Reid’s Palace

The coffees turned into cocktails.

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Reid’s Palace

A view of the Reid's Palace gardens from the bar.

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A walk around Funchal

As the afternoon turned into the evening we left Reid’s Palace and took a walk along the sea front and back to our hotel via the old town.

That evening we had a drink in the hotel bar.

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Morning run

Sunday 30, I managed to get out before 9am for a 7km run. I headed east along the sea front, covering the same ground as Tammay and I had walked the previous evening, but then going a fair bit further. I headed up the hill and left the water behind, making my way back to the hotel. As I neared the end of my run I came across an organised event that was just about to start - police escort and all.

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Cascata dos Anjos

Our breakfast was cut a little short when a fire in a neighbouring building filled our hotel’s patio and pool area with clouds of smoke.

After breakfast we went out for a drive to the north west of the island. Our first stop was Cascata dos Anjos - a waterfall over the road which was a little underwhelming.

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Fanal Forest

We then went to Fanal Forest where we walked around the hillside and watched the mist pass around the trees.

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Miradouro do Veu da Noiva

We were then meant to go to Porto Moniz but Google maps screwed up (it wasn’t Tammay’s fault, honest) and we ended up going to Miradouro do Veu da Noiva which was a little viewpoint of a waterfall and the ocean.

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Cabo Girao Skywalk

We decided to go to Seixal but that was a total bust. We ended up in a small car park next to the water. There weren’t any free spaces and as we drove back up the hill we struggled to pass the cars on the way down.

We then went on to the Cabo Girao Skywalk.

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Cabo Girao Skywalk

We stretched the budget to cover the €2 entrance fee for the glass platform.

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Dinner at Avista

That evening we went to Avista, which was located just past Reid’s, for cocktails followed by dinner. The weather was very pleasant and we sat outside on their terrace.

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Scuba diving

Monday 1 July, after a light breakfast I walked over to the dive centre at the nearby Pestana Carlton Madeira Hotel. I met with my dive instructor and another tourist who was on the dive to complete the PPB unit of his Advanced Open Water certificate (he said that he’d done many of the dives in the area but recently the dive school had started to demand that divers have the required level of certification).

We entered the water from the harbour and reached a maximum depth of only 12m. There were quite a few fish about and we saw a couple of large Jack Fish darting about the reef. We also saw a butterfly ray buried under the sand and an octopus moving around a rock.

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Funchal old town

After the dive Tammay and I took a walk into the old town (going via the dive centre so I could pay for my dive and book a second dive for the following day) and found a restaurant for a sandwich and a coffee.

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Street art

We walked along Rua de Santa Maria looking at the painted doors and then headed back to the hotel via the waterfront.

That evening we walked back into the old town for dinner at Armazém do Sal.

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Roof terrace

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel’s rooftop bar.

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Roof terrace

From our hotel's roof terrace we had a good view of the waterfront and along towards Reid's Palace.

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Euro 2024

Euro 2024 was taking place while we were in Madeira. When Portugal were playing you could hear the roar of the crowds!

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Scuba diving

Tuesday 2, another early breakfast before I headed over to the dive centre. It was about a 20 minute boat ride to the west along the coast to wreck site of the 85m Corveta Alfonso Cerqueira, a merchant navel vessel sunk in 2018. It was a much bigger wreck than I’d seen before and it was good to be able to go inside and see the bridge and galley. In some of the tighter spaces I struggled a little to keep my balance and ended up sitting on my bum a couple of times.

For lunch we made the short walk out onto the pier to the Design Centre Nini Andrade Silva where we ate on their terrace.

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Cocktails on our hotel's roof terrace

That afternoon we spent some time on the hotel’s roof terrace where we spent some time reading our books.

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Cocktails at Reid’s Palace

That evening we had a couple of cocktails at Reid’s Palace where we managed to munch our way through 2 ‘platters’ of nuts and crisps (the cashew nuts with a dusting of curry powder were highly addictive). As a result we ended up not feeling like going to a restaurant for dinner. However by the time we finally got back to the hotel we were starting to get hungry. The restaurants had closed but we managed to get some snacks in the bar.

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Morning run

Wednesday 3, I started the day with a 9km run to the west, hugging the coastline.

