Lonely Planet Pocket Madeira (Travel Guide)

Product Information

To serve, the skewers are hung from unique contraptions, and diners pair them with bolo do caco, a type of bread made in part with sweet potato that’s toasted and slathered with garlic butter; milho frito, cubes of deep-fried polenta; and a green salad. Madeira is home to more than 804 km (500 miles) of levadas, a feat of engineering recognized by Unesco. Rugged and subtropical, home to both tropical fruit and legendary wine, seaside resorts and remote mountain villages, misty forests and rocky beaches, it’s the kind of place that makes your head spin – in a good way.

Fret not, however; the island is chock-full of both natural and man-made pool complexes that hug the sea, none more idyllic than the Complexo Balnear do Lido in the capital Funchal. It beckons outdoor enthusiasts – hiking alongside the levadas (small irrigation canals) is a unique experience – and experienced athletes. Lonely Planet’s Pocket Madeira is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. For those looking for more of a challenge, consider the trails that summit Pico do Areeiro and Pico Ruivo, the latter the island’s highest point, and a route that occasionally goes above the cloudline.Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

Originally used to shift goods and crops, today Madeira’s cable cars also transport tourists and day-trippers. Over the past four decades, we’ve printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. Or go to Regional Flavours – a top-notch Madeiran experience where dishes use island-sourced ingredients.The tradition dates back 100 years, and men known as carreiros transport passengers on the 2km ride.

Perhaps expectedly given its remote location in the middle of the Atlantic, Madeira's culinary pedigree includes several homegrown dishes uncommon on the mainland. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. For more mainstream garlicky goodness, get yourself a hunk of local bolo do caco – a round of bread laden with vampire-repelling butter. Island folk imaginatively whizz ice-cream with beer and white wine, and often top it off with a hunk of pineapple.Located in a revamped, elevated port space once part of the Nossa Senhora da Conceição fortress, a meal here offers stupendous ocean and Funchal views only bested by the Miguel Laffan-designed menu. Portugal's enchanting island of Madeira has been crowned Europe's Leading Island Destination 2020 at the World Travel Awards, which probably won't come as a surprise as it has won the award for seven out of the past eight years. Try Santo António, a family-owned restaurant in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos, known for traditional espetadas (beef kebabs on laurel branch skewers).

This happy accident caused the wines to oxidize, giving them an entirely new and desirable set of flavors and aromas.Located off the coast of Africa but also an autonomous region of Portugal, Madeira has its own unique identity. The tipple was subsequently used to toast America’s Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776 as well as the inauguration of George Washington as the USA’s first president in 1789. Among the island’s seaborn delicacies are limpets or lapas, which are open shellfish resembling a barnacle. Dubbed the “pearl of the Atlantic”, Madeira — an island located about 670 miles (1078 km) off the Portuguese coast ⁠— has plunging green valleys and tranquil ocean bays that help it live up to the name. North Mills Distillery, on the island’s north shore, is one of the only remaining steam-powered factories in Europe.