My Experience in Madeira, Portugal
I had always heard of Madeira as an island that was out there off the African coast but only old people went there and the weather might be dodgy. But I got the opportunity to visit it at the end of January this year and how wrong was my perception. It is a beautiful island with varied and magnificent scenery - mountains, valleys, tropical gardens, golf courses, wind surfing. There is plenty to do even at night time with a huge selection of restaurants and plenty of bars with music and night clubs. So I found out that it is not just for the over 70s.
Madeira is very suitable for anyone looking for a relaxed, safe laid back holiday. You can make it as eventful or as quiet as you wish. I found the cost of eating out and drinks very cheap - certainly a lot cheaper than here. There is a great variety of restaurants. The hotels are superb particularly the 4 + 5 star ones. The 3 star hotels are clean and very well run and offer great value. All hotels have large gardens and swimming pools... there are no good beaches around the Lido and Funchal area even though you can swim from the rocks at certain hotels, I found the Madeiran people exceptionally friendly and the fact that 80% of them work in tourism means that they will try to please everyone, because their jobs depend on good friendly safe and courteous service.
When I was there at the end of January people were sunbathing for about 4 hrs each day. Yes there is rain as will be seen from the lush vegetation but there is plenty of sunshine and it never gets too hot. If you have done all the usual sun destinations like The Canaries, Spain, Portugal etc then for a quality destination give Madeira a try. There is a direct flight from Dublin every Sunday.
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