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Walking along a levadas

After breakfast we drove to Ribeiro Frio where we made a 1.5km walk along a levadas to the Balcoes viewpoint.

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Walking along a levadas

There were some great views from along the trail.

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Balcoes viewpoint

The viewpoint gave us some lovely views up the valley into the mountains and down to the sea.

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Balcoes viewpoint

We spent some time at the small viewpoint and watched as people fed the little birds landing on a table.

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Santana

We then drove on to Santana where we shared a pizza and had a short walk around the collection of traditional houses in the little town.

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Il Gallo d’Oro

That evening we had another cocktail at Reid’s Palace followed by a 9-course tasting menu at Il Gallo d’Oro, a 2 Michelin star restaurant in Funchal. A very enjoyable meal.

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Il Gallo d’Oro

Il Gallo d’Oro is a 2 Michelin star restaurant in Funchal. It was a very enjoyable meal!

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Il Gallo d’Oro

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e-bike tour

Thursday 4, we were up bright and early for breakfast and made it to the e-bike hire shop for 9am.

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e-bike tour

It was about a 30 min drive to the west of the island where we made a stop at a bakery / supermarket then a further 10 min to reach the start of the trail. Tammay and I had both opted for e-bikes to make things a little easier.

It was a lovely route and there were a number of nice lookout points along the way.

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e-bike tour

Unfortunately Tammay may have been miss-sold or misunderstood the tour. Having been told 2/3rds of the route was paved Tammay assumed it would be easy however that wasn’t the case and there were a number of quite tricky rocky sections. Unfortunately Tammay took a number of tumbles and managed to break her phone. At the very end of the tour there were a couple of downhill sections on the road, the last of which went through a tunnel. It was quite disconcerting going through the tunnel with no lights, only able to see the sunshine at the very end… particularly when, midway through the tunnel, I rode over something at speed!

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Forte São José lookout

After getting back to the room we freshened up and took a drive out to a nearby shopping mall to buy Tammay a new phone. The first store appeared to be an official Apple reseller but was charging about €100 more for the iPhone 15 Pro Max than another store that looked a little rough around the edges. Tammay bought the device from the cheaper store and hoped she’d also be able to claim back the tax at the airport.

That evening we had a nice pasta meal at the nearby Nomade restaurant. On our walk back to the hotel we took a detour via the Forte São José lookout. After getting back to the room we spent lots of time setting up Tammay’s new phone.

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Morning run

Friday 5, Tammay’s birthday! We had decided to make it a relaxing day but I still kicked it off with an 11.5km run along the coast, this time I made it out to the end of the pier in the port.

After breakfast we relocated to the rooftop area where we relaxed with our books under a parasol.

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Desarma

That evening we returned to Reid's Palace for cocktails. Service was quite slow and we were worried we'd be late for our dinner reservations. We finally had our cocktails and then took a taxi (which also took a while to arrive) from the hotel to the restaurant.

To celebrate Tammay's birthday we had dinner at Desarma.

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Desarma

Desarma was a Michelin star restaurant with lovely views over Funchal.

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Morning run

Saturday 6, I started the day with a shorter 5km run along there waterfront and back through the old town.

After breakfast we sat by the hotel pool and relaxed for the day.

That evening we had dinner at Barcelo Funchal Oldtown. We were sat outside on the patio and listened to a live singer. Tammay ordered a Caesar Salad but it came with chicken, which was not mentioned on the menu, the waitress didn't look too happy when Tammay asked for it without.

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Morning run

Sunday 7, our last day. I managed to get out early and complete a 9km run along the coast.

After breakfast it was time to check out and make the short drive to the airport.

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The car

Although it was very underpowered, the car had met our needs. Thankfully the hire car drop off at the airport went smoothly and we had soon checked in.

Tammay wanted to collect her duty free refund for the iPhone she’d bought and it started to feel like it might be a Kafkaesque nightmare… we were told to use a phone hanging on the wall in the basement to speak to Customs, but no one was answering! Finally someone did and ushered us into the baggage reclaim hall and started to inspect the receipt. It seemed like it was the first time he’d seen a receipt and after careful examination he told us to go through security and collect the refund from a desk at the duty free shop. I was actually quite surprised when Tammay finally received a cash refund!

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