Why Madeira, Portugal Should Be Your Top Holiday Destination For 2020

The Portuguese island of Madeira has traditionally attracted an older clientele than the Spanish Canary Islands partly due to its comfortable subtropical climate year round, thanks to its proximity to Northern Africa. The island is also notable as the birthplace of the world’s top footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo and there’s no reason that this lovely island shouldn’t appeal to younger travellers who enjoy outdoor pursuits in a beautiful environment. There’s a jazz festival in July and one of the world’s best fireworks displays on New Year’s Eve. In fact, Madeira was just voted Europe's “Leading Island Destination” in the World Travel Awards again (the sixth time in the last seven years). Less than four hours from London and with almost guaranteed sunshine, Madeira is an ideal winter break, or for that matter, anytime destination.

Where to Stay:

The Savoy Palace opened in autumn 2019 on the site of the former Savoy Hotel, a short walk from Funchal’s charming Old Town. The five-star property is Madeira’s only member of Leading Hotels of the World. Designed by the award-winning team of RH+ Architects and renowned Portuguese interior designer Nini Andrade Silva, the bold, curved structure houses chic guestrooms and suites, created with high-end materials and featuring balconies with gorgeous ocean views.

The hotel has spectacular views from the rooms and many of the common areas, including the rooftop lounge that also has an incredible infinity pool. Below are immaculate, terraced gardens and a large outdoor pool. Locals have nicknamed this hotel a “cruise ship,” due to its wave-like shape but also because of its size which accommodates 600 guest rooms. The size allows for generously proportioned rooms and suites, all with views of the ocean or mountains, while the design is luxurious, with customised fabrics and bespoke furniture. The stylish restaurants and bars, a huge outdoor swimming pool and an impressive spa with hydrotherapy facilities all combine to make this one of Madeira’s best places to stay.

Another recommended five-star hotel, just around the bay from the Savoy Palace, is the The Cliff Bay with its recently opened Cliff Bay suites. As the name suggests, the hotel is located on a cliff with lovely views of the sea and Funchal Bay. The 23 luxury suites in two restored historic houses, with a new wing added, are set in lush gardens with an infinity pool and jacuzzi overlooking the sea. Just outside of the city center, the hotel offers a regular shuttle bus into town.

Se Boutique Hotel, is a stylish small hotel in the center of the old town with 54 modern, breezy rooms and a fantastic open roof terrace with a 360 degree view across Funchal. The brightly decorated terrace bar attracts guests and locals alike who come for the views and the excellent and unique cocktails.

Where to Eat and Drink

The island is big on seafood, fish is plentiful and delicious and there are many excellent dining options. For fine dining, Galaxia on the sixteenth floor of the Savoy Palace is a great choice. This chic restaurant with, as the name suggests, a space- themed decor, has blue sparkling ceilings, elegant blue banquets and grey suede chairs. Outdoors there is a glorious, spacious terrace over two levels, with a bar and infinity pool. At night, views across the twinkling lights of Funchal are stunning. Food at Galaxia is Modern Portuguese, made mainly from local products. Menu highlights include Parrotfish tempura, black scabbardfish (a regional deepwater fish), lamb couscous, octopus and slow cooked ribs. Another fine dining choice near the Savoy Palace is Terreiro, a new restaurant from Savoy Signature, also serving locally and freshly handpicked produce with a carefully created menu of dishes like seafood risotto, fish stew and black pork.

In the Design Centre on the harbor, owned by Nini Andrade Silva, is a beautiful restaurant on the top floor that offers a three-course Modern Portuguese tasting menu with wine for 55 euros/person. Rei da Poncha, a tiny bar in Funchal with outdoor seating, was our favorite place to enjoy one of the island’s native drinks, poncha (rum-based drink mixed with various fruit juices and honey). It offers many versions of the drink from the traditional lemon and orange or passionfruit, to a lethal one with absinthe.

While touring the island, stop for lunch at Quinta do Furão, a wonderful hotel restaurant with incredible ocean views and excellent Madeiran cuisine. If you’re adventurous, be sure to try limpets, an unusual local shellfish that taste like a cross between snails and winkles.

