Madeira 2026

In May we travelled to Madeira with Bill and Alison. We had rented the Pink House in Tabua—a really nice house for a bargain price in a really good location between Ponta do Sol and Ribeira Brava. Every day we set off for long walks—either along Madeira’s famous Levadas or on mountain trails. We made the mistake in the first few days of starting at sea level which meant a momentous hike uphill to the level of the levadas followed by a painful steep descent back to the car. We soon learned our lesson and forced our feeble car up the narrow steep roads (don’t be afraid to use first gear!) to the higher level, allowing us more walking up there. We did a few walks on the Nevada Nova, walked the Pico Grande trail, visited Jardim do Mar and the Bica de Cana, spent the day in Funchal followed by the spectacular Valley of the Nuns and generally had a great time. The end of each walk was followed by cold beers in a local bar and then more alcohol back at the house (shout out to “two bottles Kathryn”). Alison cooked us some lovely food and we also ate out, enjoying some local specialities including the beef skewers and Natas.

All in all a fab holiday after what had been a sad time at home. Time passed too quickly. The walks were made all the more enjoyable with Bill’s rendition of the frog song. The evenings were spent drinking and playing card games  or falling out over “Mr and Mrs”. The weather was kind to us and the views were spectacular wherever we went.