Insight Guides Pocket Madeira (Travel Guide eBook)

Insight Guides

• Publisher: Insight
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781786715784
• eBook ISBN: 9781786717023
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Travel

From the gorgeous capital of Funchal, to the wealth of hidden coves and beaches on the island, to the hiking trails of Pico do Arieiro, Madeira has much to tempt the visitor. Insight Pocket Guide Madeira is a concise, full-colour travel guide that combines lively text with vivid photography to highlight the best that this island has to offer.Inside Madeira Insight Pocket Guide:

? Where To Go details all the key sights on the island, while handy maps on the cover flaps help you find your way around, and are cross-referenced to the text.

? Top 10 Attractions gives a run-down of the best sights to take in on your trip.

? Perfect Tour provides an itinerary of the island.

? What To Do is a snapshot of ways to spend your spare time on the island, from chartering a boat and exploring the island's many beaches, to hiking up Pico das Torres, to exploring the cultural capital of Funchal.

? Essential information on Madeira's culture, including a brief history of the island.

? Eating Out covers the island's best cuisine.

? Curated listings of the best hotels and restaurants.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

'Insight Guides has spawned many imitators but is still the best of its type.' - Wanderlust Magazine

Where To Go

Getting around

Madeira’s size can be deceptive. At first glance it might seem that two days would be sufficient to see the whole 57 x 22km (35 x 13 miles). Indeed, it is possible to speed from Funchal to once-remote Porto Moniz in under an hour. But to do so means travelling mainly in tunnels. For a taste of the island’s beautiful scenery, there is no alternative but to take to Madeira’s mountainous terrain and winding, two-lane roads.

A minimum of three days is necessary to see a good portion of the island; a full week allows you to do it justice and take the time to enjoy its scenic outdoors at a relaxed pace. Many visitors are still advised to hop aboard day-trip buses that take in the main attractions: although the roads have improved, travelling by car should only be undertaken by confident drivers who are comfortable negotiating steep, winding terrain.

More and more visitors are choosing to stay outside Funchal; the offer of mountain lodges and smaller coastal hotels has greatly improved over the years, and there are now visitors who barely set foot in the capital.

The mighty headland of Cabo Girão, on the western coast

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Funchal

Funchal 1 [map] is the only town of any size on the island – indeed in the whole of the archipelago – and most of Madeira’s historic buildings, museums and sights are located in the capital. With a population of around 105,000, it is a larger city than most expect to find on such a tiny island, but you can walk across the centre in just 10 to 15 minutes. Exploring inland to the north is difficult on foot, however: the streets become very steep. Nevertheless, walking remains the only practical way to see Funchal. The narrow, cobbled streets were never meant for vehicles, and they can be surprisingly congested with traffic, although some have now been pedestrianised.

One way to get your bearings upon arrival in Funchal is to walk out on the jetty known as the Ilhéu de Pontinha and view the city as those aboard cruise ships do. The Pontinha, which was built in 1962, leads round the container port and passes the old fortress, which is perched on top of what was once a tiny island known as Looe Rock.

Funchal and its harbour

Madeira Tourism

Funchal’s deep natural harbour propelled the city’s development in the 15th and 16th centuries, when Madeira became known to those making expeditions to the Far East and the Americas. The busy port hosts cruise ships, yachts and picturesque (and functioning) fishing boats. The commercial freight port of Caniçal is about 12 miles east of Funchal.

The town centre

The view of the town from the harbour is outstanding: squat white houses with terracotta roofs climb steeply through tropical greenery all around the spacious bay, with rugged mountains forming an attractive backdrop. The dominant building on the seafront is the Palácio de São Lourenço (Fortress of St Lawrence; free tours Mon 12.30pm, Tue–Wed 10am, Thu 10am and 12.30pm, Fri 3pm). Erected in the 16th century, it guarded the bay against pirates – you can see the ancient cannons poking through the crenellated walls. Walking up Avenida Zarco, past the main gate of the fort, you will see the white-gloved sentries who guard what is now the residence of Madeira’s Prime Minister and the Military Command.

