One of Funchal’s main tourist attractions, and only a short cable-car ride away from the seafront, Monte Palace Garden tumbles down 7 hectares of steep hillside. It’s Madeira, so there are plenty of steps and steep walkways, but there are also slow, meandering paths winding their way up and down the slopes.

There’s no set route around the gardens – so, with multiple options, follow what catches your eye, or seems the least strenuous. Just be mindful of heading down too quickly! Entrances and exits are all at the top, so keep some energy in the tank for the walk back up (or you can pay an extra €5 for the shuttle service).

Remember, also, to bring an extra layer, as at 1,000m above sea-level, Monte is often a few degrees cooler than the city centre.

With a vast collection of exotic species, oriental gardens, sculptures, azulejo tiles, ponds, koi carp, waterfalls, flamingos and other birds – there’s plenty to see. We easily spent three or more hours wandering around. It’s not a place to rush.

There’s also a three-storey museum on the eastern side of the gardens which, when we visited, housed an interesting modern and contemporary art exhibition.

And, if that’s not enough, you can always take the ‘other’ cable car back down from Monte to the Botanical Gardens (in the next valley).

My favourite sight of the day was this gnarly old olive tree. Originally planted by the Romans in 300BC in Portugal’s Alentejo region, it was transplanted here when the Alqueva Dam was constructed. Mind-boggling that it is so old and that it survived being transplanted.