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PracticalThe best time to visit MadeiraA year-round destination does not mean every month is the same. What differs is not the temperature but the light, the rain and the crowds.
Food & WineMercado dos LavradoresA 1940 market hall in the Zona Velha. A market in the morning, largely a sight from midday on — with prices to match.
Culture & FestivalsFunchalThe city sits in an amphitheatre of slopes. That explains most of it: the cable car, the prices per metre of altitude, and why you rarely walk on the level.
PracticalThe ferry to Porto SantoTwo and a half hours from Funchal to an island that consists of nine kilometres of sand — and not much else.
PracticalAutomatic or manualThe question is not settled on the expressway but on the eighteen per cent ramp up to a trailhead.
PracticalCar hire and getting thereThe coastal roads are new and fast. The routes into the highlands are not. What that means for the car you book.
Hiking & LevadasDifficulty grades, tunnels and head torchesLevada does not mean flat, and the official difficulty rating is not about fitness. What the grades actually describe.
Hiking & LevadasLevada do Caldeirão VerdeThe best-known levada walk in the north, PR 9. Four unlit tunnels, a waterfall at the end, and a trailhead that fills up early.
Hiking & LevadasLevada walks on MadeiraSome 3,000 kilometres of water channels run through the island. Part of that network is walkable, and that part is why most people come.