Madeira Island – 02/2020
Madeira – buying a flat
I fell in love with Madeira during my first visit. I have never been tempted to return to the same place. But with Madeira it changed. Madeira is very addictive and for me a strong addiction started during the first visit. So big that we decided to buy an apartment in Madeira. Now, in February, it was not yet a good timing to buy a flat, and the purpose of the visit was just to visit Funchal to make sure we really wanted to buy an apartment there and chat with real estate agents and see some of the apartments. But as it is usually the case in our family, great opportunities always arise before being ready – so we signed a reservation contract for a very nice flat 2 bedroom flat with a terrace in Funchal in Sao Martinho one day before leaving home J And soon you can look forward to renting an apartment for your vacation at a fair price (the apartment will be suitable for up to 6 guests, so will be ideal for families or a group of friends).
Date: 15.2. – 23.2.2020
Itinerary:
- Arrival + Praia Formosa beach
- Funchal – Sao Martinho
- Centre of Funchal
- Levada dos Piornais
- Camara do Lobos, Cabo Girao, Encumeada, Paul da Serra, Fanal, Ribeira da Janela
- Calheta, Lighthouse Ponta do Pargo, View point close to village Cabo, Porto Moniz, Seixal
- Ponta do Garajau, Camacha, Portela, View point on airport
- Departure
Visited places
How the dream of buying an apartment in Madeira appeared
In fact, I never thought we could buy a flat abroad. I thought it would be something really expensive and unavailable. About half a year after our first visit in June (25.2.2019) in Facebook group called Česká Madeira there was a discussion about real estate and there was a mention of the real estate server idealista.pt . When I checked it out, I found that the prices of flats in Madeira are not at all too expensive. Well, only if you don’t need a super luxury apartment with a huge terrace with a sea view, such a flat can cost even 200,000 – 300,000 EUR… but I don’t need anything like this and ordinary 2 bedroom apartments (3+1 – flat with 2 bedrooms, living room + kitchin) in Funchal cost around 75,000 – 100 000 EUR. So actually a decent price, for this you can not even buy a studio in a block of flats in Brno … Well, prices go up quite fast and now some 75 – 80 000 EUR is not very realistic, but last year I saw a several flats for this price. Now only when it is 4th floor without elevator or flat which is the property of the bank and you will be „fighting“ with other people who are interested as well.
I immediately liked the idea of having a flat in Madeira and this was a moment when a big dream appeared. But I didn’t expect it to be realistic because my husband doesn’t like traveling and I didn’t expect him to accept that. So I just mentioned as a joke that I would like to have an flat in Madeira once retired and when I told my husband that in the summer there is not so hot as in our country, he admitted that it is not a bad idea. So, as we say, strike while the iron is hot, I started checking if he was really speaking seriously. After some discussions, we agreed that we could get a flat in Madeira for retirement. So he promised to buy it when I will be 60 years old. Which is exactly 23 years from now. I started saying that it was too late and that I would like to enjoy the flat sooner and that in 23 years the prices will surely go up considerably and we could regret it. So after about a week, he promised to buy it when I will be 50. So in 13 years. Well, still no great shakes. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I continued trying persuade him to buy it sooner, and in another week or so I negotiated another 10 years. So I had the promise tu buy a flat in Madeira in 3 years, when I will be 40 years old. Excellent 🙂 I was really happy with that, I thought that we can at least prepare better for it and make some more savings so that we don´t have to take such a big mortgage.
Well, and since then, we’ve been looking at offers on different real estate servers to better see how the Madeira real estate market looks like. I was totally enthusiastic about the idea, hoping that this dream would turn into reality one day. At home we didn’t talk about anything else, practically every day, it became a very popular topic for our conversations. And in a couple of months in the summer, my husband suggested that in February 2020 we could go there for spring holiday just to check it out and see that we really wanted to buy a flat and if the location we had chosen just by map, is the right one.
From the beginning I wanted a flat in Funchal – although it is the capital city, it doesn´t give that impression at all. And because I don´t have a driving license, I needed a place with excellent accessibility by bus, so that during the trips there was no problem to get to different places. After all, I probably won’t always go with my husband, so I didn´t want to be dependent on the car and I wanted a place to be able to travel with my friends by bus. As for the neighborhood, I just chose Sao Martinho from the map – it’s close to the center, close to Praia Formosa beach, Lido pools and Doca do Cavacas natural pools. There are also many shops, restaurants, etc. And at the same time, I thought that there would certainly be nice walks along the coast to Camara do Lobos and walks on Levada dos Piornais would be nice as well. Before leaving for Madeira, the concrete part of Sao Martinho was also clear. We chose Nazaré. Right next to the beach there are only hotels and overpriced luxury apartments and we just wanted something calmer without tourists, some apartment among the locals. And also there were affordable prices for us in Nazaré. And when we arrived in Madeira, we could see that we liked Nazaré the most of all Sao Martinho
We were wondering if we really wanted to go to the same place all the time… we will see but there is so much to see in Madeira that even 3 visits are definitely not enough. And I really feel that I can´t never get enough of Madeira – beautiful nature, mountains, levadas, coast, laurel forests, picturesque villages, wonderful people, great cuisine and lots of exotic fruits. And actually Madeira will be sort of a multipurpose. We will be going there on holiday for the time being, I hope that once retired even for several months of the year, and at the same time I thought I’d like to try the Home Exchange and exchange our apartment with other families across Europe (or elsewhere) and have free accommodation to be a popular vacation friend for all my good friends. And more friends for travelling will be more than welcome because my husband doesn´t want to go for vacation more than once a year. And because like almost everyone I have only 5 weeks of vacation a year, it would be a pity that the apartment would be empty the rest of the year, so we would like to offer it for the rest of the year for rent to tourists. But in a year or so because as I mentioned, it happened faster than we wanted, so we’ll have to give it some time to save money for the furniture to have a nice new modern furniture.
