Madeira to do's for my parents?
Sep 5th, 2006, 06:45 PM
#1
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Madeira to do's for my parents?
My parents are off to Madeira for a week before going for the second leg of the journey to Portugal.
They are in their mid seventies and have fair mobility, but will have a car. I am looking for any specific ideas or experiences that you may have to offer so that I can pass it on.
With thanks,
Sue
They are in their mid seventies and have fair mobility, but will have a car. I am looking for any specific ideas or experiences that you may have to offer so that I can pass it on.
With thanks,
Sue
Sep 5th, 2006, 06:49 PM
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I was there in April and I loved the levada walks. However that might not be an option for people with just "fair" mobility.
I think they would enjoy taking the cable car up to the Gardens of Monte. The ride up is very nice and the gardens are lovely. They can pick up the cable car from downtown Funchal. There is also a very beautiful park in downtown Funchal with tons of flowers.
Another place I really enjoyed was Porto Muniz on the north end of the island. Crystal blue water, absolutely incredible.
I'll give it some thought and if I come up with anything else, I'll post back tomorrow.
I think they would enjoy taking the cable car up to the Gardens of Monte. The ride up is very nice and the gardens are lovely. They can pick up the cable car from downtown Funchal. There is also a very beautiful park in downtown Funchal with tons of flowers.
Another place I really enjoyed was Porto Muniz on the north end of the island. Crystal blue water, absolutely incredible.
I'll give it some thought and if I come up with anything else, I'll post back tomorrow.
Sep 5th, 2006, 06:51 PM
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Well, my favorite experience in Madeira was to ride the wicker chair down the hill from the cathedral...I definitely recommend it for everybody!
The levada walks are nice, too, but it would depend on their tolerance for longish walks with occasional narrow trails and/or uneven footing.
Madeira is lovely!
The levada walks are nice, too, but it would depend on their tolerance for longish walks with occasional narrow trails and/or uneven footing.
Madeira is lovely!
Sep 6th, 2006, 01:47 AM
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" Is there a reason why it's not popular?"
Quite the contrary, it is very popular. It is an European package tourism destination, and has been for decades. Many retired people also own time-shares in Madeira. It is like a more refined Canary Islands. A place to go in winter for some warmth and sun (btw, which neither are guaranteed, I have been in Madeira when it rained every day). There are no beaches to mention (nowadays one man-made in the west), and no discos or noisy pubs, something that middle-aged and older people love.
I know many people rent a car, but we have never done that, we use the local bus system. And we have seen too many hairy situations when a rental car has to back up and make way to a big bus on a narrow road. Plus the fog also falls quite unexpectedly and it is thick.
Monte Gardens is a good idea, so are Botanical Gardens. The old town market hall. Madeira tasting at Blundy´s (was in Blundy´s, starts with B anyway). Just strolling around Funchal. Take a bus to Ribeiro Frio and take a little walk to see The Balcoes, and if they feel up to it walk the levada between Ribeiro Frio and Portela, that is lovely.. Take a bus to Pico Areiro and take a hotel room for a night. In the morning wake up early to see the sunrise. If they want an easy Levada with no sheer drops, take a bus to Camacha and walk the levada back to Funchal. Take a taxi to 25 Fontes (waterfalls in Paul da Serra) and walk the levada there. That is also easy. Again another bus to Curral das Freiras, just to see how isolated the villages were before there were roads. If they are there first week of November there is a Chestnut Festival in Curral, and that is a real RIOT.
Quite the contrary, it is very popular. It is an European package tourism destination, and has been for decades. Many retired people also own time-shares in Madeira. It is like a more refined Canary Islands. A place to go in winter for some warmth and sun (btw, which neither are guaranteed, I have been in Madeira when it rained every day). There are no beaches to mention (nowadays one man-made in the west), and no discos or noisy pubs, something that middle-aged and older people love.
I know many people rent a car, but we have never done that, we use the local bus system. And we have seen too many hairy situations when a rental car has to back up and make way to a big bus on a narrow road. Plus the fog also falls quite unexpectedly and it is thick.
