Madeira 2022: Travel Summary

Earlier this year in October, I visited the island of Madeira for a week with my cousins. Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal, and is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is about 250 miles north of the Canary Islands and just over 320 miles west of Morocco. This blog will be a summary of what we got up to in a week, and I'll be writing some more blogs in the future to talk about specific activities and points in more detail.

I've created a map using Google My Maps (a very handy tool that I only found out about recently!), to pin the attractions we visited, hikes we climbed and any other useful points. This should give you an idea of where things are located on the island.

By clicking on a specific icon some additional information from Google will appear.

Before I dive into talking through the map, let's talk through what made Madeira a great holiday destination for us:

• Climate - The year-round subtropical mild climate has meant that Madeira is nicknamed by some as the 'Atlantic's Floating Garden'. This makes it a great place to visit even outside of the summer months (meaning you can make use of those off-peak prices). When we went in October, the temperature during the day was 25 degrees C, every day! The island's climate is split into 2 due to the mountain range in the centre. The north side has higher levels of precipitation, whilst the south is drier and sunnier. The capital city, Funchal, is located on the south coast.
• Flights - flying from the UK, most airlines have flights going to Madeira. The Portuguese airline TAP Air Portugal also offers a layover in Lisbon en route to Madeira. So, if you have a longer amount of time and wanted to visit Lisbon this could be a handy option. We flew with easyJet and booked our flights in such way to maximise our time in Madeira (ideally try go for an early morning outward flight and a late-night return flight).

• Language - Portuguese is spoken on Madeira, but you will easily get by with English in most locations.
• Accommodation - Depending on your budget, Madeira has a selection of places to stay, whether that's an Airbnb, hostel or at one of the hotels on the beach front. We stayed at the Pestana Carlton Hotel, located a 10-minute walk west from Funchal, and had a great time. We opted for staying in a hotel rather than an Airbnb as it meant we had access to all their amenities after a day of sightseeing, such as the pool, sauna, games room and gym.

• Transport - As a Civil Engineering university student, I was thoroughly impressed with the infrastructure on the island! The road network was really well maintained, meaning that by car, bus or taxi you could get everywhere around the island. The runway at the airport has actually been extended over time with the growth in tourism. Between 2000-2002 the runway was lengthened to 2,781m by building a bridge 57m above the water, supported by a structure of 180 pillars. This bridge is 180m wide and over 1km long, makes up the final part of the runway. Yes, part of the runway is literally suspended above the ocean! This design won an "Outstanding Structure Award" in 2004 from the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.

• Attractions - Madeira has something for everyone, which makes it a great place to go with a group of people who enjoy doing different things. I'll now briefly go through what we did on the island (it's all marked on the above map too).

Walks & Hikes

The following walks are marked in blue on the map, and were the ones we did whilst out there:

1. Pico do Arieiro --> Pico Ruivo - My favourite walk on the island, this route takes you from the second highest peak to the highest peak with stunning views. A tough hike, but well worth it. Allow a whole day for this.
2. São Lourenço - A peninsula walk along the eastern most point of the island, through a rocky environment that provides a contrast to the rest of Madeira's lush vegetation.
3. Ribeiro Frio - A short walk through woodland taking you to a viewpoint, from which you can see the highest points on the island.
4. Rabaçal to the 25 Springs - A popular Levada walk that takes you through woodland to the location of the '25' waterfalls.

Others walks that are meant to be good, but we didn't have time to do are:

• Ponta do Pargo - A circular walk in the westernmost point of the island.
• Eagle Rock - A difficult hike onto the landmark of Madeira's north coast.
• Pico Grande - An apline summit walk.

These additional hikes are marked as purple on the above map.

Attractions

What we managed to cover is in green on the map.

1. Porto Moniz - Volcanic craters at Porto Moniz have created these natural pools which makes for some of the best swimming spots on the island.
2. Véu da Noiva - A clifftop platform offering views of the island, coastline and waterfalls into the Atlantic.
3. Seixal Beach - A black sand beach not too far from Véu da Noiva.
4. CR7 Museum - Great for Ronaldo fans, this museum is located by the waterfront in Funchal and showcases the footballer's achievements.
5. Fanal Forest - A forest that has a mystic atmosphere when covered by fog on the north side of the island.
6. Go-Karting - For those adrenaline junkies out there, the 'Faial Go-kart' track on the north side of the island is great for Go-Karting. Set in a valley surrounded by mountains, it's pretty scenic too!
7. Farmers' Market - Plenty of fresh produce including fruits, vegetables, spices and even local drinks to try.

Other attractions that could also be worth visiting (again, we didn't have time to see these, and they are marked in grey):

• Achadas da Cruz - Cable Car from Funchal.
• Cabo Girao - A lookout point with a glass floor skywalk.

Restaurants & Supermarkets

There was a decent choice of vegetarian and vegan food on the island. This is all marked out in yellow on my map.

• Mundo Vegan - Unfortunately this place was temporarily closed whilst we were there, but I've heard from friends and family that it does a great range of continental vegan food.
• Fala Fala - By far the best food place we tried, it does incredible falafels and other dishes.
• TERRA Food Concept - A fairly new restaurant at the time of writing this blog, it serves dishes from all around the world. I would say it's more on the pricey side, but the service was great.
• Pingo - This is the name for a chain of supermarkets that you can find around Madeira. We did all our grocery shopping there, they had everything you need which was convenient. I've marked the one we used to visit on the map, but a quick search should find you your closest one.

Hopefully the above blog gives you a flavour of what the Madeira has to offer! I'll be releasing a set of blogs in due course which goes into more detail about what we did, along with my thoughts and advice. But for now, thanks for reading!

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