Madeira

[flyer61]

never been, staying at Reid's, not walking so well.

Any top tips from fellow lemons?

[Slarti]

Bus down into Funchal, to the other end of the front. Cable car up to Monte for interesting views over the town. Short wander to the other cable car which will take you to the Botanical Gardens. Places to sit and watch the people and plants.

In the centre of Funchal, a short walk up from the harbour, on the corner of Av Arriaga and Av Zerco is the Golden Gate Grand Cafe which is wonderfully situated to sit and watch the world go by with the food and drink of your choice. Only down side is that the loos are upstairs and there is no lift, so it may be a good idea to tackle the stairs on arrival and get a table on the balcony.

Slarti

[Mike88]

Tea at Reids is wonderful but beware the place get very crowded when there is a ship in port as it is used as an excursion by cruise lines. The cable car is highly recommended and a coffee on the terrace is a great place to watch the world go by.

[UncleEbenezer]

My recollection of Madeira is that the walking was the best thing about it. Since that's not on your agenda, that's not really helpful. We went in November, having selected it as somewhere likely to be pleasant that late in the year - which it certainly was!

If you can get up into the high mountains without walking, it's quite spectacular. Vertical cliff faces, so that the landscape would've been almost flat if turned on its side. The highlight of our visit was called something like the High Peaks Path. We started out at a much lower level and in heavy rain, which made emerging above the clouds and into brilliant sunshine all the more spectacular. An easy walking path[1] that hugs the huge cliff, then goes through a short tunnel and emerges the other side of a ridge that towers hundreds of meters above, demonstrating the huge but incredibly narrow ridge.

Some great coastal scenery too. You can get a little of that from the coast road: dare to take the public bus on it!

Other things: it's famous for the Levadas, irrigation channels that might be etymologically related to Devon's Leats. Botanic gardens, if you like that kind of thing. And last but not least, the wine that shares the island's name.

[1] Easy in the sense of no climbing/scrambling required (it was maintained too well for rockfalls to be a serious issue) and even a maintained surface. But still moderately strenuous.

[MyNameIsUrl]

If you can walk on the level you will find the whole of Funchal sea front is level, with plenty of cafes and bars.

If you prefer to sit you can get a taxi to give you an excursion. Four of us went in a people carrier - the driver was very relaxed about giving us time to mooch around and get back to the car when we were ready at each stop. We went to: Pico dos Barcelos, Nun's Valley, Camara de Lobos, Quinta da Bela Vista, Eira do Sorrado.

The cable car is worth doing.

The toboggans are a tourist trap but their main purpose is so that island-hoppers from the cruise ships can remember which stop was Madiera!

[flyer61]

Like buses you all came along at once! Many thanks Lemons and we will certainly take up some of your suggestions.