Landscapes of Western Madeira

This holiday was particularly appreciated because it managed to survive the decimated 2020 travel season. Everything about the arrangements was well-planned and efficient. We stayed in one of the hotel's casinhas and it was perfect for us: from preparing a dehydrated camping dinner on the night of our arrival whilst we waited for our Covid test results, to the space, the well-appointed and comfortable rooms, and the outside seating area for catching the last of the day's sun. The hill to breakfast is undoubtedly a drawback but we measured our fitness progress by our ability to greet people when we arrived at the top!

Breakfast - outside on the terrace - and dinner were very good, and the picnics were generous. All the dinners were served in the wine bar and the service was charming. We agree with the recommendations of others for restaurants: Olhar do Campo in Prazeres (Chico's was sadly closed), Onda Azul in Calheta and we also had a very educational (who knew espedata preta lived 1200m down in the sea and come up at night to be caught?) and excellent dinner over the road in Calheta at Beira Mar.

Highlights for us were the Sao Laurenco peninsula in glorious sunshine and the mountains at Arieirro and Encumeada at sunset. They appeared above the clouds, after days of enveloping mist and really lifted our spirits. We also really appreciated the warm and friendly welcome we received wherever we went.

Another excellent holiday with Inntravel. WALK 4 very enjoyable, though we must have missed the correct path somewhere after the crossing the river at 4km. We must have followed a different path through the woods, up onto the plateau. There was some scrambling and we arrived at the plateau much further East, than the notes suggest. However, we rejoined the route up onto Pico Rabacal, where the views were worth the climb. There now is a large circular dam just 500m Northwest of Urze (Close to the spot height 1345 on the map). This is behind the hill, close to Jungle Rain and is easily now the most prominent land mark visible from the plateau. As the views were so good, we decided to make our own way back to the car following tracks and the old road which takes you past Jungle Rain, where we stopped for a drink, and then followed the ER105 back to the carpark. WALK 3 This area has recently had a forest fire but is still very beautiful and the paths are clear of fallen trees. FONTES DO HORACIO was closed for refurbishment end of February. Our favourite restaurant was CHICO in Prazeres, which has a range of prices. It also has a cafe open in the village during the day. Funchal Carnival was great fun and thank you Inntravel for the directions to the car park in Funchal.

We thoroughly recommend it.

We enjoyed the range of walks and contrasting landscapes from dense forest to beautiful coastline and rugged cliffs.

Being above the clouds on the Serra de Paul plateau towards the end of day was visually stunning, and the descent to Prazeres at sunset gave wonderful lighting effects. We'd recommend the walk to the eastern end of the island as a good day out with great sea and geological views, without the vertigo factor of some other itineraries.

As usual, our holiday lived up to expectation. The accommodation was good and the walks interesting and varied.

No hesitation in recommending Inntravel.

Quinta is a lovely place to stay. Staff very friendly and helpful. Ground floor room was lovely. Right next to small swimming pool which was very quiet. Lovely gardens and views. New restaurant at the top of the grounds was lovely - great views and first-class food. Nice quiet area of Madeira and lovely quiet walks (especially in Feb). One local restaurant was closed (in Prazeres) and hotel restaurant in Jardim do Mar was a bit soulless but food fine.

The setting of the Quinta in the landscape was just beautiful. The western part of the island was breathtaking and we would consider another visit to be able to explore the remainder of the island quite soon.

This was a last minute booking but turned out to be an excellent break in all respects.

The accommodation was comfortable and all the staff friendly and helpful.

We enjoyed breakfasts in the farm kitchen or the garden and most nights ate in the restaurant.

The food was varied and delicious with lovely local wines.

We would love to visit again - the Quinta is a very special gem!

This was a delightful hotel, full of charm and character with stunning views over the gardens, vineyards and Atlantic Ocean. We had 4 dinners at the hotel and all were excellent. We also ate at Fontes do Horacio where we can recommend the paella but not the footpath to get there: we retreated from the lively bull in the field figuring that it might well be stronger than its tether! We also ate delicious shrimps and traditional bread one lunchtime at Bar dos Pescadores on the quayside in Paul do Mar and had a good dinner at New Era in Calheta.

We tried 5 of the selected walks which were varied and interesting. We stuck mostly to the sunny south of the island. The highlight was the steep cliff climb up from Jardim, down into Paul for lunch and a swim, then boulder hopping back along the beach at low tide. This was our first trip to Madeira and we will definitely return. Even in November the air and sea are still pleasantly warm and the flowers beautiful.

