Our first trip in Europe since arriving in the UK was to the beautiful island of Madeira. Often referred to as "the Hawaii of Europe," Madeira is a green tropical gem that's sure to enchant anyone looking for a tropical escape.
From London Stansted to Pestana Resort Casino
The adventure begins at London Stansted Airport where Noah and I eagerly boarded a flight with Jet2Holidays.com, heading towards the enchanting island of Madeira. After a quick and easy journey, we arrived at the Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport of Madeira. Fun fact: Ronaldo is from the island of Madeira and he is quite literally everywhere on this island. His face is on the outside of the airport, on statues in the city of Funchal, and even in hotel chains called CR7 .
We stayed at the Pestana Resort Park, a luxurious five-star hotel nestled amidst lush greenery and overlooking the azure waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Exploring Madeira's Natural Beauty
With the sun shining brightly, we embarked on the first day of exploration, starting with a ride on the iconic cable cars to Monte Palace. Panoramic views of Madeira's coastline greeted us as we reached the palace. Exotic plants, lush gardens, sculptures ad art installations were everywhere in the multi-level gardens of Monte. We even got to see flamingos!! My favorite part about the palace were the various displays of Azulejo tiles around the gardens.
After exploring the Monte Palace Gardens, we got ready for a fancy dinner at The William, a Michellin Star restaurant located in the Belmond Reid's Palace. Stunning views of the Madeira landscape nestled against the Atlantic Ocean greeted us from our window-side table. The food was exquisite. I wish that I could say more about it, but words can't do it justice. The food and drinks were wonderful and definitely worth trying if you're ever in Madeira.
On our second day in Madeira, we visited Doca do Cavacas, one of the island's beautiful natural pools. I was a little scared to get in, because the natural pools are literally volcanic rocks where the tide from the ocean pulls in and out. The current can be rough sometimes and the water is salty and deep blue. There were so many crabs too on the walls of the rocks, which were cool to see up close. Doca do Cavacas also offers sunbeds, umbrellas and a bar that you can order from while enjoying the pools, so we enjoyed spending much of our second day lounging around outside.
After a day in the sun, we enjoyed dinner at one of the many restaurants tucked along the Rua de Santa Maria in Funchal. After dinner, we paid a visit to the Casino located next to our hotel and went to the club they have where we danced and drank the night away.
On our third and final day, we explored the Rua de Santa Maria and walked around downtown Funchal to shop for souvenires and gifts to take home. The street of painted doors was beautiful and each door is painted to reflect animals, people, and various art.
In the afternoon around lunch time, we hailed a taxi and lucked out with the nicest driver who took us to a local spot outside of Funchal to try Madeira's drink: poncha. Let me tell you... poncha is strong and very citrus-y. It will knock you on your ass if you drink too many. We enjoyed our poncha with some locally caught fish sandwiches and after an hour or two our cab driver picked us up to return us to the Pestana resort. We ended the night at a local Irish pub in town and watched the sunset from our table outside.
So, if you're dreaming of a summer escape filled with adventure, beauty, and culinary delights, look no further than Madeira, Portugal. Unfortunately, we weren't able to hike and explore some of Madeira's beautiful trails and nature spots, so we will definitely have to return to Madeira to explore more of this beautiful island.
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