Real estate agencies in Madeira
2 weeks before our vacation, I sent an email to all the realtors who had an apartment in Nazaré with a reasonable price. It was a total of 7 apartments in 5 real estate agencies. Although I wrote the email in Portuguese, only 2 realtors answered to my email to schedule visit of the flat. I also sent two emails to apartment administration agencies, one of them did not reply to my email at all. In fact, most of them did not really make any effort until we arrived in Madeira.
From the real estate agencies we have good experience with, I can recommend the following:
Era – https://www.era.pt
Era is the biggest one and the best one for me, as we bought our apartment through this real estate agency. Joao spoke very good English, was very nice and helpful and explained everything about the purchase process and gave us useful information about the real estate market in Madeira.
So if you are also going to buy (or rent) a flat in Madeira, you can find here the contact for Joao, he is really very helpful and I can definitely recommend him:
João Pedro Rodrigues – prodrigues.funchalforum@era.pt
https://www.era.pt/funchalforum
Prediguía – through this real estate we also had a visit of one flat
Pink Real – Real estate agent was also very nice, helped us to arrange NIF (national identification number) and open a bank account, but in the end we could not by this apartment. She also spoke English, but not that well to be able to explain the purchase process in English.
Flight and transport to Vienna
Flight tickets
I bought the tickets a lot in advance, almost 7 months in advance. And because my husband doesn´t like travelling, I thought that everything has to be absolutely perfect to not discourage him, so this time I decided to not care too much about the costs and decided to buy a direct flight. Direct flights from Prague with Smartwings do not fly in winter, so we decided to fly from Vienna with Austrian Airlines. So price of the direct flight from Vienna was 371 EUR / person (approx. 9600 CZK / person). As always, I searched for airline tickets via https://www.skyscanner.cz/ . At the end you will find the total cost – do not be scared, this time it was not really a low cost vacation, without a direct flight it would be much cheaper.
Transport to Vienna
From Brno to Vienna, the travel is very comfortable, the Regiojet bus runs directly to the airport (https://www.regiojet.cz) and recently I noticed that the Gepard Express (https://www.gepardexpress.com/brno-wien-airport), is going directly to airport as well but I do not have an experience yet – if someone has experience with this bus service, I will be glad if you share a comment to know how satisfied you were.
We went to Vienna by bus with Regiojet (price – 15 EUR/person, 390 CZK / person), which dropped us right in front of the arrival hall, so just few meters from our hotel.
Night in Vienna – NH Vienna Airport Conference Center
And since the flight was at 9:40 and we didn’t want to get up too early, we decided to stay in hotel in Vienna. And because I really wanted everything to be perfect to not discourage my husband, I decided for a night in a 4 * hotel right at the airport (NH Vienna Airport Conference Center). Price for 1 night was about 1000 CZK / person (for 2 adults and child 123 EUR), which is a good price for Vienna and 4 * hotel, even in Prague for the hostel Modrá with shared bathroom and ugly old furniture I paid about 600 CZK/person… It is good to book a lot in advance, when I was looking at closer dates, so the price was significantly more expensive.
The hotel is very nice, it was definitely worth the money and comfort to not have to go from another part of Vienna across the city in the morning.
I was flying from Vienna for the second time (for the first time a few months ago with a friend to Jordan). We arrived at 16:00 – I wanted to arrive in Vienna later but my husband wanted to sit at the hotel rather than sit at home in the living room and wait impatiently for our departure. So when we had so much time, we decided to take a tour of the airport, so we headed for Terminal 3. I had already seen from the Vienna Airport mobile application which counters were supposed to be used for check-in for Funchal tomorrow. When we arrived there, we could see that for our flight there were only self-check-in counters. I haven’t had experience with self-check-in counters so far. Considering we had a luggage, I thought we had to check-in at the airport and not online. We got information that we could check-in right now even for the tomorrow´s flight, so we thought we were going to check in right now because there was not many people. It will be certainly much more busy in the morning. But we had a problem to do the check in on self-check-in counter, we were supposed to enter the reservation code but then we were not able to click on the button „confirm“. It looked as if one number was missing, because when we added a random number, the Confirm button suddenly appeared. We went to the service for advice, and the lady said that it is more difficult through self-check-in counter and that we can go check in to the service counter. It was actually a completely different counter than for our flight but they had no problem with it, although the flight to Funchal was supposed to fly only 9:40 the next day. On the machine we just printed the adhesive tape with a bar code, which we put on the luggage the next day. Then at the self-service counter we scanned the bar code and send the luggage on the belt. We did well to check in the day before, the next morning there was really many people at self-check-in counter, so we could just put the luggage on the belt.
The baggage up to 23 kg was included in the price of flight ticket but we did not make full use of it, we had only one baggage (about 17 kg). Apart from that my husband had a 7.3 kg cabin luggage (backpack) on his back and as we walked through the airport, they caught him to weigh his backpack and then they gave him a label Cabin luggage on the backpack. They were catching only some people, maybe those whose luggage looked bigger, I don’t know, it happened to me for the first time…
The flight itself went smoothly. As it was a longer flight (4 hours 45 minutes), we received also some food. Because it was supposed to be breakfast, it was just some scrambled eggs with cheese. My son received sooner than us a much better breakfast, yogurt, a good warm cake and a really good plum jam and bread. When I saw our scrambled eggs, I envied my son.
Landing was smooth as there was no wind.
Aerobus – journey from the airport
The plane was scheduled to arrive at 13:40 and Aerobus to Funchal was leaving at 14:00 (https://www.sam.pt/informacoes-aerobus.html).
I didn’t give much chance to catch it as we had to wait for our luggage. Fortunately just one, I managed to pack us (me, my husband and 7 year old son) quite economically – 1 medium-checked baggage (about 17 kg), 7 kg backpack (cabin luggage) and son had a children’s backpack. And finally we caught Aerobus without any problem, we even had to wait about 15 minutes. When we came to the belt, the suitcases started to run and ours was approximately the fourth.
The Aerobus bus stop is right in front of the arrivals hall and a return ticket costs 8 EUR (valid for a year), 5 EUR single ticket and 2.5 EUR children’s ticket. For children you can not buy return ticket.
