Funchal, Flowers and a Mountain Island
Madeira is a Portuguese island in the Atlantic Ocean, about 600 kilometres from the coast of Morocco, known for its mild subtropical climate, steep green mountains, flower-filled gardens and fortified wine. It is the main island of an archipelago that includes Porto Santo, with Funchal as its capital and port. The mountains rise sharply from the sea, with Pico Ruivo at 1,862 metres the highest point, and the whole island is cut by deep valleys, terraces and waterfalls that make it one of Europe's most dramatic landscapes.
The Laurisilva forest, a rare survivor of the laurel woodland that once covered southern Europe, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Funchal itself is an elegant town of cobbled streets, the covered Mercado dos Lavradores with its flowers and fruit, a cable car up to Monte and the traditional wicker toboggan ride down. Many guests also know the capital as the home of the grand Reid's Palace hotel. Neighbouring Canary Islands share the same Atlantic climate but have a very different landscape.
Levadas, Cliffs and Island Flavours
Walking is the island's signature. The levadas, irrigation channels built over centuries, form a network of paths through forest and mountain, with routes such as the Levada das 25 Fontes and Levada do Caldeirão Verde giving shaded, waterfall-rich trails. Pico do Arieiro and Pico Ruivo offer sunrise hikes above the clouds, Cabo Girão has a glass-floored skywalk over a high sea cliff, and Porto Moniz is known for its natural volcanic pools by the ocean.
The table is rich and distinctive. Espetada, beef skewers grilled on a bay-laurel stick, bolo do caco bread with garlic butter, and espada, the black scabbardfish served with banana, are island classics, and poncha, a sugar-cane spirit mixed with citrus, is a local favourite. Madeira wine, a fortified wine aged for years, is the island's most famous export. A tourist board can celebrate all of this, and the comparison with the Algarve on the mainland shows how varied Portugal can be.
Read the full Madeira guide on Visit Travel Group, or see MadeiraIslands.co.uk on Visit Travel Group.