Travel Tips

Curral das Freiras and Eira do Serrado: the viewpoint, the walk down and the bus that is now 181

Madeira Guide

October 7, 2026

9 min read

The viewpoint above the nuns' valley sits at 1,095 metres and the village below it at about 461, which is the whole trip in two numbers. What nobody tells you is that the bus stopped being route 81 on 9 March 2026, that only three departures a day go past the viewpoint at all, and that it is served on request rather than as a scheduled stop. The 2026 fares, the departures that actually pass Eira do Serrado and the phone number you need, the free path down through the chestnut trees, why the long walk out of the valley is only half open, and what the 2004 tunnel replaced.

Every tour desk in Funchal sells the same half day: a coach up to a railing above a valley, twenty minutes for photographs, a stop for chestnut cake, back in time for lunch. The view is one of the best on Madeira and the trip is worth doing. How you get there decides what sort of day it turns into, and the cheapest version of it has just had its bus number changed.

What you are actually choosing between

There are three versions of this trip.

The first is the viewpoint on its own. Miradouro da Eira do Serrado sits at 1,095 metres, and the regional tourism board's own description is accurate: an unobstructed view over the parish of Curral das Freiras, ringed by the highest ground on the island. You reach it on a footpath that starts next to the Estalagem da Eira do Serrado. Allow an hour for the walk out, the view and the walk back.

The second is the viewpoint followed by the old path down into the valley. The viewpoint is at 1,095 metres and the village below it is at roughly 461, so this is more than 600 metres of descent on a steep, stony path. It makes a half day, and it is all downhill, which sounds easier than it is.

The third is the valley alone: take any bus down, eat, look up at what the first two options look down on, and come back. This is the version that works in poor weather, because the cloud that ruins the viewpoint often sits above the valley floor rather than in it.

The viewpoint, and when to be there

At 1,095 metres you are at the height where Madeira's cloud sits on a great many days. Funchal can be in full sun while the railing at Eira do Serrado shows nothing but white. Check a mountain forecast rather than a coastal one, and if you have a flexible week, keep this trip for a clear morning rather than booking it for a fixed day.

Timing matters for a second reason. Every bus that passes the viewpoint leaves Funchal between 08:45 and 11:40, so public transport puts you up there in the late morning whatever you do. If you are driving, going up before that window is the way to have the railing more or less to yourself.

The bus is 181 now, not 81

This is the part that older guidebooks, blog posts and even some official PDFs still get wrong.

Madeira's transport authority renumbered the whole network with effect from 9 March 2026. In the Horários do Funchal section of the renumbering table, the row reads 81 to 181, Curral das Freiras. The same document is the one that turned the Caniçal bus from 113 into 702, a change we covered in the Ponta de São Lourenço guide.

Two timetable sheets for this route are live at the same time. The file sitting at the obvious address, siga.madeira.gov.pt/horarios_pdf/81.pdf, is headed "81 Curral das Freiras" and carries the reference DE/HF 04.09.2023. The current sheet is headed "181 Curral das Freiras" and carries DE/HF 02.03.2026. Ask the server for 181.pdf and you get a 404. The departure times on the two sheets are identical, so the old one is not misleading about when buses run. What changed is the number on the front of the bus.

Both ends of the route are the same place: Teleférico-Término, the cable car terminus at the eastern end of Funchal's old town. On its way out of the city the route passes the Marina, Palácio de São Lourenço, Hotel Casino Park and Hotel Savoy, so most of the hotel zone can board without going into the centre first.

What it costs

The timetable sheet sets out the fare zones itself: municipal within Funchal or within Curral das Freiras, intermunicipal for Funchal to Curral das Freiras. Your ride is the intermunicipal one.

Under the 2026 tariff, set by Portaria n.º 128/2026 of 23 March:

On-board single, intermunicipal: 2.65 euros
Pre-bought per trip, intermunicipal: 2.00 euros
One-day pass, intermunicipal: 6.55 euros
Children from 6 to 12 inclusive, on board: 1.30 euros
The GIRO ticket card itself: 0.50 euros, once

A return bought on the bus is therefore 5.30 euros, which means the day pass only earns its keep if you are making a third journey that day. For most people doing Curral das Freiras and nothing else, two on-board singles are the simpler answer.

Only three departures a day go past the viewpoint

Route 181 does not have a single fixed path up the valley. Each departure carries a letter telling you which way it goes, and only the ones marked "via Eira do Serrado" pass the viewpoint at all. On the current sheet those are:

Working days, from Funchal: 09:00, 10:00 and 11:00
Saturdays, from Funchal: 08:45, 10:00 and 11:30
Sundays and holidays, from Funchal: 09:05 and 11:40

Coming back down past the viewpoint, the departures from Lombo Chão at the head of the valley are 11:15, 13:40, 14:30 and 16:15 on working days, 13:15 and 14:30 on Saturdays, and 13:00 and 14:30 on Sundays and holidays. Every other run of the day goes up through Fajã dos Cardos or Fajã Escura instead and never sees the viewpoint.

The sheet also prints no Eira do Serrado stop in its list of stops, because the viewpoint is served on request rather than as a scheduled call. The note reads, in both languages: passengers starting their journey at Eira do Serrado must book the service by telephone on 291 705 563 or 965 059 005 by midnight the day before, and passengers travelling to Eira do Serrado should tell the driver when they board.