We got off at stop 23. From there it was about 5 minutes on foot to our accommodation.
Flight ticket finder – https://www.skyscanner.cz/
NH Vienna Airport Conference Center
Regiojet (bus from Brno to Vídně) – https://www.regiojet.cz
Gepard Express (another option of transport to Vienna – not having yet experience with this one) – https://www.gepardexpress.com/brno-wien-airport
Application Vienna Airport https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.viennaairport.mobile&hl=cs
Aerobus
Acomodation in Funchal
Accommodation in Funchal is cheap. I did not want a hotel, it seems to me that with a family even in a 4 * hotel there is no luxury, when in a small room there is just an extra bed and we have to sleep with my son in the same room when we are accustomed from home that he sleeps in his own bedroom. So the choice was clear, no hotel, but an apartment via Booking.com. I chose an apartment in Sao Martinho – Blue sea apartment, 1 bedroom apartment with a living room.
I wrote to the owner an approximate time of our arrival. He did not give me any further information and the description on the Booking said that the reception was open 24 hours. When we arrived, there was nobody and there was no reception in the building. When someone went out, he let us in, I asked if there is a reception and he showed me a small office just next to the entrance but it was more like the building management office and it was closed. So I called the owner and he said he would be there in 10 minutes. In about 15 minutes his daughter came to give us the keys. The check-out was done by throwing the keys into the letterbox.
The apartment had one bedroom and in the living room with a kitchenette there was a sofa. The accommodation was fine but there was very little storage space and no coat stand where you could hang jackets or raincoats. So my clever husband hung a raincoat on the spotlight once. Spotlight which was swiched on. After a while he began walking around the apartment, investigating what smells bad there as he had impression that something is burning. I couldn’t figure out what it was, nothing was on the stove. And after a while we found out that it was the son’s raincoat that my husband put on the spotlight: p So now it will rain on our son’s head – he has about a 5 cm hole in his raincoat.
I wasn’t going to cook, in terms of kitchen equipment, there were some basic things like plates, glasses, mugs, a few pots, etc.
The double bed in the bedroom wasn’t very comfortable. There was a spring mattress so I felt every husband’s move. And there was one big bed sheet and one big blanket for both on the bed. I’m not used to that either, I´m accustomed to have each his own blanket.
The accomodation was fine but I wouldn’t recommend it to you. Why would I do that actually when I can soon offer you much better – our 2 bedroom apartment. There will be no uncomfortable sofa beds and a smaller size double bed. There will be 6 standard beds, large wardrobes with plenty of storage space, storage room, spacious terrace where you can have breakfast, dinner or just glass of wine. And anywhere in the street an easy parking for rented car.
Blue sea apartment
Buses in Funchal
Because we had a rented car for 3 days, this time we used only buses in Funchal because for the first 3 days we planned to explore Funchal and Sao Martinho properly.
The bus company Horarios Funchal runs in Funchal.
http://www.horariosdofunchal.pt/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Individual tickets at the driver cost 1.95 EUR and children 0.95 EUR. It is definitely better to buy a Giro charging card, which is not limited and can be used for other holidays. Giro can be bought, for example, in the shopping center Anadía (https://mapy.cz/s/gurapezoco), where Horarios Funchal has a sales point. You decide how many rides you want to charge your Giro. It can be recharged here or in various tobacco, etc., on the street you can always see the yellow Giro sign, which tells you that there is a sales point.
http://www.horariosdofunchal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=247
Timetables not very useful and easy for orientation considering that both on the official website and on the posted timetable at the bus stop there is only the time of departure from the terminal station. If one is going from somewhere in the middle of the route, it is not easy to estimate the exact time of departure, so it is better to go to the stop always earlier.
As far as buses are concerned, it is better to rely on yourself and mobile applications rather than asking local people. Once we were not sure from where the bus was going and which direction to look at on timetable and thus estimate the departure time. And both locals gave us a wrong advice. I had impression they are not right so I tried to find it on internet and I found out that they were wrong.
How to find the right bus, direction or departure time?
Google maps
For me Google maps are the easiest option how to find where the bus goes. Just click on the bus icon and it shows which bus numbers go from there and it shows the route where the bus goes from the beginning of the route to the terminal station.
Moovit
Moovit works well as well, you can search directly on the web or in the mobile app
Web – https://moovitapp.com
Mobile app – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tranzmate&hl=en
You enter where you want to go and it shows the bus numbers and departure times and the route map
Rome2rio
Rome2rio is good as well, both web site or mobile app.
Web – https://www.rome2rio.com
Mobile app – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rome2rio.www.rome2rio&hl=en
You enter where you want to go and it shows the bus numbers and departure times and the route map.
Car Rental Funchal Easy
I chose the car rental Funchal Easy as they have excellent reviews on Facebook. I can only recommend this car rental, we were very satisfied, next time we will definitely rent again here.
No credit card and no deposit was needed, the car was fully insured, so they said that if we scratched the car somewhere, we wouldn’t have to deal with it as it was fully insured.
Prices were good, we took Renault Clio as they wrote that it is sufficient for the mountains and it was ok, the engine was strong enough.
So in February (booking several months in advance) the price per day was 30 EUR, 3 EUR per boost seat and because we did not want to return the car by 18:00, I paid an extra 15 EUR for returning outside working hours so we could return it by 20:00 (if we stayed in a hotel, we could just leave it at hotel parking but because we lived in a private apartment, it was not possible).
In addition, we liked that Funchal Easy is based in Sao Martinho, so it was convenient for us to pick up and return.
Day 1
Arrival + Praia Formosa beach
The holiday was amazing, it was a week with so many stroke of lucks and coincidences.
After check-in in our accomodation, we went for a walk to the beach Praia Formosa. The waves were quite big and my son was enjoying trying to escape to the waves. My husband was sitting nearby on the stones. Then I came to him together with my son and we were talking together. In a moment, one wave flushed us a bit – fortunately I managed to jump away but my husband did not, he just said “ah, big wave” and although this one was much bigger than the others, he continued sitting on the stone. My son got the worst of it, he was pretty wet. So we went back to the apartment. The son was already excited and was saying that this is the best holidays and even later the enthusiasm for Madeira did not disappear.
