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North Mills Distillery

North Mills Distillery: Our most recommended tours and activities

Funchal: Eastern Madeira Island Guided Tour

1. Funchal: Eastern Madeira Island Guided Tour

Pico Areeiro - We start the tour in the magnificent Pico do Areeiro mountain at 1818 meters altitude. Ribeiro Frio - Here you will enjoy a small ( 40 - 45 minute) Levada Walk until a beautiful viewpoint. If you are not a walking person, you can enjoy this stop to visit the Trout nursery. Santana - This stop is the bigger one. You can take advantage of this 1h30m stop to lunch and visit the Santana village. Faial - At the Guindaste viewpoint you can admire the wonderful northeast coast view. Porto da Cruz - At this small village the stop is around 20 to 30 minutes. Here you can visit the North Mills Distillary and taste the local rum. Ponta São Lourenço - The ponta do Rosto is a must see viewpoint. It's situated at the eastiest part of the Island and gives you astonishing views over the North and South Madeira Sea and sometimes also of Porto Santo Island. Machico - This astounishing day ends with a passage through Machico city.

Northeast Madeira 4X4 Tour from Funchal

2. Northeast Madeira 4X4 Tour from Funchal

Head out from Funchal on a full-day tour of Madeira’s north-east. Leaving the town behind, stop in São Vicente, and take in amazing 360-degree views. Marvel at the contrast of colors from the vineyards. Enjoy a drive along serpentine roads and through forests. Discover the unique scenery of the area from an open-top 4X4 vehicle. Before lunch, visit a water mill and see the traditional thatched houses of Santana. Stop to enjoy lunch in idyllic surroundings, and later visit a sugar cane and rum factory, where you can taste the local rum. Finish your tour in Caniçal, where you’ll have spectacular views of Ponta São Lourenço – the eastern part of the island.

North Madeira & Wine Tour 4x4 Jipe Tour

3. North Madeira & Wine Tour 4x4 Jipe Tour

We leave from Funchal to the village of Santa Cruz for a short stop. Then, we start the trip to Porto da Cruz, where we visit the Sugarcane Mill where there is the possibility to taste the famous and typical regional drink “Poncha”, made with sugarcane brandy. We continue until we reach Santana, along dirt roads and winding through the green of the Laurissilva that will take us to the parish of Ilha and S. Jorge where we can appreciate the natural beauty, passing by the viewpoint of Boca das Voltas with a magnificent view. From here we head towards Arco de S. Jorge, already by the sea, for lunch. After this break, we continue along the north coast, passing through Boaventura, Ponta Delgada and São Vicente, where we will stop at Quinta do Barbusano, to visit the property and taste the wines produced there. In the wine tasting you can taste red, white and rosé wines. In the late afternoon we return to Funchal.

Other Sightseeing Options in North Mills Distillery

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What people are saying about North Mills Distillery

Overall rating

4.8 / 5

based on 141 reviews

Our guide Carlos was such a character and gave us lots of interesting facts/stories. We had plenty of time at every stop (except Pico de arieiro as there was thick snow!!). We took up his recommendation for lunch (3 courses + wine + coffee for €16) which was well worth it and the food was pretty good. The only (small) negative was that the bus wasn't air conditioned. This wasn't such a problem at this time of year (February) but when the van picked up speed it was very gusty/noisy with the windows open and we couldn't hear what Carlos was saying. The van was old but spacious/comfortable. All in all, we had a fantastic day and would recommend this tour :-)

Great trip up to a mountain top after a cafe stop overlooking Funchal, drove down through a conifer forest, stopped for a pleasant levada walk, lunched in Santana, walked a promenade in Porto Cruz along the ocean, then drove out to Ponta de Sao Laurenco. A very full, enjoyable day. Carlos was a great host. Most of the trip was conducted in Portuguese, but it was good fun for we 2 Americans.

Wonderful tour! Plenty of spectacular views. The guide was funny and a good driver too! Highly recommendable!

Victor was very informative and entertaining. We thought it was a great day out and really enjoyed it.

Very nice trip, nice guide. Delicious dinner at the restaurant we were brought to.