So tell the driver where you want to get off as you board, in Portuguese or by pointing at the name on the sheet. If your plan is to be collected at the viewpoint later in the day, make the phone call the evening before rather than standing hopefully at the roadside.

No service runs on 25 December. On 24 and 31 December, Shrove Tuesday and Maundy Thursday, the Saturday timetable applies.

The walk down to the valley

The path between the viewpoint and the village is the Vereda do Paço da Chave. It is not one of Madeira's classified walking trails, which has a practical consequence worth knowing: the booking and fee system that has governed the classified trails since the start of 2026 does not touch it. There is nothing to reserve and nothing to pay.

What there is instead is 600 metres of descent in a short horizontal distance, on a surface of loose stone and old paving, through chestnut trees. Tour operators who sell the descent allow about two hours for it. Poles help more here than on most Madeiran paths, and the walk is best avoided after heavy rain, when the stone turns slick.

The fires of August 2024 came through this area, and the legacy is still worth checking before you commit. When the parish council surveyed the local routes at the end of that month, the Vereda do Paço da Chave was the one path they found undamaged, because the fire had not reached that slope. Everything else was a different story: the climb from Lombo Chão to Boca dos Namorados, the route from Fajã Escura towards Relvinhas and Pico Grande, the way north to Boaventura and Pico Ruivo and the high route from Pico Cidrão to Pico do Areeiro were all left with fallen trees and loose rock, and were closed indefinitely. Two years on, ask locally rather than assuming.

Down in the valley

Curral das Freiras is a parish of about 2,000 people spread over 25 square kilometres of mountainside, with its centre at roughly 461 metres. The name translates as the nuns' corral, and the usual explanation is the right one: the land became the property of the nuns of the Convent of Santa Clara between 1492 and 1497, and the name is also tied to 1566, when the nuns took refuge up here during the French privateer attack on Funchal. A valley reachable only on foot over a mountain rim was, for once, an asset.

That changed on 10 June 2004, when the 2,404 metre road tunnel opened and the drive from Funchal stopped being an expedition. The old road over the rim is still there, and it is what the bus uses when it goes via Eira do Serrado.

The valley's crop is chestnuts, and they turn up in everything: soup, cake, a liqueur, and the local version of poncha. The parish's own festival, the Festa da Castanha, has been held on 1 November since 1983, with the stalls opening at 15h00. Note what that date does to your transport: 1 November is a national public holiday, so the bus runs to the Sunday and holiday timetable, which has the fewest departures of the week. We cover the festival, and the getting-home problem that comes with village festivals in general, in the guide to Madeira's arraiais.

Walking out of the valley is harder than it looks

The classic long walk from Curral das Freiras is PR2, the Vereda do Urzal, which crosses the island to Boaventura on the north coast: 10.6 kilometres, four and a half hours, between 519 and 1,450 metres, and 4.50 euros for visitors over 12 booked through the SIMplifica portal, with children of 12 and under free.

Before you plan it, read the official status sheet rather than the trail's own page. The two currently disagree. The trail page lists PR2 as open. The list of classified trails lists it as partially open, walkable only from the Lombo do Urzal end as far as kilometre 6.2, which is to say not from Curral das Freiras at all. The status sheet carries no date, so treat both as claims to verify on the day rather than settled facts, and have a plan that does not depend on walking out of the valley on foot.

Where to base yourself

There is one hotel at the viewpoint itself, which is the only way to have that view at dawn and at dusk without driving, and a handful of small places down in the valley. Both come with the same caveat: the last bus out of the valley leaves Lombo Chão at 22:45 on working days, 20:45 on Saturdays and 20:35 on Sundays and holidays, and the road is a mountain road in the dark.

Most visitors do this as a half day from a base on the coast, and that is the sensible default. If you are choosing where to spend a week rather than where to spend a night, the hills above Funchal are the practical compromise: cooler than the seafront, with the island's road network and the 181 both within reach. Madeira with Views lets apartments in that band, and our where to stay guide compares the areas in full.

One cost to factor in wherever you land: Câmara de Lobos, the municipality that contains both the valley and the viewpoint, charges the same two euro municipal tourist tax per night as Funchal does. The rules, including the seven-night cap and who is exempt, are in our tourist tax guide.

Quick answers

Which bus goes to Curral das Freiras? Route 181, which was route 81 until 9 March 2026. It runs from the cable car terminus in Funchal's old town, and the fare is the intermunicipal one: 2.65 euros bought on board, 2.00 pre-bought.

Does the bus stop at Eira do Serrado? Only some departures go that way, and the viewpoint is served on request. On working days it is the 09:00, 10:00 and 11:00 from Funchal. Tell the driver as you board, and if you want to be picked up at the viewpoint, phone 291 705 563 or 965 059 005 by midnight the day before.

Do I need to book or pay for the walk down to the village? No. The Vereda do Paço da Chave is not a classified trail, so the 2026 reservation and fee system does not apply to it. The crossing to Boaventura, PR2, is a classified trail and costs 4.50 euros.

Is the viewpoint worth it if the forecast is cloudy? At 1,095 metres you are usually in the cloud rather than under it, and there is no view from inside it. The valley floor often stays clear when the rim does not, so on a doubtful day take the bus down to the village instead and look up.

Sources

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