The advantages of a rental car are obvious. How else could you easily reach other parts of Madeira, without following a strict time plan?
There aren’t any earth-shattering distances on the island. It’s still not easy without a rental to reach east and the northwest coast of the island. Which would be sad because the island’s landscape is diverse and like in a picture book.
Without any exaggeration, Madeira’s nature reminds of some kind of Rivendell (Lord of the Rings). It’s blooming everywhere. Waterfalls along the streets and the coast are the cherry on the top. It reminded us a little bit of Norway. Our big city lungs were a little bit overstrained with all the fresh air. I should stop now!
Ponta de São Lourenço
This nature gem called Ponta de São Lourenço is located at the most eastern part of Madeira and reminded us strongly of Ireland. Also, a little bit of Brittany, but most of Ireland. Somehow a lot of parts of the island reminded us of certain other areas in Europe.
The Atlantic Ocean shows a lot of talent forming stones and offshore islands. The most famous viewpoint is the Miradouro do Ponta do Rosto.
Miradouro do Ponta do Rosto
Santana
The small community of Santana is located at the north coast of Madeira and famous for its thatched houses, which everyone must have seen before. They’re as cute at the inside as they look from outside. Some of them got restored recently and prettied up.
Not far from the houses, there’s the restaurant Serra e Mar. There’s no huge variety on the menu but what they offered was delicious. Hiking up the mountain after lunch being six months pregnant was an effort I didn’t include in my plans. (It was actually just a little steeper hill, but still.)
Porto Moniz
Porto Moniz is located on the north west of Madeira and famous for its lava pools filled with seawater. Porto Moniz is really focused on tourism which is why there are lots of hotels and restaurants.
We ate at the Restaurant Olhos d’Agua, as it’s supposed to be with a view.
Miradouro da Santa
That’s the name of the viewpoint throning over Porto Moniz. Our little rental car wasn’t very delighted by the steep ride up, but we ignored it successfully and got rewarded.
Ribeira da Janela & Ilheus da Rib
Ribeira da Janela is also in the northwest of the island and belongs to the Porto Moniz district.
Here’s one of the famous photo spots of the island, called Ilheus da Rib. It ‘s a rock formation reminding of needles looking out of the water. It looks really pretty.
Miradouro do Véu da Noiva
As if all this wasn’t picture perfect enough, there’s another pretty corner with a Miradouro. This time the Véu da Noiva and we actually had the feeling it was unreal. We’ve really seen worse on this planet.
For all those who think this is all too boring, just looking at nice things: You are very welcome to pack your hiking shoes and hike your jittery butts up to the many viewpoints of the island. Madeira and especially the north are perfect for it.
More about Madeira here: