Discover Madeira
Thematic guides for travellers who want to understand what they are looking at. The geology beneath the calderas, the species that live on the island and nowhere else, the festivals that still shape village life.
Nature
2 guides in this theme
Endemic wildlife of Madeira: species found nowhere else
Madeira's unique wildlife: the laurisilva's trocaz pigeon and firecrest, the rare Zino's petrel of the high peaks, and the monk seals of the Desertas.
The laurisilva of Madeira: a UNESCO World Heritage laurel forest
What the laurisilva is, why it matters, and where to walk in it: a guide to Madeira's ancient UNESCO-listed laurel forest.
History
2 guides in this theme
The discovery and settlement of Madeira: an island from nothing
How Madeira went from an empty Atlantic island to a Portuguese colony after 1419: the discoverers, the great clearing fire, the sugar boom, and the captaincies.
The levadas of Madeira: the irrigation channels that built the island
How Madeira's hand-cut water channels carry rain from the wet north to the dry south, who maintains them, and how they became the island's footpath network.
Food & wine
2 guides in this theme
Madeira wine: the fortified wine that survives almost anything
How heat-aged Madeira wine is made, the noble grapes from dry Sercial to sweet Malmsey, its Atlantic trade history, and why an open bottle keeps for months.
Traditional Madeiran food: what to eat on the island
A guide to the real food of Madeira: espetada on a bay-laurel skewer, bolo do caco, black scabbard fish with banana, milho frito, limpets, and poncha.
People
1 guide in this theme
Culture