Just off the coast of Morocco, Madeira is also a year-round island to visit. I went to Madeira when I was younger quite some time ago so a lot of this information is from searching the island online, as I don’t have many memories of the beautiful island. The island produces sugarcane, bananas and even Madeira wine but they mainly rely on tourism as being the main income for the island.

As Madeira is surrounded by the Atlantic ocean it brings many water activities with it. These include fishing, water sports, whale and dolphin spotting and even surfing.

The Monte Toboggan

The Monte Toboggan is one of Madeira’s most famous attractions. Starting in the 1850s, the Monte Sledge was the primary means of downhill public transportation in Funchal (Madeira’s capital city). The experience of going on the wicker toboggan is the only memory I have as a child of Madeira. The idea of the toboggan is that two men named “carreiros” are dressed in white and wear straw hats. They wear special, rubber-soled shoes that help them steer and brake the toboggan. Actually being on the toboggan with them only having their shoes as the breaks is pretty scary! I’d say it’s a fun experience and much better to slide down than walk down the very steep hill (which my parents and nan did!).

Accessing the toboggan by cable car is considered a fun way to get to the top of where the toboggan journey start. The price is around 30 euros for two people and depending on the size of people in the toboggan, you can fit 3 people in it (my grandad, brother and me were all in one). As it was a memorable experience, we bought a photograph that was taken at the bottom of the hill but unfortunately can’t find it!

Funchal

Funchal is Madeira’s capital city. It is full of narrow cobbled streets lined by aged buildings full of history, restaurants, cafes and shops. Not only are there the typical things to do in the town, there is also an art gallery for you to admire the street art. The area where the art is displayed is called Rua da Santa Maria and showcases over 200 art pieces which mainly consist of amazing painted doors. The idea to paint on doors was to allow people to walk by and experience something deeper. This area of Madeira has had many floods and in order to give it some colour and life people decided to paint the door with bright colours and illustrations.