Half-Day Small-Group Wine Tour in Madeira

Lovely drive to the north side of the island, great vineyard tour and views, and loved the cliff overlook and the seaside village visit. Great trip all around.

A little disappointed with this tour. A group of 8 squeezed into a Mercedes Vito with little or no air con on a very humid day. The first stop of 15 minutes was simply enough to stretch our legs and take a photo, while the second stop was pointless as cloud cover meant there was absolutely no visibility. The scenery on the way, and at the vineyard was spectacular, and the short tour of some of the vines and tasting was good. Make sure you take a sun hat and sensible shoes as the vineyard path is uneven. Another hot, sticky return journey spoilt the excursion for us.

As we only visited a single vineyard, it is a slight stretch to call it a wine tour. However the vineyard itself was quite interesting, and a little different from those in less mountainous terrain. The wine tasting was actually very enjoyable. We also enjoyed the two other stops on the tour, although not wine related. Our driver was excellent and very friendly.

This is a must-do for any wine lover visiting the island! Manuel was our guide and absolutely wonderful! He got to our hotel early to pick us up and shared great knowledge about the area with us on the drive. We stopped in a cute fishing town to see Winston Churchill’s church and then at the highest cliff for some beautiful pictures of the island - both stops were well worth it! Then we headed to Barbusana for a quick vineyard tour (it was cold and muddy) with a small group before joining the host inside for the tasting. We had 3 reds, 1 rose, and 2 reds (all were delicious!) alongside a small meat and cheese tray. The host at the vineyard was incredibly knowledgeable on the vineyard and how they grow grapes in Portugal and it was great to learn from her. The highlight of the trip was Manuel - he was so fun and knowledgable. We would definitely book another trip with him when back in the area. Tips: bring 3 euros per person to visit the cliff and comfy shoes (that you don’t mind if they get dirty).

We (8 ladies) had a great afternoon with Alpino! He drove us around safely and gave a lot of information about his beloved island. The wine tasting was very nice and relaxed. Really worth it!

Fantastic driver,very friendly, punctual & informative. Just 4 of us on the morning tour which was great,ideal time before tours staying for lunch arrive. No rush at the vineyard, could help ourselves after the tastings to as much from the 6 bottles,small tasting board of cheese/ham,not tapas. Recommend good way to spend a morning.

We opted for the Friday tour as the only afternoon tour of the week. We were given an arrival time at our hotel and vehicle details the day before (and received a very quick response to a subsequent question we had). Despite the tour saying up to 11 people, we were amazed to find out it was just the 2 of us! Our efficient driver and friendly guide Fernando first took us to Camara de Lobos, where we had 30 mins to explore the fishing village and sample the famous Poncha drink. Next it was 15 mins at Cabo Girao to take in the views from Europe's tallest cliff. Then about 20-30 mins drive further west and then north through (and under, via a 3km tunnel) the mountains to the vineyards near Sao Vicente. The tour at the vineyard was scheduled for 4pm and included patrons from numerous other tour operators (it was noted by staff to be a particularly large group of about 25ish). You're led through and under the horizontal vines and given information about the specific characteristics of the grapes on the impact the climate has. Then you sit to sample 3 whites, 1 rose and 2 reds. This is accompanied by some cheese and meat and at the end whatever is left in multiple bottles of the 6 wines is there for you to top up. Tables are laid per operator - so the table and sharing plate just for the two of us again! Timing wise, probably owing to the larger group, you could have spent longer there (particularly if you're more thirsty...) but we left at 5:45 having only had time for a very quick extra glass each. I would err on the side of caution on dinner reservation timing because part of this trip is single track which makes journey time extremely variable. We returned into Funchal at 18:20, 4h20 from our pick-up time. All in all it was a really enjoyable trip and a good way to see more than just Funchal if you didn't want to hire a car or take a larger excursion.

Very pleasant experience! We saw beautiful corners of the island. And a good tasting. We recommend this outing!

I was really looking forward to this, however, we were left disappointed. The wine tour itself was good and informative at the vineyard, however, it was advertised as having tapas as part of the wine tasting. The tapas (between 4 people) consisted of 6 slices of cheese and chorizo, dried toast, jam - that’s not my idea of tapas. After the wine tasting there was about 30 minutes left to try the wines on our own so we managed 2 small glasses and then had to leave - not worth over £60 per person.

Travel time from Dreams Resort took over 1-3/4 hours to winery which included pickup of another 2 people on the way. The winery tour itself was good, but nothing exceptional.