Tag Archives: sights
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 […]
The caves of São Vicente
São Vicente is another town — or village, we are not quite sure — in the Northern part of Madeira. The main attraction there is the caves in the mountain — the caves are actually lava tubes from the volcanic eruptions that once created the island. A visitors centre has been set up now — with the compulsory souvenir shop that sells a random collection of pricey stuf: all from poncha sticks, to Madeira wine, to images of volcanoes and […]
Ponta de São Lourenço
It is difficult to state whether Ponta de São Lorenço signifies the beginning or the end of life, the universe and everything. On the Eastern Madeira tip, the landscape changes dramatically. It is a bit like going from the jungle to the moon.