The trip with Madeira Sidecar Tours is excellent. The safety standards because of the Covid-19 are meticulously met, doing nothing to harm the experience and the views. Filipe, and the rest of the<span class="booking-item-review-more"> team, are super professional and attentive. A safe and wonderful experience!</span>
I can't sing enough praises for Madeira Sidecar Tours and our guide and driver, Nuno. Being an avid scooter-sidecar enthusiast, I was excited to ride on the Ural bikes. While they're not known for<span class="booking-item-review-more"> being fast, relative to my 150cc bike, they're quite exciting, even if I'm being hucked along on the back of the rig.
Madeira Sidecar Tours' bikes are kept in great condition--both inside and out. I felt they were safe operation and that Nuno took great care when it came to safety. I particularly liked that the helmets included an audio system, making it so we could hear Nuno even when driving. As I've found out since, not all sidecar tours include this feature.
As for the tour, my sister and I were greeted promptly at the set pickup location. I particularly appreciate that the operator will pick us up where we wanted instead of having one specific meetup point. After a briefing and some coordination, we were on the road. Where we went came down to two factors: where we wanted to go and whether the weather would permit it. As Madeira was completely new to us, we let Nuno know that we wanted to get in as much of the island as possible. Because of the weather, Nuno opted to take us to the west of Funchal.
Our tour included an outbound trip on the old mountain roads, which ascended from sea level to about 2000' amsl, winding around the ridges and valleys. While I know we were always safe, it was a bit of a thrill ride on those roads. We got only God knows how many villages west of Funchal before turning around, at which point, we split the time between the coastal roads and the modern four-land highways that bridge valleys and tunnel though mountains.
During the trip, Nuno informed us about the industries on island and what life is like. The tour was informative and I got to know Madeira and its history in an intimate way.</span>
