Madeira: High life on island break

Not many weeks had passed since devastating torrents of rain had gushed down from the mountains. But in Funchal, gardens and tree-lined promenades looked as immaculate as ever. The only evidence left behind of the floods was the remains of a collapsed bridge in the village of Ribeira Brava, which is perhaps down to the fierce civic pride of this Portugal-owned island.

From your first glimpse from the skies above the Atlantic, Madeira is a visual feast – a dramatic combination of mountains and hidden valleys formed 20 million years ago from a volcanic eruption. A mild climate and year-round sunshine ensure the land is covered in a carpet of lush green trees, plants and flowers. The Garden Island, as it’s known, is nearer to Africa than Portugal.

It’s only 36 miles long and 14 miles wide but keen walkers find challenges here at all levels. Some hotels organise walks, with levadas (mini canals once used for traditional irrigation) graded from easy to challenging, as you make your way through beautiful forests and mountain pathways. Steep really does mean steep. The tour bus got me most of the way up Pico Areerio, Madeira’s third highest mountain, but I was still gasping for breath as I took in the truly spectacular view.

Surrounded by smaller peaks – from this height, merely hills – we looked down on the clouds and felt as though we were standing on top of the world.

At the Villa Porto Mare Resort, our four-star hotel in the centre of Funchal, the sunlounger beckoned when the sun broke through. Surrounded by manicured gardens and with the scent of beautiful flowers wafting by on the breeze, this was the perfect place to do nothing.

For the more active, the resort also offers indoor and outdoor pools, and there’s a choice of four restaurants and bars. There’s also a handy free bus into the city centre.

The only flatness among Madeira’s peaks is in the west of the island, at Paul de Serra, a plateau and perhaps the only place where you see cows grazing. Other cows on the island are housed in individual sheds to stop them falling down the steep farming terraces.

Locals use the terraces to make a living growing vegetables: sweet potatoes and cabbages in abundance lower down, with banana plants bursting with bunches higher up. There are also hundreds of grape vines, for the famous Madeira fortified wine. Four varieties range from dry to sweet and, like most other wines, the older it is, the better the taste.

Funchal itself has a genteel and stately air, its streets gathered around the small but magnificent Sé cathedral, a 15th century whitewashed building with a beautiful interior. Madeira’s other churches, along with its museums and galleries, are also nearby.

A fantastic seafront promenade stretches the length of the bay, from which the city has grown. At the west end is the harbour and marina, while the rest is dotted with cafes and bars, ideal for coffee, cake, beer or people-watching.

Nearer sea level, the views continue to amaze. Funchal sits like an amphitheatre on the south of the island, its terracotta roof tiles a quilt of colour. Hotels line the front row, while villas and apartments further back house half of the 250,000 islanders.

In the east, the old town is characterised by narrow cobbled streets, small squares and markets, surrounded by terraced fishermen’s cottages, where early settlers in Madeira once lived. Here, there’s a better view of Funchal, by taking a cable car from the seafront high above the city to the hills further inland.

The car stops at the hilltop town of Monte, home to the beautiful Church of Our Lady, which is reached by climbing lots of steps. It’s worth the effort though, especially if you plan to travel back downhill from Monte the traditional way... by toboggan. Goods used to be carried up and down the hills by horse-drawn toboggans, but this has been adapted for tourists and it’s actually a lot of fun being pushed and pulled downhill in a sturdy wicker basket by men in straw boaters.

Not far from Monte is the area known as Nun’s Valley (Curral das Freiras), a small village surrounded by near perpendicular mountains. Nuns from the Santa Clara convent in Funchal hid here when pirates attacked the island in 1566, hence its name.

Because it takes so long to travel by winding roads to other parts of the island, villagers live off what they grow. Chestnuts are a speciality, so cafes serve an excellent chestnut cake with a glass of delicious local cherry liqueur.

Another speciality is the espada (scabbard fish) which is caught at night from the deep waters off the island and available in most restaurants, either with banana or passion fruit. It tastes lovely, but try to eat it before you’ve seen the fish itself, because its long, black slithery body, sharp teeth and huge eyes might put you off.

For meat eaters, the espetada – a long skewer of chunks of beef – is cooked traditionally over a wood fire. And for dessert, there’s Bolo de Mel, a cake made with sugar cane honey, fruits, nuts and spices, and the real Madeira cake, unlike the plain sponge British invention of the same name, so called because it was often eaten with Madeira wine.

To the south, Machico, where the founder of the island first arrived, has the only real golden sand, imported from Morocco, on the island. Being volcanic, Madeira has lots of rocky coast, but a two-hour boat trip to the nearby Porto Santo island provides sandy shores for those missing a beach.

If, like Winston Churchill, you want to capture the views on canvas, head west to Camara de Lobos, where brightly-coloured fishing boats bob about in the shadow of the cliffs. Churchill’s favourite spot was the Reid’s Palace Hotel, built on a prominent corner of the headland in Funchal in 1891 it still maintains a certain colonial grandeur. But you can stay much more cheaply on Madeira and still enjoy its delights – a marvellously relaxed way of life and the sense that, out in the middle of the Atlantic, you can safely ignore the rest of the world.

• Debbie Murray was a guest of Thomas Cook’s Style programme which offers seven nights’ B&B at the four-star-plus Villa Porto Mare Resort, Funchal, from £519 from Manchester. (0844 4212 5870 and www.thomascookstyle.com).