What to See and Do:

Madeira is one of the best places for hiking as it has 3,000 levadas, small irrigation canals that provide trekking routes through the mountains and forests of the island. Start your visit to Madeira in a guided jeep tour with Hit the Road Tours, owned by Madeira native Jeff Gouveia. The tours, geared towards small groups of a maximum of six, are exhilarating, informative and focus on going “off the beaten track.”

Hit The Road Tours personalises each tour according to your preferences. We did the east coast tour with the genial Hugo Rodrigues who went out of his way to show us unusual sights and provide an excellent commentary on the island. Highlights included driving through some of the 181 mountain tunnels, visiting the village of Santana with its traditional "A-Frame" houses, picking passionfruit and bay leafs from 500 year old trees, stopping on Pico Do Areiro, the third highest peak on the island at 1811 meters above sea level and having a drink of poncha, a traditional Madeiran rum-based drink freshly made from orange, lemon and honey at the roadside Bar das Cruzinhas.

In Funchal there’s also plenty to do. The Design Centre, owned by Nini Andrade Silva on the harbor, features a small museum over several floors showcasing the designer’s work and sometimes, temporary exhibitions of other artists and designers too. There’s a beautiful restaurant and bar at the top of the building with floor to ceiling glass windows that would be an ideal place to see the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

A cable car in the Old Town takes you up the mountain to what really does feel like paradise, Monte Palace Madeira, containing over 70,000 square meters of tropical gardens, certainly one of the most beautiful botanical gardens in the world.

Once you reach the top of the mountain in the cable car, you’ll need several hours to fully appreciate the gardens that date back to the 18th century when owned by British consul, Charles Murray. There is art both outside and inside various buildings, including a three storey gallery showing the impressive Berardo Collection of contemporary stone sculptures from Zimbabwe. The garden paths are lined with panels of beautiful Portuguese tiles from the 15th to 20th centuries. The vast gardens include oriental gardens, fountains, a Koi fish pond and a small lake.

After spending time in the gardens, instead of taking the cable car back down the mountain, try the traditional sledge ride. For one of the most bonkers experiences ever, a wooden toboggan will take you down the hill along narrow, winding streets with buildings on one side, cars on the other. Carreiros do Monte offer a thrilling ride in a wicker basket attached to two wooden runners. Two “carreiros”, the chauffeurs of the wicker toboggan are dressed in white with straw hats and crucially, special, rubber-soled shoes that help them steer and brake the toboggan. Originally a fast means of transport down to Funchal for people living in Monte, these toboggan sledges appeared around 1850. Today, they are mainly used by thrill-seeking tourists on the two kilometre ride which takes around ten minutes and reaches speeds of up to 30 miles an hour.

No trip to Madeira would be complete without a visit to Blandy’s to discover how the famous fortified wine is made and to buy some too. The Blandy family is unique in being the only family of all the original founders of the Madeira wine trade to still own and manage their own original wine company. Throughout its long history on the island, the family has played a leading role in the development of Madeira wine and members of the family continue to live on Madeira, maintaining a tradition that goes back to 1811. Madeira, a fortified wine produced and bottled in Madeira, uses specific grape varieties, aged by a unique heating system, making use of the same ancient ageing techniques that have passed from one generation to the next. Madeira was first made in 1419 and with this year as the 600th anniversary, Blandy’s has released a special limited edition at 5500 euros a bottle. If that’s too much for your budget, there are perfectly decent bottles for eight euros also on sale at Blandy’s. Be sure to drink all Madeira slightly chilled as you would with any fortified wine.

Another unique must do in Funchal is to see the Painted Doors Project in the Old Town which has transformed this area into a permanent art gallery.This public art project features artists’ colorful paintings on doors of houses, shops and other premises along Rua de Santa Maria. Local architect Paulo David and the designer Nini Andrade Silva both support the project.

For musical entertainment, check out what’s on at Baltazar Dias Municipal Theatre in Funchal. On our visit their annual piano festival was on so we had the privilege to hear a four-handed piano recital of Schubert, Mozart and Brahms by acclaimed Italian duo Marco Schiavo and Sergio Marchegiani.

British Airways, Easyjet and Jet2 offer daily direct flights from London to Funchal. From North America, fly via Lisbon on TAP.