The Old Town Of Funchal Funchal is a sprawling city, reaching out
from its roots in the Old Town (Zone Velha). This once seedy area, patronised
by seamen, in recent years has seen a profound make-over to become a place of
fine restaurants and bars, an up-market,trendy zone that is constantly abuzz.

Funchal Market:

Spend a morning in the Mercado dos Lavradores. This is the place to soak up
the atmosphere of Funchal; visit on Friday and Saturday when farmers come into
town with rickety trucks full of flowers and vegetables. Adjoining is the fish market, a
fascinating place, but not for the squeamish.

Monte:

The village of Monte, accessible by a cable car, is renowned for its botanical garden,
and its toboggan runs, an exciting and unusual way of making a quick descent of
Monte’s road.

Câmara De Lobos:

A short distance from Funchal lies the fishing village of Câmara de Lobos, best
known for its attraction to Winston Churchill, who painted a number of
landscapes here. A very atmospheric if ramshackle place, the centre of the village
is an agreeable jumble of whitewashed houses, shops and bars.

There are few conventional ‘beaches’ on
Madeira, and those that do dot the island are black sand. The exception is on
neighbouring Porto Santo, where a natural golden beach extends for miles, and
attracts day and weekend visitors from the main island. A daily ferry makes the trip in
under 3 hours.

Calheta Beach:
The only golden sand beach is at Calheta,a man-made thing, using sand imported
from Morocco, but very popular, and away from the bustle of Funchal. Take a taxi, or
go by bus.

Madeira has long been a British and later a
cosmopolitan tourist destination thanks to
its warm climate and oceanic influences.
Lying some 700km (440 miles) from the
coast of Africa, and 1000km (600 miles)
from mainland Portugal to which it
belongs, this is not one island, but many.
Collectively, the islands take their name
from the largest, but in addition are made
up of Porto Santo to the north-east, and
two groups of uninhabited islands: the
Desertas and the Selvagens, roughly to the
south-east.
The highest point of the island is Pico do
Ruivo at 1862m (6108ft). More than 50%
of Madeira lies above 700m (2295ft), and
the cliffs at Cabo Girão, at 589m (1932ft)
rank as the fourth highest sea cliffs in the
world.

Described as a floating garden, Madeira is a lush green
volcanic island surrounded by very deep Atlantic seas.
Fecund laurisilva forest prevails on Madeira, a World Heritage
Site, but everywhere flowers, shrubs and trees from all over
the world flourish in the mild tropical climate. The island is
amazingly convoluted; roads climb into the mountainous
heartlands at crazy angles, or twist around the tortuous but
very beautiful coastline in breathtaking fashion.

 Population:
Madeira: 245,000
Porto Santo: 4800

Newspapers in English:

Essential Madeira and Porto Santo(quarterly)

The Madeira Times

Emergency numbers:

112

Tourist information:

Avenida Arriaga Tourist Office

Address: Avenida Arriaga, 16,

9004-519 Funchal

Tel: +351 291 211 900/902

Email: info@madeira-tourism.org

Open Monday-Friday 9am-8pm,

Saturday and Sunday 9am-6pm