We went For dinner to Papa Manuel restaurant close to our accommodation. We had some pizza (8 EUR and Prego normal (bolo do caco with a slice of beef). Before the meal they brought a little bowl with green olives and tremoco (lupin beans – a kind of legume, something like beans in brine, I like it very much.) We had Brisa de Maracuja (1.5 EUR) for drinking.
Papa Manuel
https://goo.gl/maps/aaUhbkJEmJo4mWZb6
Pizza – 8 EUR
Prego normal – 4,2 EUR
Day 2
Funchal – Sao Martinho
The next day the plan was clear. Priority was given to apartments and a thorough tour of Sao Martinho. In the morning we took a bus to Nazaré. It wasn´t far away, but really uphill, so we took a bus even it was just a few stops. The ticket for an adult costs 1.95 EUR and 0.95 EUR for a child but when the driver saw that we were only going just a few stops, he did not charge us for the son.
We decided to walk through all streets, to be able to recognize which street it was once seeing some photos in advertisment. We found out soon that Nazaré is the right place for us, we just like this neighborhood – it is calm, there are very nice alleys of trees, parks, playgrounds, there are all public facilities – shops, supermarkets, fruit shops, pharmacy, a few excellent restaurants, it is close to the center, beach and swimming pools as well.
As for the choice of apartment, we had several main criteria – the price, elevator for 2nd – 4th floor and decent condition, so we do not have to deal with any reconstruction remotely. But I thought that an average kitchen would be possibly ok, during the year we were watching the apartments, the kitchens were mostly below average. We found out that the elevator could be a problem as well, a number of buildings were without an elevator but in some streets they now have a project to build elevators. So we were walking around the streets and occasionally glanced through the door to see if there was an elevator. When I sometimes saw someone local, I asked them – fortunately I speak Portuguese, so it was not a problem. One lady talked to us more and said she knew about someone who was selling an apartment now. She called him but he was unreachable but we exchanged numbers and in the afternoon she called me and handed over my phone number to a real estate agent. He wrote via WhatsApp but he didn´t have anything interesting.
The buildings have courtyards, sometimes there is a playground, sports ground, sometimes there is a nice park, and some of them have their own small gardens where people grow some vegetables and sometimes they have even a few banana trees.
In other blocks, we noticed that some houses have a backyard or a terrace. Most of them were really ugly, people didn’t have any nice seating there, often only the pots and the mess. Then we walked around one terrace and I said to my husband “Look, this one is really nice, big, clean, I would just change the table and chairs. Really nice terrace, I would like this one”. At this moment I did not really expect that we would go to this flat 3 days later for a tour and another 2 days later we would have signed a contract.
Lunch
Restaurant Entre amigos
When it was lunch time we went to the nearby restaurant Entre amigos. Well, for us it is lunch time earlier than for Portuguese so we learned at 11:30 that they are already open but they start cooking only at 12:30. Fortunately, they were already serving bolo do caco, a wonderful local bread with herb butter and garlic that is served as a starter. Here they had bolo do caco also with pulled chicken, very good as well, but I prefer the basic one with herb butter anyway. We thought we’d wait here for lunch anyway. It was beautiful weather, although they reported some 18 ° C, I had impression it had to be about 20°, I had T-shirt with a short sleeve. This restaurant has a beautiful view of the entire Funchal.
We had espada and my husband some beef and two homemade French fries, one normal and one from sweet potato. Portions are really big everywhere, so we always had 2 meals and bolo do caco, my son would not really eat the whole portion.
Restaurant Entre Amigos – https://goo.gl/maps/AU5SMPzPMDUFtL4g7
Espada – 8,5 EUR,
Beef strips – 8 EUR, French fries 2,5 EUR,
Bolo do caco – 1,5 EUR
The food was great, so we were here a few more times.
Frutaría – Fruit shop
After lunch we were walking through the rest of the remaining streets in Nazaré.
During my first visit to Madeira, my sister and I were hitchhiking because we missed the last bus from Ponta to Sol. I wanted to buy maracuja somewhere for a normal price and not for 20 EUR / kg like at Mercado dos Lavradores in central of Funchal. Very nice Madeirans stopped in Sao Martinho where they lived and showed us excellent Frutaria (Fruits shop). I just knew it was somewhere in Sao Martinho but I had no idea which part. As we were walking through Nazaré, I managed to find this fruit shop (Horta Madeira – https://mapy.cz/s/jofoluluzu).
This fruit shop is really great, the best I’ve ever tried in Funchal. February seemed even better for fruit than June. They had 2 kinds of maracuja for only 6.50 EUR / kg, a year and a half ago in June 8 EUR / kg, I also bought nesperas (loquat), I really enjoyed it, annona, and even suriname cherry (pitanga) and tamarillo.
Tour of the flat
At 6:30 pm we had a tour of the 2 bedroom flat in Nazaré with real estate agency Prediguia.
We were supposed to meet in front of the Continente Modelo hypermarket. None of the realtors asked us to meet with them directly right in front of the apartment. We have not seen the photos because the apartment has not been officially offered yet. We and the real estate agent were angry because the owner was one hour late. So we spent our time asking the realtor many questions to get as much information possible about the purchase process in Madeira. I was told by my husband to speak English to make sure we understand everything. I speak Portuguese, but sometimes I don´t understand well.
After one hour the owner arrived and she showed us the flat. We did not like it, the bathroom was not very good, the kitchen too, both would need a reconstruction, only the floors were new. And the price of this flat was 90 000 EUR. So we didn’t even think about this one. When we were about to leave, the owner kissed us all, my son received the most kisses on his cheek. My husband, who hates this (it is not a common habit in our country as in France, Spain or Portugal), wasn´t able to avoid a kiss on the cheek either, even though she was about 160 cm and my husband is 186 cm tall, she managed to pull him down and put one kiss on his cheek.
