Smitten with Madeira

We had a day exploring the island that included so much astonishing variety it was mind blowing! Here's our favorite places and things to recommend from that amazing day.

Quickly Gain Elevation

It's kind of hard to describe how quickly you begin to climb as you drive up out of Funchal heading into the mountains. It's really fun to stop any chance you get like we did here at Miradouro do Terreiro da Luta where you get some fabulous views, on a clear day, looking down on Funchal.

Take A Short Hike

We took a wonderful short stroll at Miradouro do Pico Alto while watching the beautiful clouds quickly roll in. At the viewpoint where we would normally see down on Funchal it was now just solid white!

Drive Through The Forest

Then we continued driving taking a meandering route (after running into a closed road) stopping in Ribeiro Frio to grab some coffee before continuing on. We plan to return to this area to hike the very popular Levada dos Balcões which we've heard is wonderful. We continued passing through heavy forests, Fall colors, sheep and unbelievable high mountain villages with endless switchbacks. This entire area is just magical and we couldn't stop wondering what people do that live in these remote places!

Visit Pretty Faial

We began to see the water on the north side of the island coming into view and stopped for lunch at a small local place in this little town. It was right next to a beautiful cemetery where the graves where individual little garden plots carefully tended to with a variety of flowers. We had never seen anything like that before and loved it.

Miradouro do Guindaste

Next we drove to this overlook to gaze at the astonishing blue water and watch a mama chicken with her fluffy babies climbing around the edges of the cliff.