Fantastic place. Really felt I was on holiday. Everything was taken care of. The owner and other staff were extremely helpful with any questions we had. 

We had a fabulous time! Highlights were the hike to Pico Ruivo and breakfasts in the garden at the Quinta. We stayed in both a cottage and the main inn during our stay and ultimately preferred being in the main inn even though it was much smaller and without a kitchenette. We were lucky to meet the family that has owned the land for generations and to witness one of the grape harvesting days.  It had so much soul, this Inn and vineyard!  The island was also spectacular. We simply were stunned by the diversity of terrain and ecosystems and hikes and views.  So much on one small island.

Very impressed with vegetarian evening meals. All the staff were very helpful and friendly. Walking choices restricted by cloud in the centre of the island, which according to locals is quite frequent. 

It would be hard to choose just one or two highlights. We always enjoy your intimate, historic accommodations and your carefully selected tour recommendations. My best memory will be the sense of exhilaration over each day's adventure, day after day, for the month that we travelled through your packages. 

INNTRAVEL NOTE: these customers enjoyed a multi holiday itinerary to include our Cities, Palaces & Wine Self-Guided Journey by Rail, a stay in an Andalucian Cottage on our Authentic Southern Spain holiday, our Landscapes of Western Madeira Discovery Walking Holiday, with city add-ons in Madrid and Lisbon.

We would recommend staying in a cottage but preferably one without other guests in the accommodation above. There is no sound proofing. A wonderful holiday with some challenging walking and very good weather but very windy when we drove up to the North coast. Warm, welcoming people. Funchal is very busy so for people who prefer the quieter side of things worth avoiding.

Highlights: Sitting eating breakfast in the garden with a cup of tea I had made using the kettle provided by the buffet table. Fabulous views from the room, wonderful staff and great food for the evening meals. Marvelling at the abundance of flowers out in February, fuchsias, hibiscus, freesias, arum lilies, gazanias, pink and purple morning glory mixed with nasturtiums - and DAFFODILS! Lovely walks and very well described. Thank you.

Quinta das Vinhas was an excellent base for our stay, very peaceful, lovely setting and good breakfast.

Enjoyed the 25 Springs walk best. The only issue I have was processing the hire car from Avis after a long flight. It took over 40minutes! And the receptionist was very difficult to understand. Otherwise we had a lovely holiday. The walks were excellent including the directions and we love Quinta das Vinhas. Their staff are so friendly and helpful and the food excellent. 

Highlights - the walk from Pico Ariera to Pico Ruivo, and the amazing Levada walks.

We enjoyed the holiday. A good choice away from the main areas. At first we were shocked as to how remote we thought the hotel was but once we settled into the holiday we really enjoyed the area. The staff and the local people were friendly and all had a very good understanding of English. It was very interesting that the guests at the Quinta were of many different nationalities. An excellent holiday and information all round.

We also found two places which may be of interest to future guests. Fontes do Horacio, Estrada regional 222, about a mile away. Local restaurant. Good food. Sem Idade, in the grounds of the civic centre. Modern snack bar, good views. Hope these comments help.

Excellent accommodation at the Quinta. Friendly and very competent staff and food well presented and of good standard. Only slight negative - for winter time - was the opening of their wine bar on the road above the qunita for Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening meals. This meant leaving the lovely quinta and the dining room and no log fire those evenings to have to walk up in the darkness on the unlit path to the road to a recently renovated soft opening wine bar / restaurant to have the same meal that would have been served in the quinta dining room but in totally different and more informal surroundings. Whilst I feel this wine bar will be a great asset in the spring and summer time, it was very disappointing to find ourselves shut out of the quinta type arrangement for the meal in January. It somehow rather spoiled those whole evenings. 

Funchal was our personal highlight. Very pretty town, nice atmosphere, live music on the streets, easy to walk around. Cable car trip was worth doing once, for the views, but at €16 return per person, not cheap. Great wine in the newer small supermarket near the pharmacy. We were in cottage 209 near the pool so had a very steep walk up to the Quinta for meals - but on the plus side, a great view on the walk down after breakfast! 

The setting of the Quintas das Vinhas is very attractive. We enjoyed the Funchal city tour. We had been warned about avoiding days when a cruise liner was in port and we chose a quiet day. There is a useful schedule at http://crew-center.com/funchal-cruise-ship-schedule-2018. We think that it would have been helpful to have had a map of Funchal in the welcome pack.

