Cabo Girão. 🌊 Glass skywalk 580 m above the ocean

Cabo Girão is one of Madeira’s best-known viewpoints. The cliff rises 580 metres above the ocean, and from the glass platform you look straight down at terraced fields on narrow strips of land at its foot (these are the fajãs), along the coast all the way to Funchal and out over an ocean that looks as flat as a mirror from up here. The cliff is a protected natural monument and part of a protected area, with a marine nature park below it.

The photos from the glass platform were taken by my parents in February 2025; the shots of the cliff from the ocean and from the promenade in Câmara de Lobos are mine. I checked prices, opening hours, bus timetables and taxi fares in official sources in October 2026. I haven’t stood on the glass terrace myself yet: that’s my plan for the next trip. My parents came back happy.

Is Cabo Girão the highest cliff in Europe?

On signs and in tourist leaflets you’ll read that Cabo Girão is “the highest cape in Europe”. That’s more of a slogan than a fact. Official sources give a height of 580 m and are more careful: IFCN calls it “one of the highest cliffs in the world” (IFCN), and regional data describe it as the highest sea cliff in Portugal. In Europe, Hornelen in Norway (860 m) and Enniberg in the Faroe Islands (754 m), for example, are higher.

You’ll see the figure 589 m on the big sign at the entrance and in parts of the internet, but no official source confirms it. The municipality, IFCN and Visit Madeira all give 580 m. Either way, it’s impressive from the edge.

Tickets, opening hours and what a visit looks like

Since 6 March 2023 there has been a charge to enter the viewpoint. It started at €2, went up to €3 in 2025 and since 1 January 2026 it has been €5 (Portaria n.º 591/2025, DNoticias, 27 October 2025). The fee covers entry to the whole viewpoint through the turnstiles, not just the glass floor. The site is run by the regional property directorate (DRPA), not by the municipality.

• Where to buy: online on the SIMplifica portal (no registration, the ticket arrives by email as a PDF) or from the machines at the entrance. The ticket is valid for 25 days from purchase (DRPA instructions).
• Watch out for resellers: websites selling “skywalk tickets” are not official channels. The only official places to buy are SIMplifica and the machines.
• Who goes in free: children under 12, Madeira residents with a resident card and people with reduced mobility or in wheelchairs. Visitors from mainland Portugal pay.
• How long: the viewpoint itself usually takes half an hour to an hour. Longer if you take the cable car down to the fajãs.

The glass platform juts out over the drop. You look through the glass straight down at the fields and the ocean 580 m below. The glass panels are multi-layered and each can hold several tonnes, so it’s safe, although people with a fear of heights may feel a bit dizzy. A few hundred metres from the viewpoint, on the hill, stands the Chapel of Our Lady of Fátima. The first one was built in 1931; the current building dates from the 1970s.

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1: The Cabo Girão cliff from the platform, photo: Anita Podrez and Andrzej Podrez 2025, 2: Fields on the fajãs below Cabo Girão, photo: Anita Podrez and Andrzej Podrez 2025, 3: The coast from Cabo Girão, photo: Anita Podrez and Andrzej Podrez 2025, 4: Cabo Girão from the promenade in Câmara de Lobos, photo: Ewelina Podrez-Siama 2025

The fajãs and the Rancho cable car

At the foot of the cliff lie flat patches of land formed by landslides – the fajãs. Their official names are Fajã dos Asnos and Fajã das Bebras (IFCN). Farmers grow tomatoes, sweet potatoes and green beans here, among other things, and in the past vines and banana plants. From Cabo Girão you see them from above, but you can also go down to them.

The Teleférico do Rancho cable car (Teleférico das Fajãs do Cabo Girão) has been running since 2003. It starts at Sítio do Rancho, about 3.4 km by car east of the viewpoint, and in about 3 minutes covers 415 m of cable and a 242 m drop (regional government data). It is run by the fajã farmers’ association. There is no official price list or timetable online, so check them on the spot. At the bottom there is a pebble beach, but apart from that there are hardly any facilities.

How to get to Cabo Girão

By bus it’s easiest at the weekend or on a weekday morning, because few buses go via Cabo Girão. According to the SIGA timetable (line 7/267), they leave Funchal at:

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When to go to Cabo Girão

• Time of day: according to the protected area’s visitor monitoring, it’s busiest roughly between 9:15 and 11:00, and from midday the crowds thin out. Cruise ships calling at Funchal make a big difference, because their passengers arrive by coach.
• Sunrise: with the gates opening at 8:00 you’ll only see it for part of the year, roughly from late September to the second half of October and from December to early February.
• Sunset: before closing time at 20:00 you’ll see it roughly from late September to the end of March.
• Weather: the cliff is often in the clouds, and in very bad weather the viewpoint closes. Before you set off, check the webcams and the forecast.
• Parking: in high season cars park along the roadside. The regional government is preparing to extend the car park to about 150 spaces and is considering introducing charges (resolution no. 1117/2025).

Frequently asked questions about Cabo Girão

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