At the junction of Avenida Zarco and the main street, Avenida Arriaga, stands a statue of Madeira’s discoverer, João Gonçalves Zarco – often referred to as the ‘First Captain’ – made in 1927 by Madeiran sculptor Francisco Franco. Franco’s work can be seen all over the city and at the Museu Henrique e Francisco Franco (Rua João de Deus 13; Mon–Fri 9.30am–6pm). The imposing Palácio do Governo Regional A [map], a handsome building with tiled patios and the administrative headquarters of Madeira, rises behind the Zarco monument to the right. Avenida Arriaga is particularly pretty in late spring, when the jacaranda trees are in full blossom.

Palácio de São Lourenço

Fotolia

Along here you will find the tourist information office and, next door at No. 28, the Adegas de São Francisco (Blandy’s Wine Lodge; www.blandyswinelodge.com; English tours Mon–Fri 10.30am, 2.30pm, 3.30pm, 4.30pm, Sat 11am), Madeira’s oldest working wine lodge. This atmospheric place was part of a Franciscan monastery, built in the 17th century. Here you can take a tour of the lodge to learn about the wine-making process, and visit the attics where fragrant wines mature in huge oak barrels. You don’t need to take a tour to visit the handsome tasting room, decorated with frescoes painted by the German artist Max Römer, in 1922.

Just a few steps west of the lodge is the small Jardim de São Francisco (St Francis’ Garden), a delightful urban green space with an open-air café set amid lush tropical vegetation. Across from the park is the Teatro Municipal (http://teatro.cm-funchal.pt), a miniature Victorian gem that hosts periodic concerts, plays and films. Across the road in the hotel bearing the same name is the chic Café Ritz (www.theritzmadeira.com), an elegant café with regular live music. It was once the Chamber of Commerce and has fine azulejo (blue and white tile) vignettes that depict scenes from old Madeira.

Funchal’s Sé (Cathedral) is one of the island’s oldest buildings

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Towards the centre, at the east end of Avenida Arriaga (at Rua João Tavira) is Funchal’s principal landmark, the Sé B [map] (Cathedral; Mon–Fri 9am–noon, 4–5.30pm, Sat 5am–7pm, Sun 8am–10am and noon–5.30pm; free). Begun in 1493 and completed in 1517, the cathedral is one of the few buildings in Funchal to survive from the early days of colonisation. The exterior is plain and simple, topped by a granite clock tower, but the cathedral’s interior is lavish and impressive, lined with spectacular decoration. It has Gothic arches, a splendid inlaid cedar ceiling of Moorish design, beautifully carved blue and gold choir stalls, gilded altars and a sprinkling of nice azulejos.

Jesuit legacy

The building that houses the University of Madeira, to the north of the Praça do Município, was formerly a Jesuit College that also served as a barracks for British troops during the 19th century.

Walking up Rua João Tavira, north of the cathedral, note the black and white mosaics paving the pedestrian shopping street, and explore the pretty narrow shopping streets to the right. At the top of Rua João Tavira is Praça do Município C [map], the town’s dignified main square, with a huge fish-scale mosaic of black and white stones which gives the impression of an enormous chessboard, and historic buildings on all sides. On the northern side is the 17th-century Igreja de São João Evangelista do Colégio (Collegiate Church; Mon–Fri 10am–6pm, Sat 3–6pm, Sun 9am–1pm and 6.30–8.30pm; free), originally founded by the Jesuits in 1574. A spacious and airy old place, it is decorated with 17th- and 18th-century tiles, paintings and gilt woodcarving.

At the head of the square (east) stands the Câmara Municipal (Town Hall; guided tours Mon–Fri 11am and 3p...

Table of contents

• Madeira’s Top 10 Attractions
• A Perfect Tour Of Madeira
• Introduction
• A Brief History
• Where To Go
• What To Do
• Eating Out
• Reading the Menu
• Restaurants
• A–Z Travel Tips
• Recommended Hotels