RAVEL INDULGE IN You’ll soon develop a taste
A SUBTROPICAL island paradise, Madeira is a soothing refuge amid the wild waters of the Atlantic.
Just 35 miles long by 13 wide, it is often overlooked in favour of larger mainland resorts such as Lagos, Faro and Albufeira. The largest of four islands in the Madeira archipelago, this stunning slice of Portugal is as much for the soul searchers as the sun seekers, as we found. It’s closer to Africa than Europe, 620 miles away,
BRITISH Airways Holidays offers seven nights at the five-star VidaMar Resort Hotel Madeira from £739pp, half-board, for travel on selected dates in June.
Price includes return flights from Gatwick. Book at ba.com or 0344 493 0125. More at madeira-tourist.com. but still has a distinctly European feel. It’s superb for walking, has a diverse array of flora and fauna and there’s a charming capital city, Funchal.
This year-round destination offers an eclectic mix of both natural wonders and local traditions.
We were based at the VidaMar Resort Hotel, stepped down the mountainside on the edge of Funchal.
With pools, sprawling gardens and superb Atlantic views it was hard to drag ourselves away, but we did, with a trip to the hidden cove of Faja dos Padres.
Faja is the rocky debris which slid down the cliffs and formed a village which was once a summer retreat for Jesuit priests. It’s also here that the production of the “fortified” Madeira wine began.
You can get a glimpse of how the
Jesuits lived by visiting houses and wandering narrow alleyways.
We reached it via cable car (there are no roads here), a journey in itself, if only for the views across the coastline.
A colourful array of kitchen gardens awaits below, teeming with everything from passion fruit for the island’s honey rum “poncha” to the fennel (funcho) which gives Madeira’s capital its name.
And you’re sure to find yourself dining on this natural chef’s table soon enough, as we discovered at the Faja dos Padres’ seafront restaurant.
Here you can enjoy a local favourite, a creature from the deepest part of the ocean – the black scabbardfish, which comes served with fried or pureed banana grown in the island’s fertile volcanic soil.
We also enjoyed the most understated seafood, fresh limpets (inset right) fried in reconstructed through the