Madeira Island Tourist Traps

Established in the mid fifteenth century, Ribeira Brava is one of the oldest towns in Madeira. It is situated on the southeast coast near the mouth of the river with the same name. Writers think that its name comes from the furious (Brava) river (Ribeira) that used to flow in this area.

The town is blessed with a long beach, a river and an unusually long thin strip of flat slightly sloping land on which the town is built. Apart from the sea front, it is surrounded on all sides by a wonderful lush mountain scenery. Facing east from the harbour, you will be looking towards the cliffs of Gabo Girao, one of the highest cliffs in Europe.

Ribeira Brava has made enormous progress in the last few years and has geared itself up to tourism. Now it's a lot of easier to access since the construction of the two lane motorway from Funchal. The town boasts many street cafes and shops and is certainly a place to spend a few hours taking in the sights and sounds.

Unique Suggestions: We guess that there is not a real alternative. You must at least visit this place and maybe try not to take too much notice of the many tourists :-)

Address:
The village of Ribeira Brava

Directions:
The village is situated at the south side of the island at the beach. It's a 30 km drive from the capital of Madeira, Funchal.

Website:
http://ww.cm-ribeirabrava.pt

Next to the centre square there was a small look-out point which allowed us to overlook a part of the southern side of the island. Trully breathtaking!

Finally we we visited Achada, which is the centre of this small village where the locals socialize. Arriving there we were pleasantly surprised by the monument we saw there. We read that right here soccer was played for the first time (1875) in Portugal due to the influence of the British.

But eventhough we had this last positive surprise we won't stick with the opinion of the people that say that Camacha is the most picturesque village of the island. In our opinion it has some beautiful Quintas, great craftsmen, a nice little church and a soccer monument, but it's mostly a place where busloads of tourists are blocking the way and most old traditional houses are replaced by modern ones.

Address:
Village of Camacha

Directions:
Situated at the middle (bit to the north east) side of the island. It is a 18 km drive from the capital of Madeira, Funchal.

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Camacha is situated on a mountain, it is rich on secular trees. We noticed that some of the magnificent Quintas da Madeira still remain with all their splendorous gardens.

More than the average (bus) tourist we rather had more appreciation for the little church which was situated near the centre square. It's quite old, because we learned that some documents presented us the year of 1452 as the date of its foundation. A funny fact is that we were about the only people visiting this beautiful little church and we admired its finely sculpted wood altars and the baroque tiles.

Later on we strolled down the street to have a look at the new and modern church which was inaugurated in 1998. It has a very interesting architecture - very, very different from the traditional churches on the island.

Address:
Village of Camacha

Directions:
Situated at the middle (bit to the north east) side of the island. It is a 18 km drive from the capital of Madeira, Funchal.

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Camacha is famous for its apple festival and very active folklore dance troops. Therefore many consider the Camacha village the Madeiran Capital of Culture. We were unlucky not to see the very talented people on a cultural, social or entertainment event.

They also like to call this the village of basket makers. Well, that's not quite true, because it's much more than that - it's the centre of Madeira's willow craft industry. You will be surprised what they can produce from basket. From normal small stuff over garden-furnitures up to complete furniture for living rooms - and all that of stable quality. We learned that there are over 1000 different articles on exhibition, like ornaments, kitchen utensils and wine holders.

At the back of the shop "O Relogio" we saw the craftsmen doing their work. Just be aware that you will hav eto swirm your way through the masses. Busloads of tourists are being dropped in front of the shop!

Address:
Village of Camacha

Directions:
Situated at the middle (bit to the north east) side of the island. It is a 18 km drive from the capital of Madeira, Funchal.

Before we decided to visit the village of Camacha we heared that it was one of the most picturesque villages on the siland of Madeira. The drive towards Camacha was beautiful indeed. We drove through some laurisliva forests, which is a type of humid subtropical forest. It's made up of Laurel-leaved evergreen hardwood trees, reaching up to 40 meters high.

When we drove some further to Camacha we noticed that lots of new houses were being built replacing the old traditional ones. In the village itself the small shops and bars are fast disappearing to be replaced by supermarkets and large shopping centres. Such a shame!

Address:
Village of Camacha

Directions:
Situated at the middle (bit to the north east) side of the island. It is a 18 km drive from the capital of Madeira, Funchal.

It's a must-do tourist activity for some, but if you're uncertain as to whether or not you'll actually try this odd little activity out, consider that the round-trip ticket on the air-tram is the same price or cheaper than the one-way trip on the taboggan. The sled rides cost around 20EUR (not including the obligatory tip to the drivers) and the madeiran sled-drivers themselves spend much of their days standing around, smoking, waiting for the next tourist to take the bait. I think I could take a luxury vacation on what was in their till for 1 day - large piles of 20EUR bills. It's interesting to see them take other tourists down, but overall, the vibe is tacky, touristy, and expensive.

Though going to the Northeastern part of Madeira and seeing these cute little thatched Madeiran homes amongst the foliage is really nice, they are not located all together. Rather there are 3-4 stacked right next to each other for tourists to take photos of. The rest of these homes require you to drive around in search of them. From tourist brochures of Madeira, this is a bit suprising as most people would think that these cottages would be together forming a village in Santana, but unfortunately that isn't the case.

It's THE most touristy thing to do in Funchal .. no in Madeira as a whole. Take a trip in a toboggan (read wicker basket!) down from Monte to Funchal pulled, pushed and steered by two "tobogganeers". A hair raising journey down narrow winding streets with cobbles and ruts thrown in for good measure. Sounds exciting! Well maybe .. but be prepared for the cost .. 10 Euros per passenger, plus you are expected to tip the drivers generously afterwards .. oh and if you want a photo of yourself waiting in the basket .. sorry .. toboggan as you consider the wisdom of your decision .. you will be photographed before the journey commences and hey presto the photo will be ready for you at the journey's end .. that will cost a further 10 Euros. Oh and one more point .. the toboggan trip no longer takes you all the way down into Funchal as the traffic conditions make that too dangerous so you will have a 2km walk to reach Funchal.

Did I take a toboggan trip then? Of course I did!

Unique Suggestions: Well at least save yourself 10 Euros and ask the photographer to take a picture of you with your own camera, they are usually quite happy to do so.

Fun Alternatives: You could try walking .. it's only 4km! Damned hard on the knees though .. steep!