| A senior member has suggested that a summary of my recent messages on Madeira would be helpful to people interested in visiting the island, physically or virtually.
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This is a supplement to two reports and various travel tips and travel guides that I have done on Madeira. Those seeking information on the island might not know some of the place names. I certainly didn't. Hence I'll summarise what the titles are in other sections, but here I'll just repeat some very basic facts on the island.
Politically Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal with the same status as those on the Portuguese mainland. Geographically it is far away from Portugal off the west coast of Africa. Climatically it doesn't fit with either but has its own micro-climate not dissimilar to that of Spain's Canary Islands.
It isn't a large island, only about 33 miles by 13, but it is extremely mountainous and travel times are long. They are being cut by the construction of numerous tunnels, some vast, financed partly by money from the European Union.
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I’ve done two full reports based on Funchal, the capital, and Monte though the second could equally well have been one of several places. It also contains information about the island generally.
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Blandy's Garden, Palheiro Ferreiro
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I’ve done travel tips on:
Monte [Walk,] Ribeiro Frio [Walk,] Funchal [Restaurants - 3 separate tips,] Funchal [Café,] Funchal [Museums] and Funchal [Park]
Walks and park are classified as 'secret places' and the café as a pub.
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Once a fort -now an aquarium, Porto Moniz
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I’ve done travel guides on:
Funchal, Porto Moniz, Monte, Curral das Freiras, Curral dos Romeiros, Ribeira Brava, Ribeiro Frio, Palheiro Ferreiro, Santo da Serra, Santana and Faial.
To find them, put the place name in the search box at the right hand end of the yellow bar above.
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Natural woodland near Monte
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If you are hiring a car I suggest you stay outside of Funchal and avoid its terrible crowds.
If you are using public transport, Funchal's status as the transport hub of the island means that you are almost obliged to stay there. Then you have a choice between the hotel zone in the west of the city [hotels sited with fine views and often having pools and other such facilities] and an area around the market [not pretty but very convenient for the buses.].
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These azulejos of Portuguese history are found along the path down into Monte Tropical Gardens
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I’ve also uploaded numerous photos, which can easily be found at present by going to my site, clicking on pictures and choosing Portugal and ‘date posted.’ I have also done a slide-show.
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Bird of Paradise Flowers, Botanical Gardens
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Make sure you see all the gardens mentioned in my reports, unless you positively detest flowers.
The market in Funchal is a knockout and I wish we had visited more local markets.
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A stall in Funchal's wonderful Mercado dos Lavradores
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I have made some pretty strong recommendations in my Funchal report and travel tips. if you prefer to find your own, I suggest you resist hard sells.
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Traditional house, Santana
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Some places I didn't see but must be worth seeing.
Cabo Ribao - the second highest sea cliffs in Europe.
Paul da Serra and the village of Rabaçal, to the west of the island, which give some good easy levada walks but are not on transport routes.
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Published on Tuesday May 22th, 2007
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Publish on Facebook
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Sat, Sep 22 2007 - 10:58 AM
 by zrusseff
| That is an AMAZING REPORT - well documented. I have a lot of time on my hands these days and I using some of it to explore our Globosapien Travel Community. I must say that that we are some lucky dogs to have the exposure to such a wealth of knowledge! |
Wed, May 30 2007 - 01:59 AM
 by akhila
David, nice pictures and a neat summary... got to follow the links now.
Best regards, |
Sun, May 27 2007 - 10:40 PM
by rangutan
| Colourful! A big differance to what the report first was before with the long URLs. I would prefer a short report than a long poem though. You cannt please everyone I suppose. |
Fri, May 25 2007 - 02:23 AM
by ravinderkumarsi
| Hi Dav,very informative report,impressive way of writing |
| Information: |
| Login if you are a member, or sign up for a free membership to rate this report and to earn globo points! |
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