Travel Made Joyful

The Basics

Who: we went on this trip as a family of four. Right now, our kids are 9 and 12 years old.

What: 5 nights, 4 full days

When: We went for our kids’ half-term break in February.

Where: Madeira is a Portuguese island that lies off the coast of Morocco. We flew in to Funchal, the capital city. There was a direct flight on Easyjet from Bristol that took 3.5 hours, which was fantastic! We opted to stay in Funchal to take advantage of some of the incredible resorts there. As a travel advisor, I have access to special perks and amenities at many of the top luxury resorts, and it also allows me to research different places to see what the best ones are for you! With that, we stayed for three nights at Reid’s Palace (a Belmond property) and two nights at The Cliff Bay. We used Capital One points to stay at The Cliff Bay – which was a great redemption!

Why: At this time of year, we were debating whether to do something to enjoy the winter (skiing or even seeing the Northern Lights in Scandinavia) or escaping for a bit of sunshine. We ended up choosing sun over snow, and started to look at places that would be warm in Europe right now. There weren’t too many options, but the amazing thing about Madeira is that while it is very far south, it is still part of Europe! It also has many microclimates, so while it was warm and sunny in Funchal, it was windy, cloudy, or even rainy when we were up in the mountains or on the northern side of the island.

Learnings

What I’d Do Again

We loved Madeira, and it totally surprised us as non-island/beachy destination people. We’ve been to Hawaii several times, and it definitely had a Hawaiian feel (think the Big Island or Kauai) in that it is a volcanic island with cliffs, tropical trees and plants, but plentiful sunshine, waves, and breezes. Funchal had a lot of resources of a large city for being on a small island, and there were a wide variety of great dining options (we had our choice of Michelin-star restaurants…how crazy is that?!).

Here are some of the highlights that I wouldn’t hesitate to do again:

• Number of Days – I think four full days was perfect, especially with arriving on a Wednesday evening, then leaving on a Monday morning. We let the flight schedules set our dates for us, but this was the perfect number of days to just relax and get some sun before heading back to work and school.
• Visiting Monte Palace Gardens – we all loved this beautiful garden, that also had tropical birds, waterfalls, and bridges in different styles. It was also fun to get there, since you had to take a cable car to get up to the start at the top of a mountain!
• Hiking the São Lourenço peninsula – this might have been the best thing we did the entire trip. This walk was dramatic, beautiful, but not challenging. It would be tougher for people who struggle with uneven surfaces, but there weren’t a lot of steep uphill/downhill portions.
• Mountain Drives – driving on the two roads that cross from north to south in Madeira means crossing over the mountains. At a certain point, you’re driving right through the clouds, and then you’re actually above them! It created this beautiful mystical setting that had us all envisioning Lord of the Rings.
• Market Visits – in Funchal we visited the Mercado dos Lavradores – the local farmers’ market. It houses tons of stalls with the most beautiful flowers, as well as local fruit, and the fish that fishmongers have caught that day (some were HUGE!). We talked with a fruit seller who had us try about 20 kinds of local fruit, as well as cinnamon-covered figs (YUM), and we bought fresh fruit to have as snacks when we drove and hiked the island. I love when learning is so delicious.
• Dinners at the hotel – part of the reason I picked the hotels I did was because of their impressive food and beverage programs. One of my favorite moments of the trip was ending a meal at William in Reid’s Palace, when our kids had finished their dessert, while Doug and I still had two courses of our meal left. They wanted to go back to the room to read, and we realized “Whoa, they can do that! They can just walk back to the room while we get to enjoy dessert in each other’s company!” It was a game-changer, and resulted in a win-win for everyone: the kids got to read a book they are super excited about, and I got a little quality time with my best friend over dessert.

What I’d Change

• Toboggan Ride: While the kids loved this, I thought the toboggan ride down the mountain from Monte was a bit overrated. It also feels a bit like extortion – you can only pay in cash, and the drivers ask you for a tip before you’ve even finished your ride. Then, as soon as you get off, someone comes and asks you to buy the photos they took of you when you were on your way down. I did enjoy that the kids could ride together though, but it isn’t something I’d recommend doing unless you have kids.
• Whale watching: I would have liked to add whale watching in to the trip, since you can see different species of whales around Madeira year-round. But, I wasn’t sure if we’d be doing that on other trips, and wanted to not overschedule us.
• Room with two full beds: We realized on this trip that I think kids age out of a pullout bed around age 12. While our nine-year-old thought the pullout bed was fine, our daughter said that it wasn’t super comfortable. The pullout was part of the family room at Reid’s, so we were thrilled with our two queen room at The Cliff Bay!
• Weather: this sounds a little silly, but when we were looking at the weather forecasts for Madeira, we must have been looking at the weather for a different part of the island. Again, with micro climates, the weather was vastly different if you went 20-30 minutes in any direction, so Funchal was much sunnier and warmer than other parts of the island. This resulted in a bit of packing mismatches and a lack of sunscreen! Thankfully, we had swimsuits, hats, and sunglasses, so we avoided sunburns by being smart and still got to enjoy the pools.

Tips for Travelers

While you can glean some good tips from the lists above, here are some of my other hints for a successful trip to Madeira:

• I would definitely recommend having a rental car. It made getting around the island much easier, and a fun adventure. You have to be comfortable driving on winding roads and not be prone to car-sickness, though. We found it to be more cost-effective than coordinating private day trips places, and it made it more of a family adventure.
• Stay in Funchal. Unless you’re really interested in hiking, I think staying in Funchal was great. We had the amenities of staying in a resort, as well as the views and access to the water, but were close enough to walk to dinner or for gelato. It’s also quite close to the airport (about a 20-25 minute drive).
• Don’t overschedule! We just picked a direction each day and drove the highways, making stops when we saw a viewpoint or a village that looked interesting. Google Maps was very accurate with options for doing hikes all over the island – and there’s no harm in just doing a bit of one and then turning around. Our kids did great with this, and we enjoyed being able to enjoy nature together.
• Try new foods! We loved getting to have fresh seafood and as many pasteis de nata as we wanted, but Madeira also has their own wines and specialty foods. Our favorites were the bolo de caco – a oven-baked circular flatbread that was often used for steak sandwiches; the many local fruits like custard apples and different varieties of bananas; and poncha – a sangria-like drink. The kids tried the local passionfruit soda, called Brisa, as well. I only say yes to soda when it’s a cultural novelty!
• Madeira has tons of festivals throughout the year – from Carnaval and Easter to their fall Harvest festival, Christmas, and New Year’s. While it’s likely more expensive to stay there during this time, there are a lot of fun extras to participate in and experience.

Final Words

In summary, we were delighted and amazed by Madeira. The natural wonders of this small island, as well as the well-developed resorts and restaurants punch way above their weight. Not only was it a great way to rest and restore before heading in to the next term, but we got to connect as a family in ways that we haven’t in awhile (I can’t remember the last time we did a scenic drive).

It’s going to be hard not to head back here next February, too!