This article will be available in Romanian.
Achadas da Cruz cable car – This visit was part of a 7-day trip to Madeira (January 2020).
Achadas da Cruz is located in the western part of Madeira island. The area is much wilder, greener and has fewer dwellings.
One of the main tourist attractions from that area is Achadas da Cruz Cable Car that takes visitors to a remote, small village surrounded by mountains on one side and by ocean on the other, Fajã da Quebrada Nova. The experience of visiting that place is truly spectacular.
Arriving at the gondola terminus, we were extremely surprised by the price of the round trip (3 € / person). The terminus is located on the edge of a cliff, and the gondola descends to the mountain base, close to the ocean. There is a small village with simple houses where only a few people live. Until a few years ago the village could be reached only by boat or by hiking 4.5km/2.8mi in tight zigzags. Due to its good location, close to the water, the land is very fertile and various local products are grown in the area. Now gondola helps locals to quickly get to the village in just a few minutes and to transport their harvest.
The gondola installation is built without any supporting pylons which makes the experience thrilling. The gondola descends very steeply, close to the vertical. The rocky ridges of the mountain end abruptly at the foot of the village, and the ocean’s foamy water hits the shore.
Down in the village, a heavy wind blows from the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t know what it is like in the other seasons, but in January the wind was howling. There is a paved road that runs parallel to the shore and allows visitors to walk to the end of the village. Everything is torn from the pages of a fairy tale and it is hard for me to imagine what it is like to live so isolated from the world and so close to the whirling ocean. The only living creatures I saw in the village were a few cats. The houses are very simple and have the courtyards delimited by reeds. There are paths that allow you to pass through the courtyards. But the cold weather and the strong wind obliged us not to spend much time in the area.
The gondola’s seaside terminus is not staffed. When we wanted to be taken up, we simply took our seats in the gondola, pressed the green button inside the gondola as someone had advised us when we bought the tickets, then the door closed and off we went on the adventurous ascent. The fact of being suspended near the vertical line above the gorgeous cliffs, in a gondola that continuously swings due to the strong is scary, but MAGIC!
LOCATION
Achadas da Cruz cable car is located in the north-west part of Madera Island, 10km away by car from Porto Moniz (a city famous for its natural pools).
OPENING TIMES
Between 10AM-12PM and 13PM-18PM.
TICKETS
3€/adults and free for children.
FACILITIES
Cafeteria and public toilet at the upper cable car terminus. There are no facilities in the cable car station from the village.
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Bless up,
Bianca