Madeira's mountain highs - Scotsman travel

In addition to dramatic scenery, bags of charm and great food, the Portuguese island offers good value for money, finds Emma Newlands.

They provide a constant backdrop across the island to everything from bright blue skies to beaches boasting black sand, and buildings with saffron-yellow façades and terracotta roofs. Indeed, the lush, verdant peaks that jut out into the sea and are occasionally punctuated by narrow waterfalls, prove my overrriding memory of the landscape of Madeira, providing a tropical edge to this destination located in the Atlantic north of the Canaries.

The Portuguese island, which spans 741 square kilometres, has several nicknames including the “floating garden of the Atlantic” as well as the “Hawaii of Europe”, and after seeing its scenery first-hand from a host of vantage points from beach and forest floor to cloud-enveloped mountaintop, I cannot disagree.

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After flying into Madeira's capital of Funchal on the south coast of the island, it’s only 20 minutes by taxi to my lodgings for the duration of the stay – the 130-room NEXT hotel.

The stunning Porto Moniz tidal swimming pool in the foreground, which has been voted one of the best of its kind in the world. Picture: DigitalTravelCouple.The stunning Porto Moniz tidal swimming pool in the foreground, which has been voted one of the best of its kind in the world. Picture: DigitalTravelCouple.
The stunning Porto Moniz tidal swimming pool in the foreground, which has been voted one of the best of its kind in the world. Picture: DigitalTravelCouple.

The four-star property opened in 2021 is part of the Savoy Signature collection of properties in Madeira, and is aimed at a young, cool, tech-savvy clientele, with, say, co-working spaces and a dedicated hotel app. However, it seems to me that its seaside location and comfortably swish design (involving a firm that has also worked with Rosewood Hotels) rather broaden its appeal.

My accommodation has a sanctuary-like sleeping area, beyond which lies a large kitchen/living space with a mainly light grey colour scheme, leading to the balcony overlooking its swimming pools (it has another pool by the rooftop bar). There are also palm trees, whose leaves rustle in the light breeze, with various seafaring vessels darting across the waves in the distance. The next day I will take advantage of the hotel’s steps down to the sea, and feel invigorated by my dip.

Value

After unpacking, I take the walk of about five minutes into Funchal itself, past the penthouse apartment belonging to Madeiran-born football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, while further along on my route is a museum dedicated to the sportsman. I stop off at a waterside cafe and am pleasantly surprised when I settle up that my coffee costs less than £2 (I never get much change out of £4, sometimes £5, for one in the UK) so I’m not surprised to later hear that Madeira’s been named the 2023 Best Value Destination in Europe by a recent Skyscanner study.

Among key stop-offs on the island is Ponta do Sol on the southwest coast. Picture: DigitalTravelCouple.Among key stop-offs on the island is Ponta do Sol on the southwest coast. Picture: DigitalTravelCouple.
Among key stop-offs on the island is Ponta do Sol on the southwest coast. Picture: DigitalTravelCouple.

Having lifted my caffeine levels, I then carry on my walk along the coast, past paddleboarders and kayakers, and into the very heart of Funchal, which has a kind of Europe-meets-Cuba vibe to my eyes, and many cafes selling the wonderful Portuguese creation that is the pastel de nata.

Dinner is back at the hotel’s in-house Recharge Bar & Restaurant where I tuck into a local speciality of limpets swimming in garlic butter that I soak up with bolo do caco – Madeira’s excellent take on garlic bread – and followed by a tuna steak seared with a griddle pattern.

The next morning at breakfast I swoop on the chance to have some truly authentic Madeira cake (I would have refused to have left the island without doing so and this saffron-hued, moist version is rather delicious) as well some fruit for balance.

Suitably refuelled, we set off on a jeep tour courtesy of the firm Madeira Mountain Expeditions, showcasing some of the wide variety of landscapes on the island, not least the steep, narrow roads, and I hear during the trip the saying that if you can drive in Madeira, you can drive anywhere.

The Pau de Lume restaurant, where 'fire, coal and smoke are the main ingredients'. Picture: contributed.The Pau de Lume restaurant, where 'fire, coal and smoke are the main ingredients'. Picture: contributed.
The Pau de Lume restaurant, where 'fire, coal and smoke are the main ingredients'. Picture: contributed.