Monte Gardens is a good idea, so are Botanical Gardens. The old town market hall. Madeira tasting at Blundy´s (was in Blundy´s, starts with B anyway). Just strolling around Funchal. Take a bus to Ribeiro Frio and take a little walk to see The Balcoes, and if they feel up to it walk the levada between Ribeiro Frio and Portela, that is lovely.. Take a bus to Pico Areiro and take a hotel room for a night. In the morning wake up early to see the sunrise. If they want an easy Levada with no sheer drops, take a bus to Camacha and walk the levada back to Funchal. Take a taxi to 25 Fontes (waterfalls in Paul da Serra) and walk the levada there. That is also easy. Again another bus to Curral das Freiras, just to see how isolated the villages were before there were roads. If they are there first week of November there is a Chestnut Festival in Curral, and that is a real RIOT.
Sep 6th, 2006, 02:05 AM
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A little more about cars: There are so many taxis in Madeira that the competition is harsh. They really don´t need a car. A long line of taxis stands by the little central park, and they have prices for different excursions on the board. Plus you can make a deal that a taxi takes you to the beginnig of a levada and hours later comes to the end of it to pick you up. They have never failed to do so.
Sep 6th, 2006, 03:02 AM
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Where are they staying in Maderia. It is often called the floating garden because of it is flowers.
Funchal surprised me with how busy it was and the amount of traffic around. Yes yellow taxi's every were .That said you still have to go and see it. There is plently to see and do. Check out when the cruises come in as Funchal is one of the cruise stops and Funchal can get very busy when they are in the port.I am not sure I want to drive some of the roads can be a bit scary and high. The island has miroclimates it can be over cast in one part go a little further up the road and you can have sun, go a bit further and you could hit rain for a short time. It has the most perfect climate because of the Gulf Stream warm summers and mild winters I choose to stay outside of the main city (Canico de Baixo_ as I wanted a quiter more relaxed time, the hotel provided a free bus service into Funchal. When that was not running either late in the evening or Sunday we used public transport with no probelm. There was a few resturants withing walking distance, some of the ones that were a bit further out had a pick up servcie and would come to the hotel and take you back. Taxi's were not that expensive so we used one a couple of evenings.Fenchal has loads so you will not have a problem in finding one. Take a walk down the old street area in Funchal it has many resturants and small craft shops, and you must go and look at the market.Like most places if you choose to eat or drink on the main Marina area near the big Ballon it will be a bit more in price. Not always worth the extra but a nice enough walk.
Do not bother with the ballon ride people in the hotel had already told us it was not worth the money and when we got to the marina we could see that for oursleves. The cable car is a must and the Monte Gardens are just at the top of the cable car entrance. We used one of the small tour companies for trips called TT Tours. They were great would pick you up from the hotel in a small minibus or people carrier. This meant less people on each trip and the guide could spend more time telling you about the things you wanted to know and there was flexibility in how we got to the main tour so we could see more. We did go on a package tour that was our only option at the time, they did try to sell us the normal rip of trips which we did not use we had already decided to use a tour company. TT tour was mentioned in a web review I read somewhere and when we resilsed we were not far from them we used them. Using them and the local buses from the Fenchal bus station we managed to see all we wanted to see. We did some thing like a tour called the
BEST OF THE WEST and then BEST OF THE EAST. We also went to NUN'S VALLEY and the Botinic gardens, I can not remeber all of the places.I thought the Gardens of Monte were better I could have stayed all day in there.
Lovely island, freindly people and the food was fab, espically the bolo do caco and I am not a big fish eater , the hubby is but I had some lovely fish dishes. The hubby wants to go back some time and they grow a lovely small banana I think it was called a honey banana you really must try one.
