Destination Funchal (Madeira)

To see

Don't miss these highlights:

• A jeep tour along the lidos and levadas (narrow irrigation canals)
• The covered flower, vegetable, fruit and fish market in Funchal
• Walking through the Zona Velha, the old city
• Visit one of the fine golf courses
• Porto Moniz: famous for natural bathing in the volcanic rock

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• A trip by road to San Vicente along the coast, between precipices, through tunnels and past waterfalls.
• Walk to Pico Ruivo, Madeira's highest point (1861 metres) with a fantastic view.

In old Funchal, you will find the Palácio de Sáo Lourenço, whose guns defended the city against pirates. It became the residence for the civil and military governors in the 19th century. If you walk down the Avenida do Mar, you will enter the Zona Velha, the old city with its narrow, cobblestone streets and little restaurants with fine terraces. When in Fonchal, also look down to admire the fine ornamental paving, especially in the Zona Velha, on the Praya do Municipio and the Avenida Arriaga.

Also visit:

• Camara de Lobos: fishing port with coloured boats and the Nossa Senhora do Calhau Chapel.
• The S. Sebastiao mother church and the S. Bernardino monastery
• Machico: the historic city with the fifteenth century mother church, the Chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Milagres, the S. Roque spring and the seventeenth century forts of Nossa Senhora do Amparo and S. Joao Baptista
• Santana: picturesque little town where you can admire characteristic triangular houses with thatched roofs.
• Porto Santo: bounty island with 9 kilometres of beach but also the house of Columbus and Fort S. José