On this day we learned about the cancellation of the tour of the second apartment which we were considering very much before leaving for Madeira as it was completely renovated and with the sea view. But in the end we were not sad about it because this apartment was not in Nazaré but in Amparo and we didn’t like this particular part of Amparo – no greenery and accross the street there was a construction site etc.
That same real estate agency Pink real sent more offers of apartments that day and we were interested in one of them so I quickly arranged a tour for the next day.
We were tired of waiting for the owner, so we didn’t want to go anywhere for dinner, so we only went to the Tourigalo take away restaurant, which was a short walk from the flat, and the food was there for weight (similar as in self-service Pingo doce restaurant). The food was sealed in a bowl and could be taken away. The choice was decent, several kinds of meats and side dishes. I chose a decent portion of beef cubes with sauce and 4 chicken drumsticks with sauce. The portion was big so we were not even able to eat 2 drumsticks. And for such a portion I paid only 7.88 EUR (for 2 adults and a child). And they did not weigh the sauce together with the meat, they took the meat, weighed it, and then added the sauce. The food was very good.
Tourigalo – Take away – https://goo.gl/maps/iaJcPS4GD7szV2TPA
Day 3
Funchal – center
In the morning we decided to visit the center of Funchal. From our accommodation, bus number 1,2 and 4 was going to the center. We took bus 4.
First we went to the Anadia shopping mall where is the office of a bus company Horario Funchal. We bought a Giro card which is cheaper (adult 1.25 EUR instead of 1.95 paid at the bus). It was necessary to buy 3 cards but they are not connected to your name and validity is not limited. You can then recharge them. We knew we would have a car soon, so I charged 5 rides each.
Horarios Funhal
http://www.horariosdofunchal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=247
Anadía – https://mapy.cz/s/gurapezoco
Zona Velha
Then we went to Zona Velha with a painted door. Although I visited this part during my first visit with my sister, this time we saw a lot more nice painted doors because the restaurants were still closed in the morning.
Bolo de caco
Then we bought on the street bolo do caco chourico – it is also bolo de caco, but on the street they serve it as a kind of sandwich with salami or bacon or cheese.
You can buy it in the center almost everywhere and the standard price is 2.5 EUR.
My favorite place is in Rua Dr. Fernao Ornelas, where we were going most often with my sister during our first visit of Madeira as it was in the street where we had our accommodation.
https://goo.gl/maps/puezVEn9RbPrkWNJA
I personally prefer the sausage variant and then as a starter in a restaurant with only herb butter and garlic.
Mercado dos Lavradores
Then we visited market Mercado dos Lavradores. Since last visit, I knew that this is really just for looking because everything is really overpriced, maracuja here costs about 20-25 EUR / kg and somewhere the price is probably according to the seller´s mood because I have heard of cases when they asked 60 EUR for 3 maracuja. My husband warned me not to taste anything so that it would not be embarrassing to not buy anything. Of course they were offering the fruit to taste, one seller dropped a little bit of maracuja from the teaspoon on the back of our hand. After tasting it, we thanked and left. The salesman immediately asked us if we wanted to buy something. I told him that definitely not because it is overpriced and that I bought maracuja yesterday for 6.5 EUR / kg … you should have seen his look. Upstairs, another seller was also offering to taste some fruit, so I told her we would taste it but we certainly didn’t want to buy anything. And she said “you never know, maybe you will like some of them”. We tasted approximately 4 kinds of maracuja and another 2 fruits. I felt already bad for tasting so much and not buying anything, so I thanked and wanted to leave and she asked if I wanted to taste something else. At that moment I realized that I would like to taste the monstera fruit – on the first visit we bought one and then we picked half a backpack in the countryside but everything was thrown to the waste bin because even after arriving home it was not ripe yet and tasted like a banana with glass wool. When I tasted this time it was better as it was ripe but there was still a bit of an irritating taste in my throat. It wasn’t bad but nothing I would like to buy.
Then we went through the part with the fish, espadas, tuna, etc.
http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/explore/detalhe/mercado-dos-lavradores-(farmers%e2%80%99-market)
Frutaría do Anadia
Then we went to Frutaria do Anadia to buy some fruit – it is just below the mall Anadia (I do not have an exact link, here is Anadia, just go down a bit towards the sea – https://mapy.cz/s/hujebehaga), street Rua de Visconde Anadia – now a week ago they had banana maracuja for 4.95 EUR). If you are in the center and want to buy fruit for a decent price, I can definitely recommend this shop. Generally in fruit shops (Frutaría) there is a much better choice of exotic fruits than in a supermarket.
Then we wanted to have lunch at 11:00 but the restaurant we chose did not cook again until 12:00. So we went for a walk. Not far from Sé Cathedral, there was a management company for accomodation so we decided to go there personally. At the door we could not find any sign on which floor the agency is located, so we decided to go to the last 4th floor and go down and ask somebody. In the 4th floor they had the door open so I tried to ask where I can find the agency and the lady said it was their office but the responsible person was not there in that moment. So she wrote down our phone number and promised to hand over the contact. The lady called in a few days and sent their offer.
Jardim municipal
Then we went to Jardim municipal for a while. It’s my favorite park, you can find there trees from all over the world, always with a label with the name and location where the tree comes from.
Lunch
Then we finally went for lunch. I chose the Cantinho dos amigos restaurant. My son and I had tuna steak with onions (11 EUR with side dish), my husband had a beef steak (Bife com molho Madeira – 12 EUR with side dish) and of course bolo do caco. For drink we enjoyed as always our favorite apple Brisa and Brisa maracuja.
Cantinho dos amigos – https://goo.gl/maps/koL1dr766p8Ws5Mg6
Bife de atum – 11 EUR including side dish
Bife com molho Madeira – 12 EUR including side dish
After lunch we went back to Sao Martinho because at 16:00 we had an appointement to see another flat. We got off a stop earlier at the Forum Madeira Mall to go to Era Real Estate agency. We were following them a lot on their web and they always had the best offers. We went to ask for one 3 bedroom apartment that looked good but unfortunately this apartment had no elevator so we did not schedule the tour of the flat. The real estate agent Joao Pedro was very nice and we learned a lot of useful information from him about the purchase process and about the Madeira real estate market. He wrote down my contact and promised to contact us in case of an interesting offer. His English was the best comparing all 3 real estate agents we talked to.
