Full Day East of Madeira Tour

I had an incredible day visiting Santana, the route taken was five-star, the means of transport was excellent, the visited places were a unique experience, the guide was a trustworthy person, with good knowledge of the island's history, to be more explicit, the entire route was excellent. I bought the tour on Booking and the agency that conducted the tour was Ilha Tours. After buying the trip, they immediately contacted me, provided me with all the information for the pickup location at the hotel or a pickup point, very attentive. The guide named Antonio José is an excellent person. I had a fun day. I recommend this agency and preferably ask to take a tour with Mr. Antonio José, you will love it.

We had already done the West tour and the Nuns' valley tour and had been very happy with our experiences (will write reviews for these). However this one did not live up to our expectations. Although we were picked up first, the guide ushered us into the back of an old, rickety minibus without introducing himself. The seats in the back were very low and uncomfortable so we asked if we could sit at the front but he mumbled a negative reply. However, at the next pick up he opened the front door to let two younger women in. We had to actually ask him what his name was (Antonio). The tour itself was interesting but we did not feel at ease with him. He kept on going on about getting us on to the Balcon without having to pay and saying "I have saved you money" and offering us a deal with his friend's restaurant in Santana (we declined). His driving at times was aggressive and at some stops he was shouting at people, sometimes in an aggressive way, sometimes in a jovial way at people he knew, but it didn't make a relaxing trip. He was hinting at wanting tips: "I saved you money!" and was repeating himself over and over with the same irrelevant information. We didn't give him a tip and he wasn't impressed.

Chris, our English guide living on Madeira showed us around the beautiful island for two days and we had a great trip with many sights and a good explanation it is really recommended to get to know the island well. Thanks again Chris for everything:)

Booked the East tour for Wednesday 14th January with Ilha Tours but they failed to pick us up. They said the computer was down so they didn’t have a record of the booking. After phoning several times the trip was rearranged for Thursday 15th. Yet again they failed to pick us up. I phoned several times and eventually they agreed to collect us by car to join the tour. The excuse this time was they had the wrong name and the wrong hotel. This was very stressful. Finally we joined the minibus. Later in the day the excuse was changed saying we were not at the pickup point. This was untrue as we had arrived 15 minutes before the agreed time. On our return I called Nelio to tell him how stressful the experience had been. He then offered us a free West tour which we accepted. However after consideration we decided we couldn’t face the possibility and stress of a third failed pickup and so declined the offer. The East tour of the island is spectacular so well worth taking but if you want a relaxing day I would not book with Ilha Tours.

What a marvellous tour - stunning scenery , great stops to enjoy the sights and lovely weather.We used ILHATOURS,having been nobbled by the lovely Nina , whilst passing their shop . ALBERTo collected us from our hotel and 13 others in a minibus and ragaled us with info about the island ,whilst driving and speaking two languages! What a star ! We stopped for lunch in Santana, a pretty place and found Restaurante BRAGADOS, having the best meal of our holiday - bacalhau ( salt cod) and picado ( beef stew) . This trip is marvellous - go for it !

The driver never turned up so not much to write about this. Got an immediate refund so no grumbles there. Had the tour next day with another company and availed ourselves of the 15 euro for 2 offer which required us to attend a sales pitch for the Savoy timeshare scheme. Didn’t realise it was timeshare until the end. Enjoyed a good tour of the Savoy hotels. Didn’t subscribe.

We had a wonderful day exploring the East side of the island. Our guide was amazing in terms of his knowledge and communication. He spoke mostly in English and Portuguese but at times he delivered in French and German too. He was friendly and knowledgeable. He imparted really interesting information about the natureNd history of the island and we even had a surprise stop!We had several stops for refreshments or to explore different places. The guide had a sense of humour and the bus was comfortable. It made for a very pleasant day and we made great memories.

We had a great day on the full day east island tour. We had mixed nationalities on board English, German and Spanis, our driver Alberto did our tour very well in all 3 languages. It was great value being a very full day with a decent amount of time at each stop.

Had an amazing time with Chico and Neilo they told us all the fascinating history of the island allowing us to explore some great spots and showing us local foods and drinks.

We booked this tour through Ilhatours. The price was cheaper than a similar Jet2 trip plus there were more stops included. Patrick, our driver and guide was professional, friendly, very knowledgeable about all the areas we visited, as well as a fantastic, safe driver! Thank you Patrick! I'd definitely recommend this trip with ilhatours.