FUN and hopefully SUN 🌞 in FUNCHAL

Our first full day, which is nearly always the worst day of any holiday! 😅 You're trying to find your feet and get used to your surroundings, whilst figuring out the important things in life… what cereals are available, what juices are on offer, and, in our case, is there ANY porridge??? 🤔😂
After breakfast, we headed out for a walk around Funchal Old Town. On our previous visit, we only ventured into town a couple of times, as it was a 45-minute walk there and then the same back, involving some quite hilly terrain! 🥵🚶‍♂️
Our first port of call was right next door to our hotel: the old fortress of Forte de São Tiago (Saint James Fortress), built in 1614 to protect what was then a much smaller city of Funchal from corsair attacks. 🏰
We continued our walk through the very narrow, cobblestoned and historic streets of Rua de Santa Maria, which, of course, is where our hotel gets its name. 😊
Next stop was the 500-year-old Catholic Cathedral, Sé do Funchal, dating back to 1514. We quickly popped inside, but unfortunately, a service was taking place, which meant we couldn't venture much further than the entrance. ⛪
Carrying on with our walk, we entered the beautiful gardens of Parque de Santa Catarina. We remembered these from our previous visit back in 2022. 🌺🌳
Then it was onwards and upwards… literally! 😂 We walked past the casino and into the luxurious Savoy Palace Royal Hotel. Curious 🤔 as to what an extra €100 per day, room only, would get us, we wandered inside and made our way down to the pool area to see how the other half holidayed! 🏨🍹
In one of the large rooms near the outdoor pool, there was a two-day holiday show that I was itching to visit. Unfortunately, I thought better of it… mainly because I didn't have a pass! 😂🤦‍♂️
Walking back towards the Marina, we narrowly avoided the purgatory of a two-hour presentation at the Pestana Carlton Hotel. Apparently, it wasn't about buying a timeshare, or so we were reliably informed!! 🤔🤥😅
We eventually arrived back at our hotel 🏨 just as the sun decided to put in an appearance. ☀️
The rest of the day was spent relaxing before heading downstairs for the reception meeting for Prestige members of PortoBay Hotels and the obligatory free prosecco!🍷🥂

And that was our first full day in Madeira! 🇵🇹❤️ A gentle introduction to Funchal, with a bit of history, some beautiful gardens, a touch of luxury, and, thankfully, no two-hour presentations! 😂🤣Read more