Era – https://www.era.pt
Tour of the apartment
At 16:00 we were supposed to meet with the real estate agent from Pink real in Nazaré at the church, to see another 2 bedroom apartment. The apartment was on the first floor without elevator and it was the property of the bank, so from someone who did not pay the mortgage and the apartment was confiscated. The floors were decent but the kitchen was terrible, it would have to be renovated. The bathroom was not good either, the tiles were ok but the shower and the bathroom cabinet would have to be replaced too. Normally we would not think about such a flat for reconstruction but the realtor said that they will make a free offer and a budget for the reconstruction and we would just decide if we go for it with them and they would arrange everything. And because the apartment price was 70 000 EUR only, we decided to buy it. So we said „yes“ directly after the visit to confirm we wanted to buy it. But the feeling of happiness did not last long, at this moment we had no idea that this purchase will fail in the end.
After the tour, we went back to the Entre amigos restaurant, arrived at 17:00 and learned that it was early for dinner again, they were cooking from 19:00. So we just had a bolo do caco with herb butter and one with chicken. I could eat bolo do caco all the time, I love it. I do it at home, it is not bad, but the original is just the original… Even my son said this one is much better.
Day 4
Levada dos Piornais
In the morning at 10:00 we had an appointment with a realtor from Pink real to start taking further steps to buy the apartment. After coming to her office near the Cathedral of Sé she began to explain to me the whole process of buying the flat and things like acquisition tax etc. in Portuguese. I asked her to speak English but she told me that her English is not good enough to explain this in English. Fortunately, she adapted to my knowledge and spoke slowly, so I could understand practically everything.
Finance Office – arranging NIF
After explaining everything to us, we went to the Finance Office (https://goo.gl/maps/EXgAxwz1x7nnwgEt9), to arrange with my husband the NIF (national identification number), the Portuguese identification number needed for any dealings with the authorities, etc. It was pretty fast there, there was not too many people. The office was giving a similar impression as offices in the Czech Republic, at the counter there was an old gentlement who was entering our data into the computer at about 10 keystrokes per minute. NIF costs 10 EUR / person, so it cost us 20 EUR.
Opening an account with Santander Bank
Then we went to Santander to open an account (https://goo.gl/maps/JQpREf6aHXmyzK457). There were many peope so we had to wait. In the meantime a bad news came – we will not buy this apartment, as the bank said they don’t accept any more offers. Only now have we learned more details how it works with these apartments from the bank. They accept more offers and then close it and analyze them, and if there are more people interested, the one who offers more will get the flat. I do not know if this is the case for all the apartments where the bank is the owner but nobody told us this at the beginning. But she said that while we were there, it would be better to arrange the account right away so that we were ready for the next one when another flat will appear.
I had no idea how difficult it would be. I got information that we needed the last payslip from work, it was okay, we had the electronic payslip. But then they also wanted the Confirmation of Taxable Income for the whole previous year… well, I don’t know about you, but I really don’t bring this document on vacation. I asked the real estate agent by mail what we needed to buy an apartment and I was told that only a ID card with permanent residence and passport. Luckily, I work in HR, so I just called to my colleague to see if she was sitting at the desk and if she could send me the Confirmation of Taxable Income. So I had the document in 5 minutes. In about half an hour it was finally our turn.
The banker didn’t speak English, so it was another challenge with my knowledge of Portuguese. It was worse here, I understood the banker quite badly. So the realtor was translating for me from Portuguese to Portuguese. I understood her again without any problems. We were sitting with the banker for about an hour and half, setting up an account for foreigners is really difficult. Many papers, lots of signatures, confirmation of taxable income, last payslip and then lots of questions where I work, what my position is, how long I’ve been working there, how much we have savings and where they come from (whether savings or heritage), if we have our own apartment and if there is a mortgage and what value is approximately our property…. Yes, all this just for opening a bank account … what would a mortgage arrangement look like? I wouldn’t really want to deal with that as a foreigner.
After an hour and half finally the account was set up. She also wanted to set up internet banking for me but it just didn’t work, so she just showed me how to do it and I did it after returning to the Czech Republic because it still didn’t work on my mobile phone. I needed to fill in a few details, and then immediately someone from the bank called me to complete the activation. Fortunately, they had someone who spoke English on the line, to be honest I feel better speaking English with these important things.
In the Czech Republic, after opening an account, you get quite a lot of signed papers, but here the banker left about a half-centimeter stack for herself and I only received one paper with an account number and proof of deposit (I had to put on my acount 150 EUR in cash). Although this is my savings, I won´t actually see this money anymore, they will be used for the monthly fees for account maintenance – in Santander 6 EUR per month. I thought that only Czech conservative banks have fees…
The realtor then said goodbye to us and informed us that when we would see another apartment at another real estate agency, we can contact her and she would arrange a tour for us. She said the realtors are working together this way.
We were already hungry, so we went to Cantinho dos amigos for lunch again. We were sad because for this price we liked the apartment, even if it was not final amount because of the renovation of the flat. So the night of happiness was replaced by sadness but at this moment we had no idea that a much better apartment was waiting for us.
Lunch Cantinho dos amigos – https://goo.gl/maps/koL1dr766p8Ws5Mg6
Porc steak with mustard Dijon (Filete de porco com molho Dijon) – 10,5 EUR including side dish
Espada com banana – 8 EUR including side dish
Levada dos Piornais
Then we returned to Sao Martinho and my husband stayed at our accomodation to have a rest and my son and I went to Levada dos Piornais. At 18:00 we had to pick up the car at the car rental company and therefore we went only a piece of the levada (https://mapy.cz/s/cugajapaju).
