The magical island of Madeira
Today I will tell you about the island of Madeira - it is a wonderful island. I flew there on the advice of a friend and he also advised me to guide Vladimir, I did not regret that I spent my vacation in Madeira.
There are many mountain hotels on the island, I stayed in one of them, next to a eucalyptus grove. Fresh and saturated air 24 hours a day. Mountain and forest walks are the main type of recreation in Madeira. For forest and mountain walks there are many levadas. Water channels were built along the entire length of the levadas. These channels were made by the first settlers when the island was discovered by Captain Zarco in 1419. On the island, if you connect all the levadas together, you get about 200 km, supplying the cities and towns of Madeira with fresh water. Walking along these paths, passing through laurel, coniferous and eucalyptus forests, mountain waterfalls, deep gorges, dense fog, light clouds, as well as beautiful vegetation and birds, is a true delight in peace, tranquility and beautiful vydki that simply captivate the heart.
The main attraction of the island is nature, almost 70% of the territory of Madeira is a natural reserve with different climatic zones.
You have to travel a lot in Madeira. The island has a touristy settled south, with gentle slopes and main cities, very different from the wilder, steep north, with waterfalls, a harsh ocean, laurel forests and mountain peaks immersed in clouds. The eastern and central parts of the island are covered with coniferous and eucalyptus forests, spiky mountain peaks and the main peaks "Arieiro" (1818 m) and "Ruivo" (1861 m) crown this part of the island.
The island, at first glance, is small, but the many and varied mountain roads that wind through the forests of Madeira, carved into the rocks above the ocean, laid in valleys and between mountain peaks, can confuse anyone, even the most experienced traveler.
Funchal is the capital of the island, the city is not very big. The historic center with a Catholic cathedral of the 16th century, the forts that protected the city from pirate invasions during the prosperity of Madeira as a sugar producer for Europe, the embankment and the port, which are called by handsome - snow-white cruise liners. The "old" city, with narrow streets, restaurants, shops and a local market where you can try and buy local fruits, vegetables and fish.
Madeira is beautiful all year round, there is no period on the island without flowers. There are advantages to vacationing in Madeira in winter, during the tourist “off season”. The weather is beautiful, in Funchal 19-20, in the mountains on the levadas 15-17, the ocean 18-19, the sun, and most importantly - there are no crowds of tourists filling the island in June - September....For those who do not "tie" their vacation to sandy beaches and like to wander in silence through fragrant laurel and eucalyptus forests, mountain paths, walk along the promenade near the ocean at sunset and sit in a restaurant on the shore with a glass of amber "Madeira" - Madeira Island the ideal choice during the "off season" - November-March.