http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesUK/weather-uk.html
Funchal surprised me with how busy it was and the amount of traffic around. Yes yellow taxi's every were .That said you still have to go and see it. There is plently to see and do. Check out when the cruises come in as Funchal is one of the cruise stops and Funchal can get very busy when they are in the port.I am not sure I want to drive some of the roads can be a bit scary and high. The island has miroclimates it can be over cast in one part go a little further up the road and you can have sun, go a bit further and you could hit rain for a short time. It has the most perfect climate because of the Gulf Stream warm summers and mild winters I choose to stay outside of the main city (Canico de Baixo_ as I wanted a quiter more relaxed time, the hotel provided a free bus service into Funchal. When that was not running either late in the evening or Sunday we used public transport with no probelm. There was a few resturants withing walking distance, some of the ones that were a bit further out had a pick up servcie and would come to the hotel and take you back. Taxi's were not that expensive so we used one a couple of evenings.Fenchal has loads so you will not have a problem in finding one. Take a walk down the old street area in Funchal it has many resturants and small craft shops, and you must go and look at the market.Like most places if you choose to eat or drink on the main Marina area near the big Ballon it will be a bit more in price. Not always worth the extra but a nice enough walk.
Do not bother with the ballon ride people in the hotel had already told us it was not worth the money and when we got to the marina we could see that for oursleves. The cable car is a must and the Monte Gardens are just at the top of the cable car entrance. We used one of the small tour companies for trips called TT Tours. They were great would pick you up from the hotel in a small minibus or people carrier. This meant less people on each trip and the guide could spend more time telling you about the things you wanted to know and there was flexibility in how we got to the main tour so we could see more. We did go on a package tour that was our only option at the time, they did try to sell us the normal rip of trips which we did not use we had already decided to use a tour company. TT tour was mentioned in a web review I read somewhere and when we resilsed we were not far from them we used them. Using them and the local buses from the Fenchal bus station we managed to see all we wanted to see. We did some thing like a tour called the
BEST OF THE WEST and then BEST OF THE EAST. We also went to NUN'S VALLEY and the Botinic gardens, I can not remeber all of the places.I thought the Gardens of Monte were better I could have stayed all day in there.
Lovely island, freindly people and the food was fab, espically the bolo do caco and I am not a big fish eater , the hubby is but I had some lovely fish dishes. The hubby wants to go back some time and they grow a lovely small banana I think it was called a honey banana you really must try one.
http://www.madeira-web.com/PagesUK/weather-uk.html
Sep 6th, 2006, 08:04 AM
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francetrip - First thing I thought of when I read your post was the age of your parents and the use of a car -
my son who stayed with Portuguese friends who have an apartment in Funchal told me some of the roads are narrow, steep and the drivers 'crazee'!
I think they may find it a tad difficult driving.
my son who stayed with Portuguese friends who have an apartment in Funchal told me some of the roads are narrow, steep and the drivers 'crazee'!
I think they may find it a tad difficult driving.
Sep 6th, 2006, 01:48 PM
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I know I should not but I could not resist it.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...mp;q=don+amaro
But maybe this site will be more helpful in deciding. What made me think thank god I am not driving was not so much the steep bending roads but the ones that are high up and it si almost like your driving over a narrow bridge with a big drop either side of the bridge, my herat sank each time we weny over one.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...mp;q=don+amaro
But maybe this site will be more helpful in deciding. What made me think thank god I am not driving was not so much the steep bending roads but the ones that are high up and it si almost like your driving over a narrow bridge with a big drop either side of the bridge, my herat sank each time we weny over one.
Sep 6th, 2006, 01:50 PM
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Forgot to add the second link apart from driving in Funchal and all the builing work, the place is lovely and I would go back again.
http://www.madeiraweb.info/indexet/m...a%20island.htm
http://www.madeiraweb.info/indexet/m...a%20island.htm
Sep 6th, 2006, 02:55 PM
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Hi, Sue,
I spent a week in Madeira in January several years ago. We rented a car, and we needed it because we did a lot of hiking (on the levadas and also to several peaks, Pico Ruivo and Ariero (?)-- they were spectacular walks, by the way). I have had a fair amount of experience driving in Iberia -- we've owned cars and lived in Madrid for a year and Lisbon for a year, and both times we traveled around the countries a lot and I drove in the cities a fair amount as well.
