Tag Archives: 2011
Levada walk from Rabaçal
We have another early morning start, and drive back to Paúl da Serra, this time with the intention of hiking. We are lucky to have the company of a relative of Nelson’s, local to Madeira who knows the valleys, the paths and how to get around. At Paúl da Serra, we need to park: the road that winds down to the walking paths is closed. We learn that this is because of traffic accidents down the very narrow road: instead one shuttle bus […]
Santana
Santana feels like a compulsory visit as a UNESCO heritage site. And so we go. The drive from Porto Moniz feels long, however. The landscape is possibly even steeper than in the south, the houses and villages more scattered and the roads older.
Porto Moniz
Porto Moniz is a town northwest on the island. It is not too far a journey from São Vicente, so we combine the two. This means that when we actually get to Porto Moniz, it is lunchtime and we are starving. This in itself is not the best idea. We park along the seaside, and start looking for a restaurant, but all we see are hotels, cafés with all-English menus, souvenir shops, and restaurants joining the hotels. The real town […]
Câmara de Lobos
Only a little further away from Funchal than a stone’s throw, Câmara de Lobos is probably one of our favourite towns so far visited on Madeira.
Paúl da Serra
Paúl da Serra is the top plateau on the middle of the island. I can tell you one thing: it doesn’t feel tropical here, and your ears will probably have popped several times on the way up. Where there were palmtrees there are now wind mills and fog, fog and more fog over a rocky landscape.