The Madeira archipelago lies in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,000 kilometres from Lisbon and 700 from the African coast. A volcanic island with spectacular mountains and lush subtropical vegetation, Madeira is called the island of eternal spring: temperatures are mild all year, around 23-25 °C in summer and 17-19 °C in winter on the south coast, while the mountains are cooler and the weather changes quickly.
Like the Azores, Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal, with about 250,000 inhabitants. The archipelago includes the island of Madeira, the island of Porto Santo and two groups of uninhabited, protected islands, the Desertas and the Selvagens. The capital is Funchal, on the south coast of the main island.
A little history
The islands already appear on fourteenth-century nautical charts, but they were reached by the Portuguese navigators João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira in 1418, when they landed on Porto Santo; the following year they landed on Madeira, whose name, "wood", comes from the dense forests that covered it. Settlement began around 1420 under the impulse of Henry the Navigator. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the island grew rich on sugar cane, then on wine, which became famous worldwide and was exported above all to England and the American colonies. From the nineteenth century Madeira became a resort for the European aristocracy, drawn by the climate. It has been an autonomous region since 1976. Today the economy rests on tourism, but farming, with bananas, wine and flowers, and embroidery remain important.
Funchal
Funchal, named after wild fennel (funcho), is an elegant city climbing the hills around a bay. The centre is easy to explore on foot: the Sé, the cathedral built between 1493 and 1514, has a magnificent carved cedarwood ceiling; Praça do Município, paved in black and white stone, is surrounded by the eighteenth-century town hall and the Jesuit College church. The Palácio de São Lourenço is a sixteenth-century fortress, seat of the Representative of the Republic. The Museum of Sacred Art holds an extraordinary collection of Flemish paintings bought with sugar money.
Don't miss the Mercado dos Lavradores, the 1940s covered market decorated with azulejos, with tropical fruit, flowers and black scabbardfish, the espada. In the Zona Velha, the old quarter, the doors of the houses on Rua de Santa Maria have been painted by artists, and in the evening the lanes fill with restaurants. Along the harbour are the museum devoted to Cristiano Ronaldo, who was born in Funchal, and the seafront promenade. The Botanical Garden has plants from all over the world and a splendid view over the city.
Monte and the toboggans
From Funchal a cable car climbs to Monte, in the hills above the city. Here are the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte, where the last Emperor of Austria, Charles I, who died in exile on the island in 1922, is buried, and the Monte Palace Tropical Garden, a spectacular garden with ponds, exotic plants and azulejos. To go down there is a unique experience: the carros de cesto, wicker sledges on wooden runners steered by two men dressed in white with straw hats, which cover about 2 kilometres of downhill streets to Livramento in around ten minutes.
The levadas and the mountains
Madeira is a hiking paradise. The island is crossed by more than 2,000 kilometres of levadas, irrigation channels dug from the sixteenth century onwards to carry water from the rainy north to the farmed south: the maintenance paths alongside them allow almost level walks through woods, past waterfalls and along sheer drops. Among the most famous are the 25 Fontes and Risco levadas at Rabaçal, the Caldeirão Verde levada and the short walk from Ribeiro Frio to the Balcões viewpoint. Many trails pass through the laurisilva, a relict laurel forest from the Tertiary era, a UNESCO site since 1999.
The most celebrated mountain route links Pico do Arieiro (1,818 metres), reachable by car, with Pico Ruivo (1,862 metres), the island's highest peak, along dizzying ridges above a sea of clouds. At the eastern tip, the Ponta de São Lourenço peninsula has a trail among colourful volcanic rocks. Trail conditions change with the weather and closures are frequent: check the official regional website before setting out.
Around the island
On the south coast, Câmara de Lobos is a picturesque fishing village where Winston Churchill painted during his 1950 stay; nearby, Cabo Girão is one of Europe's highest sea cliffs, with a glass platform suspended about 580 metres above the sea. Machico, where the first Portuguese landed, has a good beach and the Capela dos Milagres. Caniçal was the centre of whaling until 1981: today the Museu da Baleia tells that story, and the waters around the island are protected, with whale and dolphin watching trips. Camacha is famous for its wickerwork.
On the north coast, Santana is known for its typical triangular houses with thatched roofs reaching the ground. São Vicente has volcanic caves you can visit, while Porto Moniz, at the north-western tip, has natural pools formed in the lava, where you can swim amid the ocean waves.
Porto Santo
The island of Porto Santo, about two and a half hours by ferry or a few minutes by plane, is the opposite of Madeira: dry and flat, it has a golden beach about 9 kilometres long, with sand believed to be therapeutic. In Vila Baleira you can visit the Casa Colombo, where by tradition Christopher Columbus lived; he married Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, daughter of the island's first captain.
Wine and food
Madeira wine is a fortified wine that is heated for a long time as it matures and can age for decades. The traditional varieties, from driest to sweetest, are Sercial, Verdelho, Boal (or Bual) and Malvasia, known in English as Malmsey; Tinta Negra grapes are also widely used. To find out more, see our page on Madeira wine. At the table, try espetada, beef skewers cooked on bay branches, scabbardfish with banana, bolo do caco, bread baked on a stone with garlic butter, and poncha, a drink of sugar-cane spirit, honey and lemon.
Festivals and getting there
Highlights include the Flower Festival in spring, the Atlantic Festival with firework shows in June, the wine festival at the end of summer and above all the New Year fireworks over Funchal bay, among the most spectacular in the world. Madeira airport, named after Cristiano Ronaldo, has flights to Lisbon, Porto and many European cities; for details see the Madeira airport page.