It is an urban levada, so it is not one of the most beautiful levadas (at least the part we walked through) but it is a nice walk, there are banana plantations and there is a nice view of Funchal.
Car rental Funchal Easy
At 18:00 we went to pick up a car for the Funchal Easy car rental company which was in Sao Martinho, near our accommodation. I can only recommend this car rental, we were very satisfied, next time we will definitely rent again here.
In the evening I received an email from Joao from Era that he had a new apartment for us. He said that the owner has decided to reduce the original price and therefore the price now corresponds to our financial limit. He wrote that something went wrong in the system and the system did not save my mobile number and therefore he writes an email to arrange a tour with us for Thursday or Friday. We wanted to see the flat as soon as possible, so I told him we’d like to see the apartment on Thursday. But I wasn’t sure we could make it the next day because he didn’t reply to the email as he has might have already left the office. Then we went with a rented car to Forum Madeira but my husband failed to park somewhere near the Forum Madeira so he went to our accommodation and decided to go shopping on foot. I was a bit annoyed, well, it was only about 700 m there and 700 m back, but for journey back there was quite big ascent and if we already had a car why we should go shopping on foot? And another coincidence happened. Just several meters from our accomodation my husband suddenly stopped me that we just passed Joao, our real estate agent from Era. I didn’t even notice him. So I was making fun of my husband that this was a clear evidence that I am not looking for other men, even not as beautiful as Joao (he looked just like Ricky Martin).
Joao was talking to some guy after visiting the apartment, so I just interrupted him to check if he’ll have a minute for us to arrange the tour. And he confirmed that yes that he will be free in 5 minutes. We were waiting patiently a few meters away. My son said it was Portuguese 5 minutes as it resulted to be half an hour. And on top of that, he completely forgot about us because as he said goodbye to the guy and we saw him leaving in the opposite direction so he has not even noticed that we were still waiting there. So I caught him and asked if he had time to arrange the tour. He apologized for completely forgetting us. We did not mind waiting at all, we were glad to be able to arrange the tour in person. Actually, we did not have much information, just that the owner of the flat reduced the price so it is below our price limit but he did not tell us the exact price. Well, it was exactly at our price limit…
Pingo doce – samoobslužná restaurace
Pingo doce – self-service restaurant
Then we went to the Forum Madeira for dinner at the Pingo doce supermarket. There is a self-service restaurant called Sabores ao kg.
Food is very cheap there – 8.99 EUR / kg. Of course in a classic restaurant it is better but I like it here, there is a decent choice of meat (always chicken, fish, pork) and several side dishes and salads.
Pingo doce (Sao Martinho) – self-service restaurant Sabores ao kg – https://mapy.cz/s/pamefuledo
The same self-service restaurantPingo doce in center – https://mapy.cz/s/begufajuvo
Day 5
Camara do Lobos, Cabo Girao, Encumeada, Paul da Serra, Fanal, Ribeira da Janela
Tour of the flat
At 11:00 we had arranged a tour of the apartment in Nazaré with real estate agency Era. We were supposed to meet with the realtor close to the church again. Although the owner reduced the price, the price was just on the limit of our possibilities. We did not take it as a discount because the original amount was really high, the realtor himself tried to convince the owner to reduce the price because at the moment he would not really sell it for this amount. And because it was really on the limit of our budget, we thought it would have to be really nice to think about this flat.
And the flat was really nice. I knew immediately that I wanted to buy it and that I had to persuade my husband. The apartment is large, living room 17 square meters, one bedroom 15 square meters and the other bedroom 11 square meters. There is a new floor in all rooms, the apartment is really nice, clean, well-kept, bathroom also renovated. Compared to the other 2 apartments we saw and the apartments we saw in the photos, it was really incomparable. There are 2 huge wardrobes in the rooms and they will fortunately stay there. There are also 2 storerooms which is great, there is never enough storage space. The entrance hall is fairly large, so there could certainly be a dining room, the owners now had there a sofa and a table. The kitchen is also nice and spacious with plenty of storage space. It was really uncomparable with the majority of the apartments we saw from the photos, the kitchens in most apartments were quite tragic. Behind the kitchen is a space where the owners had a fridge, freezer, etc. From the kitchen you enter to the terrace which is pretty large, it will be very nice to have a rest there. There is also a tiny garden with 4 banana trees, there was already a large bunch of bananas. I never thought that I would have banana trees in my garden. And above the terrace is a small town garden but apparently we can put there what we want as the city does not care about it. I love the most the tercce as I like breakfasts and dinners in the fresh air which can be done at any time considering Madeira climate. At that moment, I realized that it was actually the terrace that I liked as the only one when we were walking through Nazaré. What a coincidence 🙂
Also the neighborhood is very nice, on one side there is a courtyard with trees and greenery, on the other side a playground. And just across the street a beautiful park.
The location is great, it is 2.1 km from beach Praia Formosa (close to the apartment there is a stop with a direct bus to the beach), 2.7 km to the natural lava pools Doca Cavacas and 1.8 km to Lido pools. The center is also a short walk away, just 2.5 km. Ideal location for me. Public facilities are perfect as well – Continente Modelo hypermarket, Amanhecer supermarket, several restaurants, bakery, fruit shop and bus accessibility to the center is also great.
We went through the apartment several times more but I din´t need to think about it, I knew I just wanted this flat. For the whole year we’ve been watching the apartments, it was the most beautiful apartment we’ve seen. We have seen a few decent flats on the photos but either there was a horrible kitchen or bathroom or floors and here everything is completely renovated, so we won’t have to deal with anything at all. After the tour, we discussed it for a long time with the realtor that it is really on the limit of our possibilities and that we were not really willing to spend this amount at this moment. The realtor suggested that we could just try to make an offer for a lower price and see if the owner would accept it. So we agreed with my husband that we would try to make a proposal of 10,000 EUR lower than the actual price. It was clear to us that the owner will not acept this proposal but we were hoping to meet somewhere in the middle and perhaps receive a 5 000 EUR discount. So in the evening we called Joao to make an offer and then we had to wait. But I knew I would take it even if he didn’t reduce the price. Joao even wanted to officially write down our offer, so we went back to his office that evening to write it down. Joao spoke English well, so we were talking in English so that my husband could understand as well.
