Madeira: practical information

For more information

Paris Portuguese National Tourist Office (closed to the public)
For further information, please contact www.visitportugal.com

Madeira Associaçao de Promoçao da Madeira.
Rua dos Aranhas, n°24/26. 9 000-044 Funchal - Tel: + 351 291 203 420 - Internet : Visitmadeira.pt

How to get there

TAP Air Portugal flies daily to Funchal with Airbus A319 or A320 aircraft fromOrly. There are seven daily flights via Lisbon and one or two daily flights via Porto. The destination is also accessible from Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice and Toulouse. TAP Air Portugal has also just launched a "stop over" programme, enabling passengers to make a stopover mid-way through their journey at no extra cost. This is particularly interesting for business groups who can discover Lisbon or Porto for a day, for example.

Internet: flytap.com

Hotels

The Vine

Gigantic sofas in the shape of pebbles on the floor, other small black pebbles as carpets identical to those found in the old town 200 metres away, a reception area opening onto the bar and restaurant, all at the end of a monumental spiral staircase leading down to a shopping centre. You can immediately recognise Nini Andrade SilvaThis inspired interior designer, one of Portugal's most famous and a native of the island, combines in her design revisited elements referring either to the history of the place or to the culture of the country. Visit Vine the place is taken by the black pebbles of the island's beaches. Each floor is dedicated to a particular season, in a different colour scheme. Visit rooftop - with restaurant, bar, pool and lounge - is well worth a visit, with 360° views over the city and the ocean. The hotel has won a host of awards, including the World's Leading Design Hotel. 79 rooms and suites, a 120-person meeting room, two restaurant-bars, spa, fitness centre and swimming pool.

Rua dos Aranhas, N° 27-A. Funchal. - Tel: + 351 291 009 000 - E-mail: reservations@hotelthevine.com - Internet : www.hotelthevine.com

Savoy Palace

Another establishment, a urban resort this time, a brand new building opening on 1 July 2019 and a member of the Leading Hotels of The World. It was also designed by Nini Andrade Silva and designed around the generic theme of Madeira lace and basketry. It is located in the grand hotel district, very close to the Funchal casino. It's gigantic, but apart from the hall of, shall we say, Gulliverian proportions, it's hardly noticeable. And why is that? Because everywhere you look there are lounges, curving corridors, nooks and crannies, each with its own surprises. And they're all good surprises! Here, furniture taken from the past SavoyThere are metal staircase railings featuring the reinterpreted designs of the famous Madeira laceIn the meeting rooms, the carpet imitates the curves of a lava flow, while in the rooftop executive club, the colours of the jacarandas lining the streets of Funchal are reflected. The rooftop is a marvel, with an infinity pool, a 360° view of the city and the ocean, a bar and even a nightclub. Then there are the gardens, built around a 77-metre swimming pool and home to more than 250 plants from all over the world. A botanist's paradise. 352 rooms and suiteseight restaurants and bars, a reception hall and eight meeting rooms for up to 1,400 people, and one of the largest spas in Europe.

Avenida do Infante, N° 25. Funchal. - Tel: +351 281 213 000 - E-mail: geral@savoysignature.com - Internet : savoysignature.com

Reid's Palace

It is one of the world's most legendary palaces. Ultra glamorous, ultra luxurious, ultra full of legends, in short, just about everything... including a list of characters who have frequented it. Including theEmpress Sissi who opened the ball, followed by the Empress Zita in exile, then Winston Churchill, Gregory Peck and John Huston... A volume printed on bible paper would not be enough to list all the great names who one day took tea on its marvellous terrace overlooking the sea. The pink silhouette with green shutters of the building perched on its cliff has been a landmark in its own right since the end of the 19th century.^e The hotel was built in the 19th century, as part of Funchal's history, when the English gentry stopped off in Madeira on their way to the colonies of the Empire. The hotel, which today belongs to the Belmond GroupAlthough the hotel has all the modern comforts, it is still Edwardian, with wood panelling, thick red carpets, upholstered armchairs in the interiors and wickerwork on the balcony. And then there are the gardens! Planted as soon as the building was designed, they are abundant, blending exotic and European species and dotted with rest areas where you can enjoy the sound of the sea in the background... A marvel. 163 rooms, three swimming pools, spa, six meeting roomsThe gardens can accommodate 160 guests for cocktails and 260 guests on the Pool Terrace.

Estrada Monumental, 139. Funchal - Tel: +351 291 71 71 71 - E-Mail: http://reservations@reidspalace.com - Internet: www.reidspalace.com or belmond.com

Restaurants

Design Centre Nini Andrade Silva

There's the breakwater protecting the port, and at the far end, a tower, a former fortress where Zarcothe discoverer of Madeira. So far, nothing new. But then you have to see what's on top of it: a modern building, a cube of white concrete and lots of glass housing a restaurant, and not the least, that of the Design Centre Nini Andrade Silva. The menu is refined, as is the decor, with a touch of arty atmosphere and an exceptional view over Funchal.

Estrada da Pontinha. Forte de Nossa Senhora de Conceiçao. Funchal. - Tel: +351 291 648 780 - E-mail: geral@ninidesigncentre.com - Internet : niniandradesilva.com

Santa Maria Restaurant

And as you have to stop off in this ultra-touristy Santa Maria street, which is very (too) busy in the evenings, you might as well do so in one of its most popular restaurants. In this case Santa MariaThe restaurant is housed in an old schoolhouse that has been converted into a post-modern setting, and serves honest Madeiran cuisine. Fish is the speciality. Terraces on the street and behind the building.

Rua de Santa Maria, 145. Funchal. - Tel: + 351 291 649 125 - E-mail: restaurant@santamariafunchal.com - Internet : www.santamariafunchal.com

Avista

The Avista is on a par with theReid's Hotel The cuisine: chic, elegant, refined, with a hint of the exotic revisited, particularly in the tempuras and tandooris. But if there's one thing you don't want to miss, it's the scallop risotto. Stunning. In season, and this is always the season in Madeira, tables are scattered under the lanterns of a charming garden. A garden with a view, needless to say.

Estrada Monumental 145. Funchal. - Tel: + 351 291 707 770 - Internet: www.avistarestaurant.pt

Terreiro Concept Restaurant

The concept of this restaurant - directly accessible from the Savoy - is clear: to reinterpret Madeira's products with exceptional creativity - there's plenty to do - and to present them as ephemeral works of art. With, as a backdrop and under the guidance of chef Alexandre Henrique, the presence in all the dishes of fennel, which is called funcho in Portuguese and which has given Funchal its name over time. Everything is prepared like a show in totally open kitchens.

Rua Imperatriz Dona Amélia, 107. Funchal - Tel: + 351 291 213 010 - E-mail: reservas@terreiroconcept.com - Internet : www.terreiroconcept.com

Practical Guides

Le Routard, Petit Fûté, Géoguide, Guide Evasion, Top 10 Hachette