Madeira

Highlights

• Cloud forests
• Sunrise peaks
• Seafood taverns

Madeira is a small, mountainous Portuguese island in the Atlantic that feels both tropical and alpine at once. Down by the coast it’s hot, humid, and a bit suffocating to walk, while just a short drive up into the mountains the temperature drops to around 20°C and I’m already reaching for a windbreaker. I notice how clouds and fog constantly hang between the peaks, making it surreal that people once chose to climb higher and build homes there. The island attracts a lot of British retirees, which means decent English almost everywhere, but as soon as I rent a car it turns into a very active trip with steep roads, free‑roaming cows occasionally blocking the way, and a surprisingly comfortable Atlantic thanks to how far south the island sits.

For hiking, Madeira is a paradise. We follow easy but spectacular trails I find on Google and AllTrails, often along levadas—old irrigation channels that move water from the wet parts of the island to the dry ones. We walk through endless fog, especially around places like Calheta and the Levada das 25 Fontes e Risco, where waterfalls feed whole networks of channels and I occasionally bump into animal “locals.” We wake up before dawn to catch sunrise at Pico do Arieiro, parking near the peak and watching the clouds boil beneath me while the light and colors change every minute. Later, in the Fanal “forest of mists,” I wander through dense fog and twisted, eerie trees that feel like a Silent Hill level, and at Ponta de São Lourenço I hike along dramatic cliffs where the rock changes color in the sunset, turning the landscape into something that sometimes even reminds me of Armenia.

Food and small places are a big part of how I remember Madeira. In Funchal I find what I call the best restaurant on the island: a cramped, slightly stuffy tavern that serves simple local dishes—especially espada (black scabbardfish) and prego sandwiches on Madeiran bread—at an almost absurdly high level.