The small but dramatic island of Madeira is the perfect place for walking, exploring and relaxing. Recently, myself and two colleagues took a trip to Madeira to scout Levadas, sample the cuisine and stay in some amazing hotels! Come with me as I tell you all about our experience!
Headwater offers three different trips to Madeira, two of which are single centres, and one is a hotel-to-hotel trip, each has its own quirks to suit everyone. The first hotel we stayed at was the Bio Hotel Quinta da Serra, our featured unique places to stay a few months back. Before I go on, I’d like to just mention that Quinta is a traditional Madeiran Hotel that is converted farmhouses and often has a rich and diverse history, and we use them a lot! The Quinta da Serra stands out even in this unique category for its Bio status. The vast majority of their food comes from their grounds, they have their own water source, and generate a lot of their own electricity! The gardens are vast, and the views are superb.
The Quinta da Serra treated us to a unique 4-course meal each night, included in our Walking the Waterways and Villages of Madeira holiday. Each day had a different menu, a luscious starter, a beautiful fish dish and a succulent meat third course.
This hotel made a great base for exploring! Being a little away from the major towns, and using the hire car, the whole island is within reach!
We did a fantastic walk, along the Levada Nova from the fishing village of Lombada. I do have to say, it’s not for those who suffer with vertigo! Winding along the mountainside, there’s a stunning view around every corner. Eventually coming to a small tunnel (bring a torch!) that opens up to one of Madeira’s many waterfalls! An absolutely beautiful scene, and an experience of walking under a waterfall that I won’t ever forget.
Our next stop was in the centre of Funchal. There are a number of hotels that we work with – all of them beautiful! On our holiday Walk the Garden Island of Madeira our standard hotel is the Quintinha de São João – a stunning 5* just a 10-minute walk from the old town of Funchal. Set within a huge garden with over 350 plants and tree species, you truly feel like you’re in an oasis in the city! The hotel shares a history of being a Quinta just like the previous one we stayed at, and they really want that to reflect in the experience. With every piece of art on the walls there are no replicas in sight. Madeiran hospitality shines remarkably here, and when we spoke with Director Andre, they said it’s something they truly believe in!
The walks from Funchal are great as well as having fantastic transport links out to the rest of the island. We took the cable car from the city centre, up to Monte Gardens (which makes a beautiful excursion), and walked across to Camacha. The views across the Funchal Valley were incredible, including a stint of the walk in the clouds!
We even took the bus across to Marocos, to walk down to Machico. As with the other walks we’d done this far, it was along another Levada. This one took us from the rural farming village that is Marocos, through banana farms and into the lush green countryside, with guava trees, papaya trees and even poinsettia bushes dotting the path, there’s always something to see and admire!
The viewpoint at Pico de Facho is not to be missed at the end of this walk, sitting with a nice cold drink, or Bica (small coffee), and watching the planes landing across the bay was worth the climb. We descended the mountain into Machico, the old capital city and on one of the only golden sand beaches on Madeira.
Our next stay took us up into the mountains and Santo da Serra, the Enotel Santo de Serra and PortoBay Golf are beautiful resorts in the tranquil mountain village. Waking up surrounded by the clouds and the sun peeking through was truly marvellous.
We finished our week on the Northern Coast of Madeira, in the small village of Santana. The north side is completely different to elsewhere, and this is the start of our hotel-to-hotel holiday, Marvels of Madeira Walk. This trip is fantastic as it takes in different ecosystems of the island, from the North Coast to the Mountain Village of Santo da Serra and finishing in the busy Funchal. A great way to see the island in just 1 week! The hotel we stayed at was one of the team’s unanimous favourites, the Quinta do Furao. This hotel is perched on top of the rugged North Coast, with fantastic views of the dramatic coastline to the left, and the top peaks of the Island to the right – a remarkable place to stay. Again, the hotel was originally a Quinta, but has been modernised beautifully, with a picturesque pool amongst the vineyards, a sauna and an indoor pool too! Great to relax after a long walk exploring the rural north coast.
Our walk took us from the hotel, across a beautiful valley and up to the village of Sao Jorge, with its beautiful 16th-century church at the heart. There are some fantastic viewpoints from the top of this headland, both to the east and off to the west. On a clear day, you can see Madeira’s neighbouring island of Porto Santo!
I also want to mention one of the other hotels we use along the north coast, the Solar de Boaventura. One of the main reasons I wanted to mention this hotel is the lasting impression it left on me! The village is a little further along the coast from Santana and sits within one of the many rocky valleys. The Solar was originally a large house, rather than the manor houses that the Quintas were, and was originally built in 1776. It has kept the original features in parts, like the old kitchen now a lounge, and modernised the areas of importance, the rooms and pool area – yet kept the subtle touches to bring the Madeiran traditions in. Every piece of wooden furniture was handmade by the local carpenter in Boaventura out of the traditional dark wood of the island. The hotel was expanded in the 1990s and the heart of this main atrium, are all of the old tools used in the original house – like a miniature living museum! The building had been passed down from generation to generation, with the family still running the hotel! It’s truly a wonderful retreat in the tranquil Laurissilva Forest.
Madeira has truly earned the name of ‘Pearl of the Atlantic’ and I will most certainly be taking another trip as soon as I can, five days just were not enough!
