Jeep tour or off-road buggy on Madeira: riding along or driving yourself?
Updated October 7, 2026 · 6 min read
The short answer: if you want to see as much of the island as possible and not drive, book the full-day jeep tour with guide and pickup (€70). If you want to drive yourself and mind getting muddy, the off-road buggy adventure through the Laurissilva forest (€125 for a group of up to two) is the one. They are not rivals: one is a day out, the other is a two-and-a-half-hour ride.
Four off-road tours compared
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-day jeep tour with guide and pickup | 8 hours | €70 | 4.9 (2,802) | Passengers who want the west coast in one day |
| Cabo Girão, jeep adventure and wine tasting | 4 hours | €49 | 4.8 (450) | A shorter jeep day with a tasting |
| Off-road buggy adventure through the Laurissilva forest | 2h 30m | €125 per group of up to 2 | 4.9 (1,677) | Couples who want to drive |
| Half-day off-road buggy tour | 3 hours | €135 per group of up to 2 | 4.8 (1,142) | Pairs who want a longer drive, with pickup in Funchal |
Per person, or per buggy
The jeeps are priced per person, the buggies per group of up to two. For two people sharing the €125 buggy, that comes to less per head than the jeep, but you get two and a half hours instead of a day. Check what a single traveller pays on the booking page; we can’t tell from the listing.
The full-day jeep: the west coast on a day
The itinerary, as described by the operator, runs from the Cabo Girão skywalk – the page mentions a €5 ticket, so check whether it is included – to an off-road track at Trompica up the valley of Serra de Água, then Fanal Forest and a swim in the natural pools at Porto Moniz. Pickup is in Funchal or at any hotel there. The guide speaks English.
Much of this route overlaps with the big west 4x4 loop, and our review of the west tour in a 4x4 explains where the eight hours go. The honest warning is the same: much of the day is driving.
The booking page lists four groups for whom the tour is not suitable: pregnant women, people with back problems, people with mobility impairments and people afraid of heights. Believe it: this is an off-road day, and the Cabo Girão skywalk has a glass floor.
See prices and dates for the full-day jeep tour
The half-day jeep: Cabo Girão and a tasting
The four-hour jeep tour visits the cliff and its glass floor and turns off the road onto tracks to Boca dos Namorados, a viewpoint over Nun’s Valley. A wine tasting is in the title. It suits people who like the idea of a jeep but not eight hours of it.
The buggy: you are the driver
On the two-and-a-half-hour buggy tour you drive your own vehicle through the Laurissilva forest, a UNESCO site, along the Trilho das Funduras at Fajã dos Rolos. There is a break at Casa das Funduras, then you go on towards the viewpoint at Boca do Risco; on a clear day you can see Porto Santo from there. Goggles, a face scarf, a waterproof coat, water, insurance and the liability waiver are listed. The page lists children under seven and pregnant women as unsuitable.
The experience is mud, water and dust, and the viewpoints are a pause between stretches of driving, not the point. That makes it a different kind of day from the jeep: you see less of the island and do more.
See availability for the forest buggy tour
The three-hour version is a guided half-day in the mountains with pickup in Funchal. Its booking page says one driver per buggy must have a licence; check the licence rules on the page of whichever buggy tour you choose. It runs in rain or shine unless there is a serious weather warning, in which case it may be cancelled.
What the weather does
The plateau and the western forest can be grey when Funchal is sunny, and a buggy tour runs in rain or shine. For how the island’s weather splits, read Sun in Funchal, fog up top. If you would rather drive yourself on an ordinary road, One drive, one day: Funchal to Porto Moniz is the alternative.
Who should skip it
Anyone with back problems. The jeep page lists them as unsuitable, and a buggy is a bumpy seat.
Anyone who does not want to get dirty. The buggy is built for mud and water.
Anyone who is nervous of heights. The full-day jeep includes the glass-floored Cabo Girão skywalk and mountain tracks.
All jeep tours are listed under jeep and 4x4 tours: 73 offers from €32.63, median €68.40.
Our recommendation
For most people: the full-day jeep tour, €70. It has the most reviews of the four, a rating of 4.9, and it covers more of the island than anything else here without asking you to drive.
See prices and dates for the full-day jeep tour
For couples who want to drive: the forest buggy tour, €125 for up to two. It is the shorter and cheaper of the two buggy options, and it has more reviews.
For a shorter jeep day with a tasting: the half-day Cabo Girão tour, €49. It costs €21 less than the full-day tour.
See availability for the Cabo Girão jeep tour
When the extra cost is not worth it: if you only want to drive, a hire car and an ordinary road may be all you need – see Do you need a hire car in Madeira?.
