I have always got Madeira, Majorca and Menorca confused, so when I got the opportunity to go on holiday to Madeira in January I had no idea where it was, let alone what it was like.
BACKGROUND
Madeira is an island (I just about guessed that), lying 380 miles west of Morocco and 260 miles north of the Canaries. The island is quite small and measures roughly 35 by 12 miles. Madeira is part of Portugal so Portugese is the predominant language.
LANDSCAPE AND CLIMATE
Madeira is volcanic in origin and a range of mountains up to 6,000 feet high run east to west across the island. Virtually the whole island is hilly which makes agriculture difficult and car journeys extremely ear-popping!
Because Madeira has a very stable climate, with temperatures rarely moving from the 16-24C band all year round, the island is lush with vegetation and very picturesque. The climate also varies dramatically throughout the island – there can be snow in the mountainous interior at the same time as the
coast is roasting in sunshine.
There are no beaches at all in Madeira, and consequently the island does not attract that many young visitors.
GETTING THERE
Madeira’s airport is relatively small and squeezed in between the sea and the mountains – the runway is notoriously short for a major airport, although thankfully we were not informed of this until after we had landed! It’s also worth noting that Madeira is often a stopping place for many of the cruise liners that also visit the Canaries. Flight times from the UK are roughly 4 hours, and there is no need to adjust your watch as they are on the same time as us! Hooray!
COSTS
Madeira is not expensive at all – the local buses are regular and cheap so you can easily work your way around the island. Because the island is so hilly there is no railway. Many of the road journeys are adventures in themselves as the car or bus clings to roads on the sides of cliffs as waterfalls pour down over the vehicle into the sea below!
Food and drinks are good value, perhaps slightly cheaper than you would pay in the UK. The actual cost of a holiday to Madeira need not be prohibitive at all, especially if you are able to get a cheap late deal and fly in the middle of the night!
THE CAPITAL AND THE PEOPLE
The port of Funchal is the capital of Madeira and has a population of about 100,000. It’s a small and pleasant town with lots of places to eat and drink on the seafront, and some nice old buildings, museums and gardens. Shopping is also fairly good and there is an abundance of accommodation, from 5-star hotels to more modest guesthouses.
We stayed about 20 minutes from the capital in a quieter area (not that Funchal is really that noisy!). What was nice about the people I met in Madeira is that they haven’t yet adopted the “Have a nice day! Missing you already!” attitude, which made a refreshing and pleasant change.
ATTRACTIONS
The best thing about Madeira is the landscape itself – no matter where you are on the island you are likely to have a good view of mountains, the sea, flowers, trees, fruit – it’s a really colourful place. The island hasn’t been completely made over for the benefit of tourists, although when I visited there was a lot of hotel-building taking place.
Funchal has a museum which is a very small equivalent of a Sea Life centre, which is well worth a visit. You can also catch a cable car up the side of the mountain to the village of Monte – this was only my second cable car ride yet already I have developed a huge cable car phobia! Once at Monte you can take a ride back down to Funchal in a wickerwork basket pushed by two blokes wearing boater hats (don’t ask). It’s good fun anyway.
Football fanatics can also go to see the Madeiran side Maritimo play – they recently beat Leeds United in Madeira in the UEFA Cup.
Madeira is a bit of a walker’s paradise – the interior of the island is irrigated by channels called “levadas”, and these make an ideal route to explore the ins and outs of the island. There are some truly stunning panoramas to be found and some great vantage points.
Cabo Girao is one of the highest sea cliffs in the world, with a vertical rise of over 1900 feet, although I can’t vouch for this as I didn’t dare lean out to look over the edge! There are also a lot of small towns dotted around the island that each have their own atmosphere. The town of Santana has some strange A-shaped thatched houses that are well worth visiting.
The town of Garajau where we stayed has a big statue of Christ (similar to the one in Rio) where I had a weird religious-type experience, although this was probably due to the large amounts of local lager I had drunk beforehand!
FOOD AND DRINK
Well, Madeira wine and Madeira cake, fairly obviously! Not so keen on the wine myself! The Madeira cake that we have here is not THE Madeira cake (we were told this endlessly until it became painful!) – the real Madeira cake is much richer and more treacly and tastes much better. A lot of fruit is also grown on the island, and there seemed to be bananas everywhere.
The main food speciality is called “espada”, which is a black scabbard fish with big frightening blue eyes that is about a metre long. They only live at great depths and are caught only off the coast of Madeira and Japan. The fish tastes really good and is usually served poached in white wine or with bananas (sounds weird, but it works!).
I drank quite a bit of the local lager (“Coral”) and it was quite light and nice. Madeira also has a weird drink called “poncha” which is a combination of rum, brandy, lemon and honey. It deals a bit of a knockout blow, but is supposedly very good at curing colds!
SUMMARY
Overall I have to say that my trip to Madeira was one of my best holidays – it’s a small, friendly and picturesque place with no pretensions. The landscape is stunning and there are loads of places to explore. The island is quite quiet and genteel in some areas – it’s not the sort of place to go for a pubbing and clubbing type break. Madeira’s the sort of place to sit down, have a drink, enjoy the scenery and watch the world go by.
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A good review. My wife really wants to go to Maderia and information is a bit light on this island your review has certainly convinced me to go. Thanks Martin
Mickie26 22.09.2004 03:10
Hi I was interested in reading this as my mum and dad have just gone there and you have said some opposite things that my friend said that it was not a place to go to relax. Yet you said you can just sit and watch the world go by strange how people have different views of holidays.
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Advantages: fantastic views, great scenery, quiet and relaxed, good weather Disadvantages: not for those who dislike heights, or those who want a more lively holiday
beccy12001 13.07.2005 (13.07.2005)
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Review of Madeira (Portugal)
Advantages: Temperatures consistently in the mid seventies,people lovely,beautiful island Disadvantages: Volcanic origins so no beaches ,or very few.not really a childrens holiday
grafter123 26.11.2006 (03.01.2007)
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Review of Madeira (Portugal)
Advantages: Friendly, quaint, good shops and food, fishing trips, feels like abroad Disadvantages: Need a car to drive to the village as public transport in Cornwall is not great!
Vicki_87 30.06.2009 ·
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Review of Cornwall (England)
Mar 8th, 2001
(Oct 17th, 2001)
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