But driving in Madeira is much more stressful than anything I encountered in Spain or mainland Portugal. There is one engineering marvel multi-lane divided highway that goes across the island, but aside from that it's narrow and frequently very curvy roads. In many instances, there aren't obvious arterial roads, but just a number of narrow, low traffic roads and it's not always obvious which one to get on to go from one town to the next. We wound up driving through a lot of little hamlets that we couldn't even find a name for, much less find them on the map. Fortunately in most instances, we could tell which way we wanted to go because we were either going up or down.
We had a close call that I can't even think about without a shudder, someone barreling around a curve taking the curve in my lane, coming towards me. It was a matter of inches. I don't mean to scare you, because those things can happen anywhere. But even without that experience, I would say that unless there's a very pressing need for your parents to have their own transportation, driving on Madeira could be a real stress-producing experience without any obvious benefits. That's just my opinion, I don't mean to preach.
I spent a week in Madeira in January several years ago. We rented a car, and we needed it because we did a lot of hiking (on the levadas and also to several peaks, Pico Ruivo and Ariero (?)-- they were spectacular walks, by the way). I have had a fair amount of experience driving in Iberia -- we've owned cars and lived in Madrid for a year and Lisbon for a year, and both times we traveled around the countries a lot and I drove in the cities a fair amount as well.
But driving in Madeira is much more stressful than anything I encountered in Spain or mainland Portugal. There is one engineering marvel multi-lane divided highway that goes across the island, but aside from that it's narrow and frequently very curvy roads. In many instances, there aren't obvious arterial roads, but just a number of narrow, low traffic roads and it's not always obvious which one to get on to go from one town to the next. We wound up driving through a lot of little hamlets that we couldn't even find a name for, much less find them on the map. Fortunately in most instances, we could tell which way we wanted to go because we were either going up or down.
We had a close call that I can't even think about without a shudder, someone barreling around a curve taking the curve in my lane, coming towards me. It was a matter of inches. I don't mean to scare you, because those things can happen anywhere. But even without that experience, I would say that unless there's a very pressing need for your parents to have their own transportation, driving on Madeira could be a real stress-producing experience without any obvious benefits. That's just my opinion, I don't mean to preach.
Sep 7th, 2006, 06:48 PM
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Thanks for the input on potential places to visit. I am getting the clear view that a car is not a good idea!
Any other thoughts would love to hear them for either things to see/do or experiences.
Thanks,
Sue
Any other thoughts would love to hear them for either things to see/do or experiences.
Thanks,
Sue
Sep 8th, 2006, 02:19 AM
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I really liked the little village of Santana on the northern coast; it's got interesting triangular houses, and the ride to it is breathtaking. (I went by cab.)
Madeira really is gorgeous, especially once you get out of the hotel region.
Madeira really is gorgeous, especially once you get out of the hotel region.
Sep 8th, 2006, 02:32 AM
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Well, I have a restaurant tip: The restaurants in the hotel area are more expensive than those in the old town or recidential areas. A good classic is Dom Pepe which is in an ordinary modern apartment building, and which is about 3 kilometres from the hotel area. Busses run frequently to Camara de Lobos (next village), and they pass near the restaurant.. Table reservation is necessary because it is the local´s favourite because of food/service/ all-around quality. Opposite the Madeira Palacio hotel, about 50 meters uphill.
And then of course Camara de Lobos, a real fishing village where Winston Churchill liked to paint.
And then of course Camara de Lobos, a real fishing village where Winston Churchill liked to paint.
Sep 8th, 2006, 06:20 AM
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A couple of opinions on restaurants in the town of Funchal itself.
– Our favorite was O Celeiro, Rua das Aranhas 22. Good tuna, great fish soup, nice salads.
-- Next best was Londres, a paper table cloth place with good espetadas (grilled meat and seafood skewers)
– Others that were ok, nothing special – Jango (quite popular, but we found the food mediocre); Os Combatentes (good seafood stew, but the grilled sole was pretty tasteless).
And since you didn't say where your parents were staying, I'll put in a plug for staying in-town and not in the beach zone a few kms out. We stayed in Hotel Porto Santa Maria, a newly constructed 4 star hotel, but it's in a great location, right on the beach walk. It gets great reviews on Trip Advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...a_Islands.html
The hotel's website: http://www.portostamaria.com/index/p...antamaria.html We booked directly with them and were very happy to get an upgrade to a nice suite with kitchenette and a huge balcony overlooking the water. It was terrific, and for us the advantage of being in town rather than out in the resort area was a real plus.
