Anyone been on holiday to Madeira.?

[Minky]

As above.  what's it like, what is there to see and do there.  Trips etc.

[Rewulf]

Beautiful Island, nice weather all year round, not so much a beach holiday (there are only a couple) but theres lots to see and do, take a tour up to Nuns valley ect, or have a go on the baskets via the cable car 😄

Very friendly people , a little quirky in its own way, very popular cruise destination for good reason.

[peejay]

never been, but partial to their cake

[dipper]

Went about 5 years ago .Plants and trees from all over the world .Eating outs good .Beaches a bit rubbish.The down side for me was I got hay fever bad never had it before . I get it regularly now .

[oldypigeonpopper]

19 hours ago, peejay said:

never been, but partial to their cake

🤔😁

[243deer]

My Nan flew there a fair few years ago, she had always had trouble with her ears and had a miserable, painful experience on landing

Watch this if considering flying

 

[Minky]

9 hours ago, 243deer said:

My Nan flew there a fair few years ago, she had always had trouble with her ears and had a miserable, painful experience on landing

Watch this if considering flying

 

"   My Nan flew there".!! ☺     Your nan isn't a  very good pilot.  Had she been in the dog and duck before the flight?  Still they say that if you can walk away, it's a good landing.    I hope that our flight/ landing is nicer than that one. The flight out to Rhodes was the most exciting I've ever had.  I think that out pilot was ex red arrows. All of the passengers cheered wildly when we eventually landed.  I think that some of the passengers had encountered an emotional moment with the toilet.!!!   We are generally beach sort of people but we split up the days between sunning, and trips of driving around.  I usually ask if there is any clay shooting in the area.  When we were out in Turkey they were horrified to start with because they asked if I wanted to shoot  someone. 😊😊😊.  When we were out on Crete the hotel manager told me about a clay shooting ground and when I eventually managed to find it, I managed to get a round of sporting in.

Edited April 1, 2023 by Minky

[Minky]

We only booked it yesterday  for the end of May so we've got about 55 days before we go. So time to view and plan.

[oowee]

I went a couple of years ago.

Car hire is reasonable and the driving easy. 

The walking is breathtaking. Early morning to the top of the mountains for sunrise above the clouds. Walking the trails with the sun bouncing off the orange rock is amazing. Ladders and tunnels abound. Wild partridge at your feet. 

West of the island are a series of rock formations that you can swim amongst through tunnels and sheltering from the Atlantic waves. 

There is a petrified (style) forest in the hills which looks like something from the Hobbit.

The laverdas are also good for walking but can be a test for vertigo and somewhat repetitive. 

Gardens in town are worth a visit. 

There is a private cable car down a cliff on the West of the island, which goes down to no where of interest but the ride will have you holding your breath, and you will be relieved to get off alive. 

 

[Minky]

From what I've seen of  the terrain it is a lot of tall mountains with steep gorges and narrow roads that wind up and down.  So far as I've seen, it looks a bit similar to an island called La Gomera which is off of Tenerife where we went last year. 

[Bobba]

13 hours ago, Minky said:

We only booked it yesterday  for the end of May so we've got about 55 days before we go. So time to view and plan.

We went there last year. Based ourselves in central Funchal. Plenty to do and see. The cable car to monte Palace tropical gardens was fun and the gardens interesting. To give you a bit of help in advance planning you could do no worse than get the “Lonely Planet Pocket Madeira” (Amazon). It suited our needs.

[Minky]

9 hours ago, Bobba said:

We went there last year. Based ourselves in central Funchal. Plenty to do and see. The cable car to monte Palace tropical gardens was fun and the gardens interesting. To give you a bit of help in advance planning you could do no worse than get the “Lonely Planet Pocket Madeira” (Amazon). It suited our needs.

Thanks for that.   We are going to be dug in in Fuchal so we have the local options and there are an amount of trips that Tui do but they are a bit pricey in comparison to doing them off of you own.  This last year we went into the local tour shops and did a tour up to mount Teide and most of Tenerife island.  Another trip was across to the Island of Last Gomera on a hydrofoil and a coach trip around the Island.  These were considerably cheaper than the Tui offerings.

[Rewulf]

17 hours ago, Minky said:

Thanks for that.   We are going to be dug in in Fuchal so we have the local options and there are an amount of trips that Tui do but they are a bit pricey in comparison to doing them off of you own.  This last year we went into the local tour shops and did a tour up to mount Teide and most of Tenerife island.  Another trip was across to the Island of Last Gomera on a hydrofoil and a coach trip around the Island.  These were considerably cheaper than the Tui offerings.

Both times Ive been , weve used these, https://danielmadeirataxis.com/ they do private taxi tours, or if you can get a group together , coach or minibus, I found them very professional and very reasonable.

[Minky]

Thank, All info gratefully received. 

[100milesaway]

On 31/03/2023 at 14:10, peejay said:

never been, but partial to their cake

Yes, Madeira  cake in this country is a rather bland sponge cake but real Madeira cake, I  think is called something like pico de bols and is actually  a rather scummy dark treacley, rummy concoction. From Auntie.

[100milesaway]

On 31/03/2023 at 13:49, Minky said:

As above.  what's it like, what is there to see and do there.  Trips etc.

I have been on several occassions, it is a stunningly beautiful island, I would suggest if you could to stay at one of the old quintas they are very upmarket small hotels. You will not have to join the noisy  crowds on the plane as Madeira does not suffer from your norm brits abroad. The airstrip  is total commitment as it has a very short runway,  bonus  here as the use their best pilots. Having said that ,I  think they have made it easier of late.It used to be a place where rich brits wintered out and indeed Churchill was a frequent visiter and did lots of painting there.The classic hotel on the island is Reids in Funchal and I believe you can still go for tea on the terrace, and see how the other half live.l would definitely hire a car and see some of the Island it is worth driving all the way round but allow yourself a full day as it is exceedingly scenic,you will drive through waterfalls and see some amazing painted small buldinds with thatched roofs. It's  where they keep the cows.The botanical gardens are exceptional as is a visit to Funchals market,  fruit ,fish and meat....If you like a walk, try the town walk it starts off at the football ground in Funchal and ends, when ever you get too dizzie with the drops. The walks are mostly  based on the islands irrigation system (lavadas) and there are about 350 miles of them all over the island. Some in the mountains go through tunnels with huge leather covers over the entrances.Drive up to Picos de aurio the highest pont on the island ,you could still see patchy snow this time of year, they have paved walks up there too. You will be visiting a place that still has class..... Enjoy.

From Auntie.

[Minky]

Thanks for the reply  All info gratefully received. The holiday is a std packege jobby so the hotel is in place.  I've  watched YouTube vids of the landing strip.  It looks to be a bit breezy there.  The market area and the narrow streets. The cable car and the botanical gardens.  I thought that the downhill basket sledge ride looks a bit hairy.  I work on the idea of if it can happen at some stage all the parts will converge the inevitable will happen. I dont really fancy having an emotional moment with the front of a car.  I see that there are lots of organised trips and things to see and do.  I'm not to concerned to get up at silly o'clock to get up through the clouds to watch the sunrise.  I'll  just dog out in bed and catch the sun later on.  I'll  probably take two cameras with me be case I take literally hundreds of shots.  Many of a very random nature such as twisted clump of street wiring or ornate cast drain covers along with street characters. The time will soon go by and more of a concern is whether there will be rail strikes or flight cancellations. There are more and more situations where people are at the airport ready to go or at home ready to go the the airport only to get a text that the flight has been cancelled.   Fingers crossed.  Keep the ideas and info coming.