You can take a cable car from Funchal to the top of the hill and to the entrace of the gardens. They are designed mostly in Japanese style with appropriate fish ponds and architecture. I thought it was reasonably small for my pace but for more leisurely couples should be perfect.

Well worth a few hour visit. You can access via the cable car which is along the sea fron about 5 min walk from the centre of Funcal. An allincousive return trip on the cable car and entrance to the gardens is 24 euros. We chose to just do the single trip and come down on the toboggans.

My suggestion is to book the return trip on the cable car. The toboggans can ve really hit and miss depending who is in charge of your toboggan. We saw a few go by from looking over the walls of the gardens and made the decision we would not go down by togoggan as the cost did not seem wirth it.

So we walked back down - BIG MISTAKE. DO NOT DO THIS
Either get a return or take the toboggan but please dont walk. 2 mles downhill plays havoc on your legs and if you didn't have dodgy legs before you started, you would have by the time you finished.

I'm not a big fan of gardens but this was well worth the entrance fee. It was a garden with many different interesting sections such as the Japanese garden. It was nice a cool as it had lots of shade with superb views. The cable car trip to get to it is also an experience. From Monte you can go on another cable car to the Botanical Gardens - but two gardens in one day is pushing it a bit. To return to Funchal you can go by cable car, taxi, bus or toboggan (part way).

Sorry about the title - i think i've had too much madeiran wine. These gardens are well worth a visit and as a previous reviewer said i don't think you need to be a gardener to appreciate the beauty of them. unfortunately the house is out of bounds but the views are spectacular. Well worth a visit.