cesto – meaning basket car – controlled by traditionally dressed carreiros who give you an push and then manage to steer and brake the contraption with their rubber-soled shoes.
The guide books say that this experience is not what it used to be, that at the steepest point the ride rarely exceeds eight miles an hour. Don’t believe a word of it. We shrieked all the way down.
Sitting in the Atlantic, about 310 miles off the coast of Africa, Madeira is an island I have long wanted to visit.
However, I found prospective travelling companions a little thin on the ground, most of them of the belief this is the place to go once you have collected your pension book.
I knew they were wrong, so when Prestige Holidays offered me the chance to visit the island, there was no stopping me. The 600,000 visitors who arrive on this volcanic island every year currently experience a slightly nerve wracking landing on one of Europe’s shortest runways. Thankfully, Funchal’s runway is being extended over the sea and is due to open in September.
Funchal itself is built on steep hills and it is much livelier than I had expected, with plenty of cafés, interesting shops and wonderful Moorish architecture.
It’s easy to spend a couple of days happily wandering the cobbled streets, but don’t miss the Workers’ Market, a noisy, colourful place selling flowers, fruit, wicker wares and strange-looking fish. A climb away from the town centre, the Quinta das Cruzes is Funchal’s finest quinta, a 19th-century villa now a museum of antiques and fine gardens.
Away from Funchal, the island is famous for its exotic flora and levadas, a system of irrigation channels that provides panoramic walking trails. We headed out into the countryside, marvelling at how the banana plants crowding up the terraced hillsides actually grow in such inhospitable conditions. The hills are dotted with A-shaped cow huts, the terraced slopes being considered too dangerous for wandering cows.
Next up was Santana, the highest and coldest village on the island, much visited for its palheiros.
While many of these thatched triangular houses are tourist attractions, 15 families do still live in them, evidence of which is provided by lines of washing and friendly residents waving from their tiny rooms.
To the west of Funchal is Camara do Lobos, the main fishing village on the island, famed for being the spot favoured by Winston Churchill for setting up his easel. The area inland is mountainous but covered in vines for the production of Madeira’s fortified wine.
Evenings in Funchal invariably involve sampling a glass or two of this famous export, and by the end of the week I was wondering how I ever survived without it.
Although the nightlife on Madeira couldn’t be described as lively, Funchal does have a few nightclubs. Most entertainment is to be found in the town’s ever-growing selection of five-star hotels.
The most famous of these is Reid’s, which opened in 1890 and continues to offer the last word in understated luxury.
Another must-see is the Monte Palace Tropical Gardens, set high in the hills with unbeatable views of Funchal. Just down the road is the toboggan run, a three-mile descent in a wicker carro de cesto – meaning basket car – controlled by traditionally dressed carreiros who give you an push and then manage to steer and brake the contraption with their rubber-soled shoes.
The guide books say that this experience is not what it used to be, that at the steepest point the ride rarely exceeds eight miles an hour. Don’t believe a word of it. We shrieked all the way down.
Madeira
Flying time: 3hrs 30mins.
Temperature: the average winter temperature is 19C, which in summer climbs to 23C. The rainy season runs from December to March, bringing heavy showers that quickly pass over.
Size: 463sq miles.
Currency: the Portuguese escudo. Current exchange rate is around £1 = 3000ESC.
Airlines: scheduled flights with TAP Portuguese Airlines, GB Airways/British Airways.
Operators: Prestige Holidays, First Choice, Panorama, Sunvil, Mundi Color, Cadogan, Airtours, Thomson, Cosmos, Abercrombie and Kent, British Airways Holidays, Club Med and many more.
Madeira
Prestige Holidays: seven nights at the five-star Quinta do Estreito, near Camara do Lobos, costs £656 per person on a bed-and-breakfast basis in July, including flights from Heathrow and transfers.
First Choice: seven nights at the five-star Hotel Savoy in Funchal starts at £485 per person for bed and breakfast in December. The price is based on two adults sharing, including flights.
Sunvil Discovery Europe: seven nights in the self-catering studios Casa de Capelinha on the north coast start at £468 in May. The price is based on two people sharing, with car hire and flights.