Madeira has been named “World’s Leading Island Destination” in the World Travel Awards for five years running and for good reason.
Madeira’s interior is home to unrivalled natural beauty, complete with rolling hills, botanical gardens, dense verdant forests and volcanic mountains. On the coast, you’ll find small rocky coves made famous by their “calhau” (pebbles) that lead to the crystal-clear, azure coloured waters of the open sea.
The archipelago consists of various islands, namely Madeira, Porto Santo, Desertas and Selvagens. The two larger islands of Madeira and Porto Santo are inhabited, while the other islands of Desertas and Selvagens are natural reserves which do justice to their names.
With the islands being so isolated from both mainland Europe and Africa, they have developed their own ecosystem whereby you’ll therefore be able to find some birds, butterflies and flowers that are unlikely to be discovered anywhere else.
Location Of Madeira
Madeira is a beautiful archipelago situated a mere 500 km from the West coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the continent of Europe. The island of Madeira itself is where most of the action takes place, despite being just 20 kilometres wide.
It takes around three and a half hours to fly from the UK to Cristiano Ronaldo Madeira International Airport (yes, you did read that right), named after the world-famous footballer who was born on the island and is undeniably proud of his roots.
If you prefer to take the ‘scenic’ route, Madeira is also a popular cruise stop, with ships docking in the port of Funchal, about a 20-min walk from the city centre.
