A few days ago we spent a weekend in Fajã dos Padres. I already knew its charms and stunning views, through several daytime visits over the years, but I had never stayed there overnight. I can now tell you; it was a privilege!
Estreito da Calheta, is about 40 km from Funchal and a short 45 minute drive allows us to reach this corner of the island. I have to confess that I had been dreaming about this getaway for some time now … An old flirt by the Hotel Atrium, was the perfect motivation to move on and I surrendered.
Last week, I took 3 days off from work. I wanted to spend some time with my kids and take them outdoors to spend sometime offline. In Madeira, at the moment, wearing a mask is compulsory. Restaurants, comercial activity and some walks are still open until 5 pm on weekends and 6 pm on weekdays – the COVID-19 restrictions are adjusted weekly. We were looking for short walks (2-3 hours, depends on how fast you walk…) and planning to leave early morning and return home by lunchtime. So I leave you with some photos. Walk 1 – Ponta de São Lourenço – Caniçal The route is well defined in its generality, with areas that require “good knees”, especially when going up and down. It has fabulous views over the sea, both to the north and south, and as the day was clear we even saw Porto Santo Island. There is a support bar at the end of the route and access to the sea, at the Cais do Sardinha. There are also boat trips as an …
A friend of mine is coming to Madeira soon and asked me to put together some suggestions for tours and levada walks. Either you plan to rent a car in Madeira, or you prefer to be guided, in this post you’ll find a way to get the most of the island by booking tours and walks.
There is a new luxury experience in Funchal. The goal is to go dolphin & whale watching aboard the Ultimate – an all inclusive luxury catamaran.
It’s that crazy time of the year again and Madeira Island is ready to party. Here are my 3 favourite carnival parties in Madeira.
The day I went chasing Rabaçal waterfalls – a Levada walk in Madeira Last September, Hit the road Madeira launched a new walk to Rabaçal, in the west part of Madeira. Their goal was to show visitors the beautiful waterfalls of Rabaçal, away from the busy, best-known Levada of the 25 fountains. Let me tell you more about Rabaçal Waterfalls Hike… PICK UP was at 8:45. The meeting point was in Funchal old town, near the cable car. There were 4 of us plus the driver Vitor and mountain guide Lisa. First, we stopped at Ponta do Sol to buy lunch in a cosy bakery with affordable prices, but you can also bring a “picnic” lunch if you prefer. The Levada hike was 14 km and lasted about 5 h 30 m. As we were walking in Levada trails, these are often irregular with roots, rocks and slippery puddles. You can also find tree branches right above your head. So, you need to be careful and pay attention to the security instructions. Luckily we had Lisa, who …
Photo Sessions in Madeira A couple of months ago I was looking at my Instagram feed, and I began to see these photos in Madeira that captured my attention. There was something different about them, the light, the composition, the style, even the citation underneath! 🙂 View this post on Instagram A post shared by Benjamin Begin (@benjamin_artwork) As I scrolled the whole feed I loved every one of them, so I said to myself; Who is Benjamin Begin? View this post on Instagram A post shared by Benjamin Begin (@benjamin_artwork) The bio linked to his website and there I found he did photo sessions. I was looking for new pictures of my Airbnb, plus I wanted to capture the neighboorhood as well (plus I just had my new Walkingframe From Madeira to Mars t-shirt), so these photo sessions in Madeira, looked like the perfect match. I sent Ben a direct message on Instagram, and that’s how we met and booked the photo session. We got together for a coffee afterwards …
‘Sonhos’ are one of Madeira’s Carnival typical sweets. “Sonhos”also means dreams in Portuguese, so you can get an idea of what it tastes like… In this post, I share my father’s recipe with you. Ingredients: 1 cup flour (125 gr) 1/2 cup of milk (125 ml) + 1/2 cup of water (125ml) 1 tablespoon salt coffee 1 tablespoon sugar coffee 2 lemon peels 1 cinnamon stick 1 tablespoon of butter 3 eggs 1 teaspoon baking tea Preparation mode: In a saucepan pour the milk, water, salt, sugar, lemon peels, cinnamon and bring to a boil. At the end add the butter. Then add in the flour (sifted) with the baking powder, mix well and set aside. Once it cools down, beat the dough adding the eggs one at a time. Baking mode: In a pan pour oil making up to a height of 6-8 cm. Heat it and once it’s hot add a spoonful of dough. Once it begins to come to surface, you can add one by one the other spoonfuls of dough. Try …
Today I was talking to a friend about the destinations with direct flights to Madeira. After all, from which destinations can we travel directly to Madeira, without stopovers in Lisbon or Porto (or any other city). Sometimes it becomes difficult to find the time to travel to new destinations due to this limitation of the stopovers. Especially when traveling with children, the comfort of a direct flight it’s worth a lot while picking the destination. In addition, time is short and we do not want to miss days in transit at airports. I have prepared this table, with all destinations with direct flights to Madeira Airport, at the present. I hope it helps you to travel to Madeira. You can check here the list of airlines for each destination. If you are looking for accommodation, see the best deals on hotels and apartments in Booking and check out my Airbnb! Booking.com Ver no AirbnbFrom Madeira to Mars – Apartamento de uma viajante
