Madeira Botanical Garden, Madeira Islands, Portugal

3Parkrunner71 5:00 PM Feb 22, 2023

Not quite showing its best in February...
The Botanical Gardens were a bit disappointing on our visit. After our sojourn we spoke with some other visitors who had similar views but put their disappointment down to visiting during a low season and a couple of months too early for some of the botanical collection to be showing its best. That may be so, but having visited Monte Palace Gardens at the same time last year, their displays provided a much richer and vibrant experience. The museum near the entrance is tired and uninteresting, and in some ways a bit creepy with its displays of older taxidermy specimens. Another disappointment during this visit was that the bird collection was off-limits, with no official explanation why. The only saving grace was that it did not cost a lot to enter, at €7.50 per adult.

3Clare P 5:00 PM Oct 16, 2022

Disappointed
Nice well maintained gardens with beautiful views back down over Funchal. Has a cafe. I don't know if it was just the time of the year we visited but we were disappointed . However, it's only €6 per Adult so if you are a garden enthusiast it's worth a look. Do wear walking shoes as a lot of the footpaths are a sharp slate which is very hard to walk on. Also, if like us you had previously taken the cable car you can instead take the bus. We took the 31A and it brings you right up to the garden and it's only €1.90 each way Nice gardens but if your time is limited and you can only do one garden I would recommend the Gardens at Monte