Madeira Island

Madeira Island is the largest island of the Madeira archipelago and an autonomous region of Portugal, located in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island is renowned for its rugged terrain, subtropical climate and horticultural products such as Madeira wine.

Visitors come for coastal scenery, steep cliffs, botanical gardens and inland walking routes that use historic levada irrigation channels. The island also has a developed tourism infrastructure centered on the capital, Funchal, with hotels, marinas and cultural attractions.

The Portuguese discovered and settled Madeira in the early 15th century; it quickly became an important stopover and producer of sugar and later wine on Atlantic maritime routes. Over centuries the island developed distinctive architecture and agricultural terraces adapted to the steep landscape.

Madeira lies in the central North Atlantic, several hundred kilometres off the northwest coast of Africa and roughly southwest of mainland Portugal. Funchal on the islands south coast is the main transport hub for air and sea connections.

• Climate: Part of an autonomous region of Portugal, the island has a mild, maritime climate year-round, which supports outdoor activities in most seasons.
• Levadas: A dense network of historic irrigation channels called levadas provides many of the islands most popular walking routes and access into mountainous interior areas.

What to See #

• Funchal: Funchal is the regional capital and principal port on the island, serving as the main gateway for flights and ferries and as the cultural and commercial centre of Madeira.
• Laurisilva: The islands laurisilva forest, a large area of subtropical laurel forest on the interior slopes, is a UNESCO World Heritage site noted for its biodiversity and hiking routes.