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Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, is an archipelago comprising four islands off the northwest coast of Africa.
Image: Adobe Stock

Pearl of the Atlantic: Madeira a true subtropical paradise escape

Madeira is a COVID green country…So why not head to the diverse and quirky island with its seemingly eternal summer climate?

by Marianne Gray

18-10-2021 19:13

in Travel

Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, is an archipelago comprising four islands off the northwest coast of Africa.
Image: Adobe Stock

In the old days, those elegant Union Castle Liners from Cape Town to England used to stop for a day in Funchal, Madeira, to restock or refuel or something and all the passengers rushed ashore to buy cheap fortified Madeira wine and Madeira cake.

Madeira a subtropical paradise of wine and cake!

People that go there now tend to stay for much longer than a day. This small, steep, rugged and very green volcanic island archipelago a few hundred miles west of Casablanca, Morocco, seems to be a place of eternal spring/summer.

With its beaches and lidos, big glistening Atlantic Ocean, hundreds of flowering plants, unusual fruit and 300 different birds, it’s quite a subtropical paradise. Safe, peaceful and no mosquitos and the wine and cake is still cheap!

The Madeira market is a tropical fruit paradise. Image: Supplied/ Suzanne Williams

Old Town: ‘It’s noisy, it’s fun, it’s lived in’

Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal. The population is about 260 000 and the capital Funchal sprawls randomly across hills and gullies – clearly no planning permission required.

The Old Town in Madeira. Image: Supplied/ Suzanne Williams

The Old Town is a labyrinth of patterned cobbled streets jammed with eating places, crumbly houses, hints of the Greek, Roman, African and Moorish civilisations that preceded the Europeans…And pirates.

It’s noisy, it’s fun, it’s lived in.

Overlooking Old Town are gorgeous gardens, banana plantations, terraces of fruit and if you take the breath-taking cable-car (“telefericos”, costs Є16 return) to the top of the mountain where you can walk, have lunch, drink a few ponchas or caipirinhas, you’ll see it all with new eyes!

If the petty cash is bountiful, take tea at the posh Victorian Reid’s Palace (approximately Є35 per person) with its exquisite gardens and Winston Churchill once on the guest list.

You might find the Madeira-born football ace Cristiano Ronaldo showing up there.

Madeira is the biggest island of this volcanic archipelago Porto Santo, which is packed with water-sports, mountain biking and a golf course designed by the late Spanish golfer Seve Ballesteros, is a two-and-a-half-hour boat ride away, and the uninhabited, stony Desertas islands are a smudge about 30 miles away with monk seals, seabird colonies, wild goats and endemic tarantulas.

A tourist ‘pirate boat’ for hire in Madeira. Image: Supplied/ Suzanne Williams

Host of activities to do in Madeira

Madeira itself is hardly lacking in activities. There are boat rides to see whales and dolphins (3 hours for E30 for adults), canyoning, paragliding, natural waterslides, canal and aqueduct hikes, many adrenaline sports.

Strong nerves are needed for the hair-raising Monte Sledge, which is being pushed down the mountain in a wicker basket by a couple of locals.

The north side of the island is hit by a much tougher Atlantic sea and fishing villages huddle in the cliffs. To the west there’s fishing port Camara de Lobos and Cabo Girao with its observation deck, to the east it’s very mountainous – the geological formations are stunning – and the ancient Laurisilvo forest.

For a small island it’s very diverse and quirky. Everybody seems to speak English and it seems a small South African presence, like the O Jango Restaurant and its wildlife mural, is emerging.