Royal Orchid, Madeira

Advantages: Fantastic in every way
Disadvantages: None as far as I'm concerned

...Having visited Madeira twice now, and experienced different hotels and different sightseeing each time, I thought it would be a good time to write up our experiences of the island- which I have to say are entirely positive. I would go as far as to say that it's probably the best holiday destination we've been to yet- although with a few long distance trips planned, who knows if that will remain the case. All I can say is that Madeira will be a hard place to beat- and this tale of two trips will hopefully explain why. For those who aren't aware or only vaguely aware, Madeira is one of the Portuguese territories in the mid-Atlantic. It's actually closer to Morocco and Western Sahara than it is to Portugal, and so the flights do take several hours to get there. Considering its location, Madeira doesn't tend to get uncomfortably hot... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful picturesque island, not too hot in summer
Disadvantages: Hilly, poor restaurants, no sandy beaches

...This review has been languishing in my draft box since October last year so it is a little overdue in getting finished. This is my final inane writings on Madeira so sit back and enjoy the read! ~Introduction~ Madeira is an island located in the Atlantic Ocean off the West coast of Africa, it was a Portuguese colony from the 15th Century onwards and is still run by the Portuguese government. Today the island of Madeira relies heavily on the tourist trade and in selling it's aptly named 'Madeira Cake'. Numerous cruises around the world use Madeira as a stopping off point and it has a good climate all year round. It's capital is Funchal (pronounced 'Foon-shall' by the locals)and is located in a bay on the southern part of the island. As Madeira is a granite mass of rocks, it is hilly and has no sandy beaches. ~Getting there~ By... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful Scenery, Numerous Tour operators
Disadvantages: Best not tackled alone unless experienced walker.

...The levada in madeira, are an intregal function in the islands crop production, diverting mountain water all over the island through a series of channels ( levadas). Pretty cool huh? Well along all the levadas are small walk ways as the locals used to use it for transporting goods around the island too... I have been on a couple of these walks and did both extremes, the first walk was one that is widely used by tourists, and is pretty easy going. The views across the volcanic mountains are amazing and the constant smell of eucalyptus was a welcome surprise, it also make a kind of bluey haze, well its did when i was there, but it was mid summer. The walk led to a view point, I cant for the life of me remember the name of it ( shame you cant add pics on here) but...wow, even better there was a random local in the middle of nowhere... Read review

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