Others have commented on the high entrance fees and truly the expense is not worth during the winter months. Far better to take the bus to Canico and visit the marvellous, extensive and entirely free gardens of the well-named Quinta Splendida which even in December had plenty of blooms to admire. The gardens overlook the sea and there is a nice bar serving light refreshments within. The Quinta is a hotel and 'Wellness Centre' catering mainly to a German clientele.

We liked this best of the Funchal area gardens that we visited. Not particularly for the variety of plants, but because what they do do they do really nicely, and it looks beautiful. And the tea room was very reasonable.

Beautifully maintained garden with a stunning range of plants and birds.The tea room is in a lovely location and the food and drinks of a very high standard.

Designed to be a home-from-home English garden by the Blandys it now seems to fall short of what we have come to expect in the UK (e.g. many National Trust gardens) but the presence of Proteas and other cold intolerant plants no doubt makes it well worth visiting earlier or later in the year (i.e. not December).

Beware of the poor bus service (very poor on Sundays) - one can walk 10 minutes down the hill to get an alternative bus back though.