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Latest Funchal hotel reviews
Pro
Climate! Fun! Festivals! Carnival! Nightlife! Nature! I love Funchal!
Con
No beaches
In a nutshell
Magnificent place, humble people, slower pace of life
Painted dooers in the old part of Funchal.
cachaseiro Says: In 2010 a project was started in the old part of funchal where they have let young local artists paint the doors.Before the project was started many of the old houses were falling a little to bits and some of the facades were not looking the best, but this project has really...
SoulFisher Says: Insite the botanical garden there is an aviary containing mostly parrots.One may question indeed how ethic is to keep birds imprisioned in cages - the cages seem to be large anyway. It's worth though to see it as the collection is very good.It's called Loiro Parque. "Louro"...
SoulFisher Says: Pico do Arieiro is well outside Funchal, but it lies inside the perimeter of Funchal's municipality.It's made up of rocky, often arid peaks, revealing the vulcanic origin of Madeira. Because it's on a high altitude:1810m, it has a very different landscape from Funchal and...
SoulFisher Says: Here's the main content of the Loiro Parque: the parrots.Here's an extensive colletion of parrots of all colours and sizes from all the tropical rain forests of the world. Interesting that one of the species captive here is from Patagonia, South America, which is the most...
The botanical garden - views over Funchal
SoulFisher Says: Also worth a note about the garden are the views over Funchal and the Atlantic, if it's not raining of course.The garden is in a steep high slope, so you can see down bellow the town as well as one deep valley.
The botanical garden - Palm and dragon trees
SoulFisher Says: This area has plenty of palm tress as well as young dragon tress. Palms are known all over the world. They became a well known symbol of warm regions.The equally exquisite dragon trees come from Macaronesia, or these Atlantic islands from Cape Verde to the Azores, Madeira...
The botanical garden - Cactus area
SoulFisher Says: This zone of the botanical garden is one of the most interesting, as it is dedicated to the so-called succulent plants, aka, cactus.It has many types of exquisite cactus, coming from many arid regions around the world. These plants come from arid regions where rain is...
2 Reviews and 260 Opinions Easily Madeira's most famous hotel, Reid's ia a legend in luxury. It has now been pampering guests...
1 Review and 224 Opinions Calm, friendly More to be found on my webpages on Madeira The 50-year old turtle is an attraction by...
solopes Says: We went there in our first night. a little bit tired (Fernanda didn't dare to leave the hotel), but we were caught by the lively ambiance. Good live music, funny and amused people in the small esplanade, and the usual drinks at the usual prices.We decided to return in one of...
solopes Says: I had to have a quick and early dinner - dancing in the night obliges to control digestion. Indian food was not exactly the most digestible we could choose, but it was there, it was empty, and looking good. It was! Good indian dinner, in a precious room, quick service and...
solopes Says: Before living to Madeira I tried to identify the places where we could listen to live music and have a drink at night, and FX was one of the recommended places that I annotated.In our first night some of us went early to bed, and a few other decided to walk a little before...
SoulFisher Says: It departs from the low area by the sea and it goes up to Monte. Once there, another small branch descends a little to the botanical garden. I did not use it. It was a bit expensive, something like 27€, and honestly I do not feel relaxed with the oscilations of mountain...
SoulFisher Says: Funchal has a network of orange mini-buses going everywhere in town. It's easy to spot them as they remind of those famous American school buses.The bus system is run by "Horários do Funchal".This company is one of the 3 bus companies of Madeira. Besides runing the urban...
cachaseiro Says: The old market hall in Funchal is still alive and kicking with an active fruit and vegetable market aswell as a flower market and a big fish market at the back of the hall.There are a few tourist shops aswell and tourists go there, but it is first of all a plce where the...
SoulFisher Says: Now, for the shopping mad, do not overlook Funchal's malls. Some of them such as the ones on the west side have the usual brand stores able to satisfy anyone with a brand fetish.The mall in the picture is to the east side and it's a cheap one.
Mercado dos Lavradores: Lower Floor - Fish Market
SoulFisher Says: The basement is a fish market. Most of the tourists come here to voyeur the fish rather than buying. I was no exception. If you're in a hotel you're not going to cook, so there's no point in buying fish.What is worth to see is the local fish. Watch large tunas being sliced,...
Mercado dos Lavradores: Upper floor - Flowers and Vegetables
SoulFisher Says: The ground floor has flowers, vegetables and fruits on sale. Here you can buy birds of paradise, proteas and other kinds of flowers before heading to airport to leave the island. They're beautiful and not expensive.There's also a wide range of fruits for sale, noticeably......
Mercado dos Lavradores: The market
SoulFisher Says: This is one of the tourist atractions in town, mostly because what it has to offer on sale are unique items related to Madeira. The building is a 20th century art-deco one, similar to many art-deco buildings seen in Lisbon.It has a vegetable and flower market in the ground...
Horseback Riding Madeira Island
Quinta_do_Riacho Says: Madeira is renowned for its stunning natural beauty, so if you are looking for hidden gems and want to give nature a try I can advise you horse riding, even if you are a complete novice.Have you ever dreamed to gallop through the mountains in complete symbioses with the...
SoulFisher Says: A good thing for smokers such as me are the street ashtrays. It's the first time I saw that - later I found public ashtrays in Dublin and even some in Lisbon.It's good that we can keep polluting the air without polluting the ground... ah yeah, but we still give lots of money...
SoulFisher Says: Funchal is crossed by several streams - ribeiras in Portuguese, that come down from the mountains to the city center. It's river beds were digged deep by men, creating vertical high banks so as to prevent flooding. The banks walls were covered with stone.
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Plan a Funchal vacation with reviews, tips and photos posted by real travelers and Funchal locals
Funchal - You can feel nature all around you - Madeira's almost five century old capital is said to have been named 'Funchal' because of the abundance of fennel (funcho) that was growing there. Funchal is located in an absolutely unique area. The...
36 members live in Funchal
Q: We are two couples aged 60+ from Norway, who are looking for a good restaurant to spend the New Year's Eve in Funchal. We are...
A: New year's eve is an huge event at Funchal, all good spots are booked whit months in advance, so I suggest you to contact a travel agent (or the place where you are...
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Funchal - You can feel nature all around you
Madeira's almost five century old capital is said to have been named 'Funchal' because of the abundance of fennel (funcho) that was growing there. Funchal is located in an absolutely unique area. The...
2
Despite mixed weather, a broken camera first day, and a water logged mobile phone the second day, we did manage to enjoy the tropical island of Madeira and its capital city Funchal. Funchal used to...
3
The first time we visited Madeira Island and Funchal was in 1996. In the first place we came for the natural beauty of the island with the many possiblities for walking. We stayed at different places...
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If there is anywhere I would like to revisit Funchal does it for me. Great place, I love it, all of it.
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Amphitheatre around a beautiful bay.
Funchal city is the capital of the island of Madeira. It's a city of white rows of houses that climb up the hills, like an amphitheatre around a beautiful bay of blue sea. We loved to explore the...
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