The island that steals my heart, everytime.

If you've been following on Instagram, then you'll know that we've just come back from beautiful Madeira. It was my third time on this sanctuary of an island and I thought I'd share some of my best bits from the trip.

As it was the third time we'd been together, we've done a lot of the touristy things. Having a bit of Winter sun is like tonic to my soul and this break had been one that I was so looking forward to for months! We booked our flights way back in July, and we were lucky enough to stay with Drew's lovely parents in the most gorgeous Porto Bay hotel.

If it's your first time on the island, then there are some key tourist things that you should not miss! Either take the cable cars, or get a taxi to the Monte and then hop in to a traditional Madeiran basket to make your way back down to Funchal. There's a gorgeous chapel and beautiful little tea garden at the top, so take time to enjoy it.

You also need to visit the fish market. I'm not sure this is strictly speaking a tourist attraction, but it's an experience that everyone should have! Try to go early on in the day, that way you'll see the most. Have a wander around the market afterwards and marvel at the beautiful flowers that Madeira has to offer. Birds of paradise are my personal favourites.

Beautiful birds of paradise all around our hotel

Take a trip on the Santa Maria boat and stop off for some dolphin watching. I'm not a fan of boats, at all, so I've not done this, but I've seen lots of photos and it looks brilliant!

Madeira beaches are pebbly!

Our hotel has a spa so a lot of our week is based around ultimate relaxation. If you're visting the Porto Bay hotel, book yourself in for a treatment! My skin and hair feels fabulous after a week of using the steam room.

The food in Madeira is fab. Beyond fab, amazing. I always worry when I go away that I'm going to really struggle to find something to eat that doesn't contain dairy, but everyone there speaks great English and they're more than helpful with allergies. I tend to eat a lot of fish, it's always so fresh and packed full of flavour. I'll be sharing a recipe on the blog soon that was inspired by one of my meals!

It was also Chocolate week on the Island, all around the hotel were sculptures and art - made entirely of chocolate!

Madeira also offers traditional steak on a stone. This is presented on a marble stone that's around 400 degrees, and you just get given a chunk of raw steak. You cook the steak yourself, which is great as it adds theatre to your dinner and is a bit of fun too! It's also worth trying a traditional Madeiran kebab, called an Esperada. Chunks of steak cooked to order on a bamboo skewer over the open fire. YUM.


Madeira is blessed with beautiful temperatures year round, whilst we had a little bit of cloud, it was still really warm and around 23 - 26 degrees most days. The evenings are cooler with a bit of a breeze, so take a cardi or jacket, but the break from bitter Winter is one that soothes and chills!

The Santa Maria boat

Em xx