Pebbled beaches, museums and floating gardens of Madeira

Geographically closer to Africa but politically, economically, ethnically and culturally, Madeira is the outermost region of the European Union.  It is a Portuguese archipelago with a volcanic origin in the Mid Atlantic Ocean.

Madeira is an autonomous region of Portugal and has only two inhabited islands – the Madeira Island and the Porto Santo Island.

Best Time to Visit

Madeira’s climate favours tourism all through the year. It is sunny with some amount of rain all the year round.

How to reach Madeira

The Funchal Airport at Madeira and the Porto Santo International Airport at the Porto Santo Island, have direct flights from major European and other countries like Brazil, South Africa and Venezuela. These two Islands are connected by flights, ferries and recently developed roads known as Vias Rapidas.

The Madeira Archipelago has several harbours and marinas as well, the main ports being at Funchal, its capital, Port Moniz and Seixal on Madeira’s north coast and one in Porto Santo Island.

Tourist Attractions in Madeira

The pebbled beaches of Madeira such as the Praia Formosa beach at the western end of Funchal with its palm tress and splendid botanical gardens bordering it make for a delightful attraction for tourists. Calheto and Machico are important tourist beaches where the golden sand has been imported.  The golden beach that stretches to about 9 kilometers in neighbouring Porto Santo is of course, magnificent and cannot be missed out.

Madeira Island also has a number of museums, information centers and other historical site.

The Madeira Story Centre is and interactive museum that takes you on a journey of the birth of this island – from its volcanic origin 14 million years ago to this day. The centre has a terrace with theme café and a souvenir shop as well.

The Contemporary Art Museum in Fort Sao Tiago or the old town and the Sacred Art Museum is worth a visit too, with displays of religious sculptures from the 16t to the 18th century and sacred jewellery from the 17th and the 18th centuries.  The City’s museum in Town Hall shows the 500 years of existence of the Funchal city.

The Universe of Memories is another special museum in the Madeira Island, with a large number of books, ceramics, paintings and bronze objects in its 14 rooms that Secretary of Tourism Jaos Carlos Abreu collected from all across the world while travelling.

Especially dedicated to sugar is the Sugar Museum that informs the visitors about the role that sugar exportation played, in Madeira’ s economic, political, cultural and social life during the 15th and the 16th centuries.  The Mário Barbeito de Vasconcelos Library Museum focuses on Madeira’s history and has a collection on Christopher Columbus, rare books and coins.

Displaying Portuguese furniture, sculptures and paintings from the 16th to the 19th century is the Quinta das Cruzes Museum at Calcada do Pito in the Madeira Islands.  The interesting wine museum tells you all about the culture and production of wine.

Other museums that you could go to are the IBTAM,  Madeira’s Ethnographical Museum,  the Whale Museum and the Casa das Mudas art centre. The latter is a significant cultural center here.

On Madeira’s north coast is the village of Sao Vicente which has a Volcanism Centre and the volcanic caves as well as beautiful Madeira gardens that the island of Madeira is known for.

Beaches to relax at, the common island attraction like swimming, diving, surfing, skiing, spotting whales and dolphins, the museums that have kept the history of the place intact, the Madeira gardens that are famous all over the world and the over all ambience that suits your mood when you are here for some time off from regular worldly matters… this is Madeira Island, just the right place for you, if indulging in leisurely activities is what you are looking for.