Only one sandy beach and you still want to go there – Madeira!

Madeira is a small Portuguese island in the Atlantic Ocean, also called Island of Eternal Spring or Pearl of the Atlantic.

Madeira is situated north of Canary Islands, it’s of volcanic origin with great climate which enables you to go there the whole year round.

Getting around – in almost every travel guide or a blog you will read that you will definitely need to rent a car. Well I have to disagree, not only because I don’t like people telling me what to do ;p but also because the public transport is cheap and you can get anywhere you want. Not to mention those hairpin bends all over the island which made me dizzy just in a bus – I don’t think I would feel good driving a car on these roads. ;p

Cabo Girão

Cabo Girão is famous for 580 meter cliff with a glass floor. Standing there is one thing but the other is riding a bus there – I couldn’t sit by the window!

 

Porto Moniz

Absolutely amazing natural lava pools! oSoo cool and if I remember correctly it cost only 1.5€ – yes exactly!

More details at the official website of Porto Moniz.

Ponta de São Lourenço

I know I often use the word amazing in this post by seriously – Madeira is amazing! Ponta de Sao Lourenco is a walking trail. There are some steep inclinations and no shade so a cup and proper walking shoes required. This is a challenging walk but totally worth it! The views of blue ocean, brown soil and black cliffs make something truly beautiful. You can get to the beginning of a walking trail by bus.

Eat and drink local 😀

I had my favourite place in Funchal with nice service and delicious food and drinks – Madeira Tapas & Wine. I recommend you the octopus sandwich and of course poncha de Madeira –  traditional alcoholic drink made with aguardente de cana (distilled alcohol made from sugar cane juice), honey, sugar, lemon rind and with different fruit juices according to the version of poncha. With less % I drank local beer – Coral. 🙂 When it came to breakfast we did it like locals – cafezinho (small coffee) with pastel.

 Levadas

A levada is an irrigation channel or aqueduct and  in Madeira. There are more than 2,000 km of levadas and they provide a network of walking paths. I walked one – 11 km – check the views.

 

At the end I will add some more picture which may convince you to visit this gorgeous island.