This Christmas, Funchal’s main streets will lit up with new Christmas designs. Along Dr. Fernão de Ornelas Street, wide arches with three-dimensional Christmas balls and stars, will light the way to Câmara Pestana Street, brightened up by a blue starry sky. Contrasting, red three-dimensional trees reflected a red carpet on the ground, near the Sacra Art Museum, and as for Ferreiros Street, blue look a like curtains with stars colored the path.
Maintaining the star theme, Funchal’s main avenue, Avenida do Mar, will be totally lit up by stars until the docs – Cais – where New Year’s festivities are held. Pretas Street will shine with flowers, and bells ring on Carreira’s street.
The new Christmas designs will also lighten up the garden of São Lourenço Palace, where a gigantic three-dimensional manger will be set up, and as for Éden Mar, the square will be decorated with three-dimensional pine trees.
This year the lights are under the responsibility of Siram Group. Besides betting on a massive light infrastructure they use a LED product application that allows low electronic light consumption.
About Funchal
Madeira Island is a paradise planted in the middle of the Atlantic. ARTEH® suggests you discover this exotic scenery starting by the city of Funchal with all its natural beauty and rich gastronomy.
Visiting Madeira Island, an archipelago discovered by the Portuguese navigator Gonçalves Zarco during the 15th Century, must include accommodation in the beautiful city of Funchal.
There is no way you can avoid such a charming scenario. Set as a natural amphitheatre, the cosmopolitan “capital” of Madeira rises up to 1.200 meters of altitude, framed by the Atlantic’s deep blue and green, along with a number of other colors from the local floral variety.
You can usually count on good weather, as the temperatures vary from 20 max and 13 min, all year around, and on the rare occasions its rains, it is always a mild tingle around the island.
To start, we suggest a stop on Don Carlos I Street, where you may visit Madeira’s Story Center and discover the story of the island through the interactive multi-media resources. Besides the café, here you will find a shop and a terrace to view the city’s bay.
From Don Carlos I street, make way to the ferry cable, passing Almirante Reis gardens where you’ll see restored historic boats. Then take a trip through the air until the Monte. The ferry cable was inaugurated in the year 2000, and reconnected the paths formally linked by the steam train that used to stop in the charming scenario of Caminho das Babosas, near the Tropical Garden Monte Palace that is surrounded by tropical plants and a notable collection of tiles.
Finely, get ready for a 60 step climb to the historic church of Nossa Senhora do Monte, the island’s patron, on honor of who the biggest religious festival is celebrated on the 15th of August. Many followers make way to the church as to pay reverence near the tomb of the Austrian – Hungarian emperor Carlos Habsburgo, who found exile on the island during the 1st World War.
Down the Hill
At the end of the stairway waits your next transport: the traditional basket chairs of Monte. Once used as fast transportation to Funchal, the straw baskets (toboggan shape like) date back to 1850. They have two seats and slide thanks to 2 waxed wooden slates, controlled by two men dressed in white, a straw hat and typical boots specially conceived for breaking. The 2 kilometer trip to Funchal takes about 10 minutes and the baskets reach as average speed of 48 km/h. Everyone wants to try! When you get down, we suggest you catch a taxi to Lido.
There is a wide choice of places to have lunch, as for the menu, here goes some tips – that is, if you are looking for a real gastronomic experience in Madeira: Hot coconut cake with garlic butter, to start, Grilled Limpets with a lot of garlic and lemon, to sharpen your appetite, a traditional meat kebab, accompanied by fried corn, or a Tuna Fillet, are a great main course dish; the Queijadas, Passion Fruit Pudding and the colorful fruits salads, beautifully end the meal. Finely enjoy coffee accompanied by honey cake and a glass of Madeira wine, and ready for a nice walk.
The promenade of Lido is one of the most attractive areas of Funchal. Surrounded by gardens and palm trees, it makes the connection between Lido and Praia Formosa, forming one of the most pleasant sceneries over the ocean and Cape Girão. On the other hand, it grants you access to the swimming area of Lido, that has the largest salt water swimming pool of the city, and is complemented with the restaurant area and a number of sport activities.
Moving along the coast line, you will quickly come to the Marina of Funchal, the city’s post card image. It is impossible to loose sight of the giant hot air balloon that will take you as far up as 150 meters only to enjoy an amazing view over the city.
Back on earth, we suggest you go up Zarco Av. On your left, Arriaga Av., stands the tourism office, and to the right, built between 1493 and 1514, the Sé. Continue up to the Municipal Square to visit the rich Sacra Art Museum, home to most of the treasures belonging to the Sé.
As for shopping, take a walk down to Lavradores Market on Latino Coelho Street. There you will find a number of flowers, from roses, to peonies, orchids, protease, birds of paradise and many more. Craftwork is mainly found on Castenheiro Street, embroideries are found in many different places and Madeira Wine, at the Madeira Wine Museum, on Arriaga Av, that is as well a pleasant historic route. And last, but definitely not least, cookies, honey cakes, broa and other goodies can be found at the Santo António Factory, founded in 1875, and standing in Travessa do Forno.
Once you discovered every corner of Funchal, and if the days are kind, it’s worth discovering the rest of the island, not forgetting the “levadas” and please walks along the paths of the island.
Suggestion of ARTEH® Hotels in Madeira, Portugal
Quinta da Bela Vista
Quinta da Casa Branca
Choupana Hills Resort & Spa
Estalagem Ponta do Sol
Quinta Mirabela |