– Our favorite was O Celeiro, Rua das Aranhas 22. Good tuna, great fish soup, nice salads.
-- Next best was Londres, a paper table cloth place with good espetadas (grilled meat and seafood skewers)
– Others that were ok, nothing special – Jango (quite popular, but we found the food mediocre); Os Combatentes (good seafood stew, but the grilled sole was pretty tasteless).
And since you didn't say where your parents were staying, I'll put in a plug for staying in-town and not in the beach zone a few kms out. We stayed in Hotel Porto Santa Maria, a newly constructed 4 star hotel, but it's in a great location, right on the beach walk. It gets great reviews on Trip Advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...a_Islands.html
The hotel's website: http://www.portostamaria.com/index/p...antamaria.html We booked directly with them and were very happy to get an upgrade to a nice suite with kitchenette and a huge balcony overlooking the water. It was terrific, and for us the advantage of being in town rather than out in the resort area was a real plus.
Sep 8th, 2006, 01:14 PM
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Having a car in Madeira is really a pro. The mountain roads aren't wide but they're also not made to drive fast. There are so many rental cars on the road that the locals are very considerate. At least, that is my experience. I didn't find the driving more difficult or dangerous than in other parts of Europe, but then - living in Belgium - I'm used to driving here.
To see / to do (excerpt from my diary):
<b>Funchal</b>:
<i>Mercado dos Lavradores</i>, partly open, partly covered market in the Zona Velha - very colorful market. Every day except Sunday.
<i>Jardim do Monte</i>, or Monte Palace Tropical Garden. Really beautiful garden. Take the cable car in Funchal. It stops at the entrance of the garden. We took the tobogan back to Funchal (Livramento). An adventure!
<i>Jardim Botânico</i>, another beautiful garden. Easy to reach by car or by bus no. 30 and 31 from Funchal's central bus station.
<i>Jardim de Santa Catarina / Jardim de São Francisco</i>, two smaller but still very nice parks. A lovely green connection between the hotel zone and the city.
<i>Quinta Magnólia Park</i>, lesser known park next to hotel Quinta do Sol / opposite hotel Quinta Perestrello. There's a stream flowing by, and if you follow the path along the steam you can make a short and easy levada walk until almost in the city centre. Lots of wild flowers there.
<b>Western Madeira in one day</b>
We started in Funchal and drove along the winding mountain roads to Câmara de Lobos, then on to Cabo Girão and Câmara de Lobos where we took the Via Rapida to Ribeira Brava and from thereone we drove north in the direction of São Vicente. We took the old road to Boca da Encumeada (1007m) and walked up to the miradouro for what should have been a splendid view on the southcoast as well as on the northcoast if there wouldn't have been these thick low hanging clouds...
From Boca da Encumeada we drove in the direction of Porto Moniz and crossed the high plateau of Paúl da Serra (1500m) where, again, we didn't see nothing at all because of the mist.
Rabaçal would be our next stop and our aim was to make a levada walk. But again the bad weather interfered. Further to Porto Moniz then. The weather got a little better and it's in this area that we saw some very nice wild flowers (calla lilies, arums, and other unknown flowers). We walked around Porto Moniz where we had lunch. After lunch we drove in eastern direction. The high cliffs between Porto Moniz and Seixal are spectacular with lots of waterfalls coming from the mountains. If you drive the old road (Antiga 101 - in the other direction: from Seixal to Porto Moniz) you can drive under the waterfalls. Our last stop was in São Vicente that we visited in the pouring rain.
Then back to Funchal (through the tunnels) which takes only an hour.
<b>Eastern Madeira in one day</b>
We started in Funchal and drove over the Via Rapida to Santa Cruz where we tried to visit the church (which was closed, like most churches in Madeira). We walked along the rocky beach for a while instead.