Adventure

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I’m glad someone else is at the wheel, particularly when we go offroad at one section (“get ready for the back massage”, says our driver/guide Andre, who is part Lewis Hamilton, part comedian), and we stand up in the back of the open-air jeep as it makes its bumpy but steady path past the likes of eucalyptus trees and through an atmospheric fog.

That thankfully lifts by the time we reach locations with picture-postcard views, such as the Paul da Serra plateau, and the stunning Porto Moniz tidal swimming pool, which has been voted one of the best of its kind in the world. We also stop off at the black sanded beach of Seixal, under whose dramatic tree-covered peaks surfers prepare to take to the waves.

One of my favourite views of the whole trip comes courtesy of the Quinta do Barbusano winery that lies in the shadow of yet another verdant peak, this time topped by a clock tower whose image appears on its bottles and against the dramatic backdrop of a clouding grey sky that all in all looks like a religious painting. We sample its range, with one red using Portuguese grape varieties including “Aragonez” proving particularly popular, and a good accompaniment to our lunch of another traditional Madeiran dish known as espetada – beef skewers suspended vertically from a metal frame served with potatoes and more bolo do caco.

The 130-room NEXT hotel is aimed at a young, cool, tech-savvy clientele. Picture: contributed.The 130-room NEXT hotel is aimed at a young, cool, tech-savvy clientele. Picture: contributed.
The 130-room NEXT hotel is aimed at a young, cool, tech-savvy clientele. Picture: contributed.

Dinner that evening is in the relaxed but high-calibre Pau de Lume, located near our hotel and another arm of the Savoy Signature group, and where “fire, coal and smoke are the main ingredients” – along with, I am pleased to see, plenty of seafood.

This includes a sharing-size starter of octopus, a dish I usually find is overcooked, but this version manages to be both super-tender while also having a lightly spicy charred exterior, and is so good I implore the waiter not to take the yet-to-be finished dish away before the main course. For that I have opted for amberjack, a delicious, almost meaty slab of fish.

Path

Our final full day involves getting back on the road, with a different driver/guide – also called Andre, which must be a requirement for the job. He takes us on a walk through the Laurissilva forest, a 20-million-year-old subtropical rainforest that covers 20 per cent of the island and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and he points out plants growing on the pathside such as citronella that he explains is used to make mosquito repellent. We then reach the Balcões viewpoint that overlooks the Ribeira da Metade valley – just careful not to drop our phones through the fence.

After a massage back at the hotel in its Refresh spa, dinner is in the elegant surroundings of Terreiro, another part of Savoy Signature and just a few minutes from NEXT. The restaurant, named after the Portugese word for a house’s yard, says “tourists are treated like locals; locals are treated like family” – our friendly waitress lives up to this promise. Food-wise, my personal highlight is the Brazilian steak picanha in bolo do caco bread, while the dessert section is excellent titled “the diet starts tomorrow” – and so mine is postponed until I eat every last crumb of my lime île flottante, topped with an almond tuile that looks like a graduate wearing a mortar board.

The next morning I use my final hours before my flight to enjoy a quick jaunt in the cable car to and from Funchal (billed as a “journey between heaven and earth”), and as more of Madeira comes into view during my ascent, I reflect on its appeal.

One of the rooms at NEXT hotel, which is part of the Savoy Signature collection of properties in Madeira. Picture: contributed.One of the rooms at NEXT hotel, which is part of the Savoy Signature collection of properties in Madeira. Picture: contributed.
One of the rooms at NEXT hotel, which is part of the Savoy Signature collection of properties in Madeira. Picture: contributed.
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It combines the amenities of a city and high-end, non-touristy cuisine, with the chance to get well and truly off the beaten track and back to nature, all within easy reach, against a backdrop that feels tropical and exotic but is only a few hours from Scotland. But perhaps the best summary of the destination comes from our guide – the second Andre. What’s your favourite thing about, or place in, Madeira, I ask him. He pauses, before stating: “Madeira.”

Rooms at NEXT start at €100 per night, including breakfast. NEXT, Rua Carvalho Araújo 8, 9000-022, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, +351 291 205 700.

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