Description

Madeira, in Portuguese, means wood. The original settlers set the trees of the island on fire to clear the land for agriculture. Madeira, named as the Purple Islands by the Romans, is the largest one of the 4 islands referred to as the autonomous region of Madeira. Funchal is the capital of Madeira Island. Madeira’s mountainous landscape gives it a pleasant climate attracting tourists from all over the globe. The islands are renowned for Madeira wine, its flora and sub-tropical fruits. It is also famous for its New Year's Eve celebrations which involve an extravagant fireworks show, the biggest in the world. The islands have a lot of museums, shopping streets and gardens. Besides tourism the largest industries are of food, beverages and construction. Madeira’s infrastructure has been designed cater to the rising tourism.

Shopping

Madeira has a lot of malls and shopping complexes with shops, restaurants and cinemas and a tourist can never get bored. Visitors to the island will see plenty handicrafts on sale and wicker products and embroidered items make good souvenirs. Madeira is famous for its wines and exotic flowers like orchids, birds of paradise, king proteas and flamingo flowers. Shops offer free packaging of these products in boxes for safe transportation.
The traditional open markets should be visited by the tourist to get a feel of Portugal and taste the local delicacies like grilled chicken and wheat soup.

Restaurants

Madeira is a food lover’s paradise. A tourist has a plethora of options to choose for dining. Whether he chooses to go regional or international, opt for a budget meal or a five star spread, Madeira has it all. Some restaurants to try local cuisine are Cervejaria Alemã, As Vides, Adega da Quinta, Miradouro, Zarco’s and Portela à Vista. For international cuisine a tourist can try Monumental Grill, Sol y Mar, Chanceler, Terrace d’Ajuda, Moby Dick, Paradise, Solar d’Ajuda, Casa António, White House, Ca T’Espero, O Túnel, Tasca Espanhola, Os Combatentes and Almirante Reis. For Chinese, Indian, pizzas and Italian pastas there are specialized restaurants, pizzerias, fast food places and snack bars all over the capital city centre of Funchal and shopping centers.

Night Life

Madeira has a vibrant nightlife with bars, pubs, nightclubs, casinos and discos. Some famous bars are The Irish Pub, Gloria Latina and FX bar. Fugitivo nightclub has colorful Samba shows by Brazilian dancers. Some well-known discos are O Farol, Formula 1, Chameleon, Copacabana, Marginal and Jam. Vespas is Madeira’s biggest disco. Some hotels like Casino Park Hotel organize dinner shows on weekends for tourists. The casino has slot machines and games rooms with the French Roulette and Black Jack tables.

Activities

Madeira has a wide array of activities like sailing, fishing, whale and dolphin spotting, water skiing, surfing, diving and swimming. The Garajau coast line has Europe’s first underwater nature reserves for sub aquatic enthusiasts.

Communications

The international access code for Portugal is +351. There are no area or city codes required. The outgoing code is 00 followed by the relevant country code. There are three GSM mobile phone networks in Portugal along with plenty of Internet cafes.

Contacts

Institute of Portugal Tourism, Lisbon: +351 211 205 050 or www.visitportugal.com
Portuguese Embassy, Washington, United States: +1 202 328 8610
Portuguese Embassy, London, United Kingdom: +44 (0)20 7235 5331
Portuguese Embassy, Ottawa, Canada: +1 613 729 0883
Portuguese Embassy, Canberra, Australia: +61 (0)2 6290 1733
Portuguese Embassy, Pretoria, South Africa: +27 (0)12 341 2340/1/2
Portuguese Embassy, Dublin, Ireland: +353 (0)1 289 4416
Portuguese Consulate, Wellington, New Zealand: +64 (0)4 382 7655
United States Embassy, Lisbon: +351 21 727 3300
British Embassy, Lisbon: +351 21 392 4000
Canadian Embassy, Lisbon: +351 21 316 4600
Australian Embassy, Lisbon: +351 21 310 1500
South African Embassy, Lisbon: +351 21 319 2200
Irish Embassy, Lisbon: +351 21 392 9440
New Zealand Embassy, Rome, Italy (also responsible for Portugal): +39 06 441 7171
Emergencies: 112

Currency

EUR

Attractions

Madeira has interactive museums, glorious churches, parks and gardens for tourists to explore and discover. Ponta do Sol or the Sun Point is a region which has breathtaking landscapes. It also has excellent bathing conditions and a pebbled beach and is worth a visit and a swim. The Volcanism Centre in São Vicente provides visitors with audiovisual demonstrations of volcanic eruptions and the birth of an island, the famous volcanic caves also must be visited. Another attraction is the Lido Promenade which has Ponta Gorda swimming pool complex consisting children’s’ pools, sea access, sports activities, restaurants, snack bars, etc at the sea front. There are more than a score of museums dedicated to wine, arts, religious sculptures, sugarcane, electricity, whale fishing etc.

Language

Portuguese

Language Description

Official language of Portugal is Portuguese. However almost everyone understands English. English is also quite well spoken in the urban centers, in hotels and restaurants and also by most shopkeepers.

Tipping

Hotels add 17.5% of service charge or tax in the bill, which is divided equally among the staff, but individual tipping is also a rule. For all the things in which you get services you need to pay individual tipping, it is 5% of your total bill. However this does not apply to bar staff and taxi drivers as their tips are generally rounded off to the nearest Euro.