Then further to Machico where, again, the church & the Capela dos Milagres were closed! From Machico we drove further to Caniçal (we came back later for lunch). Further it went to Ponta de São Lourenço. Spectacular scenery! After looking at the bare cliffs and admiring the colors of the various layers of lava we drove back to Caniçal for lunch. From Caniçal we drove to Santana, known for its triangular houses (which are now in fact all set up for tourist). The scenic drive however is well worth your time. Sometimes you can smell the eucalyptus woods. And there were lots of blooming mimosa forests. From Santana we drove back to Funchal over mountains and through valleys, through laurel forests and very nice landscapes.
To see / to do (excerpt from my diary):
<b>Funchal</b>:
<i>Mercado dos Lavradores</i>, partly open, partly covered market in the Zona Velha - very colorful market. Every day except Sunday.
<i>Jardim do Monte</i>, or Monte Palace Tropical Garden. Really beautiful garden. Take the cable car in Funchal. It stops at the entrance of the garden. We took the tobogan back to Funchal (Livramento). An adventure!
<i>Jardim Botânico</i>, another beautiful garden. Easy to reach by car or by bus no. 30 and 31 from Funchal's central bus station.
<i>Jardim de Santa Catarina / Jardim de São Francisco</i>, two smaller but still very nice parks. A lovely green connection between the hotel zone and the city.
<i>Quinta Magnólia Park</i>, lesser known park next to hotel Quinta do Sol / opposite hotel Quinta Perestrello. There's a stream flowing by, and if you follow the path along the steam you can make a short and easy levada walk until almost in the city centre. Lots of wild flowers there.
<b>Western Madeira in one day</b>
We started in Funchal and drove along the winding mountain roads to Câmara de Lobos, then on to Cabo Girão and Câmara de Lobos where we took the Via Rapida to Ribeira Brava and from thereone we drove north in the direction of São Vicente. We took the old road to Boca da Encumeada (1007m) and walked up to the miradouro for what should have been a splendid view on the southcoast as well as on the northcoast if there wouldn't have been these thick low hanging clouds...
From Boca da Encumeada we drove in the direction of Porto Moniz and crossed the high plateau of Paúl da Serra (1500m) where, again, we didn't see nothing at all because of the mist.
Rabaçal would be our next stop and our aim was to make a levada walk. But again the bad weather interfered. Further to Porto Moniz then. The weather got a little better and it's in this area that we saw some very nice wild flowers (calla lilies, arums, and other unknown flowers). We walked around Porto Moniz where we had lunch. After lunch we drove in eastern direction. The high cliffs between Porto Moniz and Seixal are spectacular with lots of waterfalls coming from the mountains. If you drive the old road (Antiga 101 - in the other direction: from Seixal to Porto Moniz) you can drive under the waterfalls. Our last stop was in São Vicente that we visited in the pouring rain.
Then back to Funchal (through the tunnels) which takes only an hour.
<b>Eastern Madeira in one day</b>
We started in Funchal and drove over the Via Rapida to Santa Cruz where we tried to visit the church (which was closed, like most churches in Madeira). We walked along the rocky beach for a while instead.
Then further to Machico where, again, the church & the Capela dos Milagres were closed! From Machico we drove further to Caniçal (we came back later for lunch). Further it went to Ponta de São Lourenço. Spectacular scenery! After looking at the bare cliffs and admiring the colors of the various layers of lava we drove back to Caniçal for lunch. From Caniçal we drove to Santana, known for its triangular houses (which are now in fact all set up for tourist). The scenic drive however is well worth your time. Sometimes you can smell the eucalyptus woods. And there were lots of blooming mimosa forests. From Santana we drove back to Funchal over mountains and through valleys, through laurel forests and very nice landscapes.
Jan 16th, 2009, 09:08 AM
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I'm considering a vacation in Maderia beginning of June. I am retired, active woman who likes hiking and walking. I have read some posts on this board and am considering the hotel Portocamino. Is there a shuttle bus from airport in Funchal and is it close to city? I would also like to hear if there are any good day trips that I could take using public transportation or any ferry trips from Funchal? Is Maderia a good choice for traveling solo? Thanks for any advice. Kate
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