences. During the trip you'll visit beautiful scenery, experience a wine tasting and (since we were interested) we stopped at a little bar that served authentic poncha. The jeep ride itself was fun and David gave us a chance to stand up while he went down an offroad course. In the end we had a blast and we would most definitely recommend this experience to everyone that visits Madeira and is looking to experience incredible emotions.

We had a fantastic day out with David exploring the island. We were picked up from our hotel in a 4x4 Open-Topped Jeep (as parts of the trip are off road). David our host was an excellent driver and you will feel perfectly safe but be prepared; the jeep is open topped ( not fitted with seat belts) and you will head up into the mountains so take a jacket as it gets cooler. It is a packed itinerary altogether featuring the Madeira Wine Tasting, a trip up into the mountains via Sugar cane production, a visit to the Nuns Valley and other breath taking views, an authentic Poncha tasting at a local Bar and a trip to the Skywalk Viewing Platform. There was so much we saw that I cannot highlight everything we experienced here. David was a great host; and very knowledgeable; you find out about the culture of the island, his family and lots of local knowledge. The trip was advertised as a 4 hour duration but on the day the trip was 6 hours because of our interest and David's enthusiasm so represented great value for money. In summary, if like us you want to get out and explore parts of the island that you wouldn't otherwise see on a standard trip this is the ideal way to do it. We would highly recommend. Thank you David for a great day.

Fantastic time had with David, it was great to hear about the island from a local, and be driven around it by someone who truly knows the roads and how to navigate the impressive gradients. The Madeira tasting was well organised and enjoyable. The route and viewpoints, gave us a great feel for the island and we got some cracking pics. We especially enjoyed it when David took us to visit a local wood craftsman and we got to see some work in action. I will be recommending David & Toni's Tours to our friends who will be visiting Madeira late summer.

Amazing tour and experience! We got to see so much more of the island and learn about its history. Our guide was incredibly helpful!

James was an outstanding guide. We really felt we had a personal, informative tour. Honestly, cannot recommend this company enough!

This half day trip out of Funchal was a lot of fun and well worth the price. Toni was very flexible: he rearranged his schedule to fit us in and picked us up directly from our Airbnb. The tour in his impressive old jeep was then an excellent mixture of being driven up steep roads to vantage points, off-roading on tracks, and stops for refreshment (both the wine tasting and the poncha tasting were really enjoyable). Toni was brought up in the area and is very knowledgeable and entertaining. All in all, a superb introduction to Madeira away from the main town.

Taken to places we would never see in Madeira if on a tour bus. Toni was a great tour guide. Would highly recommend this tour

Excellent guide who was friendly, very knowledgable and enthusiastic about his home country. The tour took us away from the crowded hotspots of Funchal to give us a glimpse of the authentic life of this beautiful island. Toni was helpful and considerate - sharing stories of his childhood on the island and taking us to taste wines at one of the leading producers. We didn't feel under pressure to buy -although we did purchase two bottles as prices were very reasonable. Toni even returned to Funchal to reuinte us with our wines, which we inadvertently left in his jeep. Thanks again to Toni for making sure we had an enjoyable trip. His jeep is probably more used to taking thrill seekers on off- road adventures - but his thoughtful driving made it suitable for even our old bones. Good value and would recommend.

We thoroughly enjoyed our half day tour with Toni, so much so that we booked another one a few days later! Toni is extremely knowledgeable about the island and, probably even more important, he absolutely loves the place and its people. We felt very well looked after and the trip was lovely balanced with the more obvious tourist spots and remote spots of beauty with no tourists in sight at all. The old army jeep Toni is using for his tours was amazingly comfortable and definitely added a sense of adventure. Absolutely top experience!