The location and the views from the Quinta were stunning.  A beautiful area to explore.  We would recommend visiting the western end of Madeira. Enjoyed our day in Funchal the walking notes were excellent and we enjoyed our trip to Blandys Wine Lodge.  The people were friendly and helpful and we would certainly return probably to stay in and around Funchal and visit the Eastern side.

Walking on levadas is unique, not least because it opens up the wildest country without too much effort. However, walkers should take care: we saw a woman fall in to the relatively deep Levada Janela, and it couldn't have been much fun walking the rest of the route in wet boots and clothes! The weather was disappointing during our stay: cloud consumed the middle of the Island the whole week. Nonetheless, we had a great time, and were able to do walks 3, 8 and 9, and some of 1, plus the Western Driving Tour and a day in Funchal. The walks all demonstrated the variety of walking that Madeira has to offer, as well as wonderful insight into the flora. As for recommendations, we endorse your favourable comments on the restaurants Olhar do Campo and O Chico near the Quinta. We would also recommend Portinho, the bar/restaurant at the end of the promenade in Jardim do Mar. Their house white wine is very good and less than 2 euros! And their calamari was the best we ate. In Funchal, we had a super lunch in the Rua de Santa Maria, a street which you might ordinarily avoid as it is so touristy and is lined with restaurants and waiters touting for business. Our choice, from a recommendation in the DK 'Top Ten Madeira', was 'Dona Joana-Rabo-de-Peixe' at number 77. Excellent food, and friendly professional service.

We loved the choice of hotels particularly the one near the port in Funchal (Quinta Bela Sao Tiago). Excellent instructions at every stage. Most impressed.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: Mrs Morley combined our Landscapes of Western Madeira with Classic Madeira

The cottages at the Qunita das Vinhas were lovely and the walks were beautiful. We saw lots of interesting birds (including wild canaries) and enjoyed the gardens at Monte. It was great to be able to relax by the pool after our walks.

We stayed in a cottage at Quinta das Vinhas. The cottage was spacious with good facilities. Personally we would have preferred to be totally self catering as we found the food there quite average and it could sometimes feel awkward sitting round the big table though that of course depends on the guests. We enjoyed going down to the harbour at Calheta for food as it was a bit more lively. New Era's seafood is particularly good. The supermarket also does great grilled chicken. We enjoyed the Ponto do Pargo walk best and the tea room at the end should not be missed. We had their own herbal infusion with rich chocolate cake overlooking the cliffs. It would also be worth having lunch there or walking late and having dinner. Our highlight was actually not a walk but the whale watching. We went in the rib which was exhilarating and saw two types of dolphin and my first ever whale. Fantastic. If you like gardens we reckon Palheiros gardens are the most beautiful and can be combined with a levada walk not detailed by Inntravel.

Great accommodation, would recommend staying in main Quinta house - friendly staff.

My personal highlight was the evening meals in the old kitchen/dinningroom with up to 12 other guests. Fascinating with other Inntravellers plus German, French and Dutch guests all eating and talking together.

Inntravel is an impressive company which we will continue to use and recommend it to others.

The 'hotel' on this trip rather let the side down. All could relatively easily been resolved: a proper chef - the hotel used receptionists and anybody available to select and prepare and cook food, and it showed; better quality ingredients - 2euros 50cents for water was ridiculous - and the management, who were NOT on site, clearly viewed food as something they can save on rather than an essential for customer satisfaction; a clear instruction to park on the main road away from the hotel site or big money spent making the car park accessible; a site/hotel manager who has a vision and pride in the running of the hotel and who has decision making authority, it felt like it was 'run' by very young and, probably, minimum wage staff, who were not able to make any policy decisions. Somebody runs this place remotely and that person views this accomodation as a pure investment, and it shows.

Without being able to pick out any special highlights of the holiday (there was so many despite far from perfect weather), we thoroughly enjoyed the holiday, the Quinta and Madeira. In your list of restaurants you omit the "As Fontes do Horacio". This can be reached on foot in 20 minutes or so by turning right out of the Quinta up the ER223 to meet the ER222 and turning right. The food is simple (the meat cooked over the wood fire is good) but the welcome is friendly. The portions are very large but they seem happy to share one plate with two. (The waitress even suggested one starter between two).