Explore Funchal

First impressions of Funchal

Funchal is the small, dramatically situated capital of the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira — a colourful, sub-tropical city of about 105,000 people clinging to the steep volcanic slopes of an Atlantic island 1,000km southwest of mainland Portugal, with the deep blue ocean below and the green Laurisilva forest (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) climbing the hills behind. Madeira was famously the birthplace of Cristiano Ronaldo (you can visit the wonderfully self-aggrandising CR7 Museum near the harbour); it's also the home of Madeira wine — the fortified, lightly heated, intensely complex dessert wine that George Washington reputedly used to toast the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. Visit the working Blandy's Wine Lodge in the centre to taste different vintages spanning the 19th and 20th centuries. The wonderfully chaotic Mercado dos Lavradores produce market is a riot of tropical fruit, fish, and embroidered tablecloths; the cathedral Sé (1514) is a calm cluster of Manueline carved stone. The cable car up to Monte (560m above the city) ends at the spectacular Monte Palace tropical garden; the descent back down via the historic Monte sledge ride — 2km of paved road, in wicker sledges steered by men in straw hats — is unique to Madeira. Don't miss a long lunch at one of the small fish restaurants in Camara de Lobos (where Winston Churchill used to paint).