A brief profile of Madeira for you
Madeira has many names: the island of flowers in the Atlantic, the “island of eternal spring” or the floating garden. These are the most famous nicknames of this beautiful island. And really, the undisputed highlights of a Madeira trip are primarily of a scenic nature: breathtaking cliffs, bizarre rock formations, tiny villages that stick to the rocks like swallow nests, rushing waterfalls and flowers as diverse and species-rich as you can hardly find them in the world.
Madeira was discovered by the Portuguese in 1418. They used the island as a base for their expeditions to Africa. It became rich and famous through the cultivation of sugar cane, but the island was almost forgotten through the discovery of Brazil with its rich sugar cane deposits. It became the pawn of nations like Spain and England. The English in particular fell in love with this wonderful island because of the spectacular landscape and mild climate. Writers, poets, business people and politicians spent the winter months here, including Winston Churchill. The Blandy family made Madeira wine world famous. The family still belongs to the island aristocracy. It was also the English who brought the fine English tea with them to the island, which you can still enjoy in style today according to the “British way of life”. The best address for this is the “Reid's Hotel”. There were also European nobility, for example Empress Sisi or Emperor Karl I of Austria, who was buried here in the church of Monte.
In 1425 the Portuguese founded the city of Funchal, named after the wild fennel that grows here. Today Funchal is a city with a lot of flair, built like an amphitheater on the slope. It is the focal point of the island with a historic old town (zona velha), narrow alleys, elegant town houses, traditional shops, elegant cafes and simple fishing pubs, but also with modern, busy streets and a large hotel district.
But Madeira offers more than the magic of flowers and a pulsating city. The many delicacies from the sea and the mountains are also impressive: from traditional Espada fish to aromatic beef skewers (espetadas) to imaginative desserts and a variety of tropical fruits you can taste a lot here and possibly add it to your menu at home record, tape.
Madeira is far too diverse and too interesting to just let your mind wander by the pool of your hotel. The scenic beauties of Madeira will surely inspire you too: enchanted laurel forests with lichens, mosses and ferns, steep cliffs, exotic trees and plants in all colors of the rainbow as well as purple sunsets. Perhaps you will also discover the joy of hiking along the levadas, the water channels that run through the entire island and are important for the water supply.
Even if Madeira is not a beach island, you don't have to do without swimming. There are natural ocean swimming pools created by lava flows and ocean surf. And of course the swimming pool in your hotel complex.
Let yourself be enchanted by Madeira, one of the most beautiful islands in the world!
