With one day left before leaving Madeira, our time is nearly up. We certainly have been busy. My top 5 attractions that we’ve done (sorry, Levada dos 25 Fontes) have to be:
Monte Palace was my favourite place, full of nature and beauty from all around the world. It was a joy to walk through with sculptures, exotic plants and more. I’d happily spend the whole day exploring all the secret paths and hidden places. To be fair, we did spend a few hours here! It’s definitely worth the money (well, for adults – kids go free!).
The Santo da Serra Market was a warm and cosy place, full of culture, food and poncha. Some of the best food we’ve had was from there. We had a great day (well, morning!) trip out to Santo da Serra.
The entirety of Nuns’ Valley is an absolutely stunning place, full of majestic mountains, layers of forest and all kinds of natural wonder. With many veredas (walks) and miradouros (lookouts), it is one of the best places to walk. The town of Curral das Freiras is a good pitstop for espetada (meat skewers), especially if you do the walk down and earn it.
Pico do Ar***ro is nearly the highest mountain in Madeira, and because of that it offers great views over the island and the coast. With lots of trails spiralling down the peak, it has a plethora of activities to do. It’s one of the best sunrise or sunset spots in Madeira and is well connected to Funchal, with buses, taxis and tours available.
Levada Fajã do Rodrigues was, in my opinion, the top walk that we did. Boasting 3 tunnels and plenty of waterfalls and narrow sections, we knew Mum would love it. Located in the district of São Vicente, the bus ride there was also the best so far. With many waterfalls and mountains all around, it was spectacular. The walk was stunning, a very adventurous walk, not for the faint-hearted.
But these were just my personal top 5 of Madeira. Even then it was hard to tell which were the best, other contenders include-
Those 8 attractions were just the best of the best; everything we did was something new and spectacular. All in all, Madeira is a great place to visit – at least I think so.