After the tour we went for lunch again to the restaurant Entre Amigos, where the waiter knew us well already.
Espada – 8,5 EUR
Pulled chicken with almonds – 7,5 EUR
After lunch we went on a trip by car along the West Coast. Compared to the previous visit, I decided that this time it will not be a walking holiday, but a sightseeing. As we were able to rent a car thanks to my husband, I wanted to go through as many places as possible, especially to places where I could hardly get by bus.
Camara do Lobos
First we stopped in Camara do Lobos and we parked in the parking house. We made a small tour around the village and also we walked down the street where you can find another form of art than the painted door in the center of Funchal. Here they made pictures on the doors with labels from Fanta, Cola, etc.
Cabo Girao
Then we headed out to view point Cabo Girao, the second highest cliff in Europe, 580 meters high. There is a beautiful view of Camara do Lobos and Funchal. I’ve been to Cabo Girao for the second time but I actually saw it for the first time. During the first visit with my sister there were such clouds that we saw nothing at all. There is a beautiful view which is definitely worth a visit.
Encumeada
Then we headed into the mountains towards Encumeada and stopped at various views points with beautiful mountain views.
Paul da Serra
Then we passed through Paul da Serra, yellow flowers were growing everywhere. Here the weather began to get worse and it started to rain a little bit and there was fog as well.
Fanal
Next stop was Fanal, I was really looking forward to it. There are strangely twisted trees, which are covered with moss. It was a pity that it was raining, so we could not stay too much time there but it was worth it anyway. There was fog as it should be, perhaps withouth fog it would not be that interesting here, it gives to the place a kind of mysterious atmosphere.
Ribeira da Janela
Then we stopped at Ribeira da Janela. It was cloudy, so this time I don´t have as nice pictures as from the first visit but we had to stop here. In our living room, we have a picture with a photo from Ribeira da Janela, so I wanted to show my husband and my son this place to show them the place we had on the wall for over a year.
Day 6
Calheta, Lighthouse Ponta do Pargo, Restaurante o Farol, View point at village Cabo, Porto Moniz, Seixal
Calheta
It was raining in the morning, I was hoping the weather will be better the rest of the day. This day it was supposed to rain almost everywhere, so it didn’t matter where we were going. Fortunately, when we arrived in Calheta, it stopped raining. We took a short break and walked through Calheta.
Then we stopped at several view points.
Lighthouse Ponta do Pargo
The next stop was Ponta do Pargo Lighthouse. Fortunately it was no longer raining. There is a beautiful view of the coast, this place is definitely worth a visit.
Restaurante o Farol
In Ponta do Pargo we went to the restaurant for lunch. It was slightly more expensive than the others we tried but still affordable. I had a tuna steak and my husband a pork chop. Again huge portions, my husband had even 2 huge slices of pork. It was really great. Actually, I haven’t yet been to a restaurant in Madeira where I wouldn’t like it.
Restaurante o Farol – https://goo.gl/maps/cigaib6MnLLJ337Q8
Costeleta do porco – 12 EUR including side dish
Tuna steak – 15 EUR including side dish
Viewpoint at the village of Cabo
Then we stopped at the viewpoint below the church of Capela de Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte. Do not miss this one, it was really beautiful, now in February there was a beautiful green grass, almost artificial colour, in the photos it almost looks as if you overdo it with editing photos even if I do not edit it at all … there is a wonderful view of the coast. Beautiful callas grows below the church.
Porto Moniz
The next stop was Porto Moniz. Unfortunately, it started to rain a lot again. But even so, we put on our raincoats and went to enjoy the view of the huge waves at the natural pools.
Seixal
Then we stopped in Seixal, where I just took some photos from the top, it was raining a lot, so we didn´t stay long here.
To be honest, we wanted to return to Funchal already. At lunch time we received a message from Joao that his colleague will talk to the owners at 4:00 pm and when he finishes, he will let us know the result. So we were waiting impatiently for the call, and in every place where there was no signal, we literally suffered hoping that Joao is not trying to reach us. Joao did not call until 18:00 when we were home. He just told us he already had the answer but he wanted to tell us everything personally. We were so nervous. We went to his office immediately. I chose our accommodation perfectly, it was only about 650 meters to the real estate agency Era. Joao told us that the owner did not accept our offer, but made a counter-offer – we met exactly in the middle and he reduced the price by 5,000 EUR – great. We were really happy about that. So we agreed to sign a reservation contract on Saturday. That was on very last moment because we were leaving on Sunday.
Day 7
Event of the day – signing the reservation contract + Ponta de Garajau
Signing promissory contract
On Saturday we were supposed to meet around 12:00 again at Joao’s office but he said that the exact time will be confirmed on Saturday as they still needed to prepare the reservation contract. At 10:45 we got a call from Maria (assistant) and right after that from Joao. They told us that it would not be the office in Forum Madeira but in Barreiros and asked if we can come to Era in Barreiros at 11:15. Thanks to the rented car we managed to be there on time.
The owners and their daughter and her husband were already sitting in the meeting room with Maria. We were given the Portuguese-English version of the contract and María began to read the entire contract. After she finished reading, we discussed a few details and then proceeded to signatures, except for the last page, it was necessary for everyone to sign on each side of the contract in the corner.
On the basis of the reservation contract, we should have paid 10% of the purchase price directly to the owners’ account. Compared to our contracts, the contract did not seem very precise to me, for example there was no stipulation at all when to send the money to the owner´s account.
After signing the reservation contract, we were feeling a relief hoping that the rest of the purchase proces should be without any problem. The contract stipulated that it was necessary to complete the purchase process (escritura), i.e registration the land register office and handing over the remaining 90% of the price in the form of a cheque. It is so strange that the flow of money does not go through a notary / lawyer as we do in Czech Republic. This needs to be done in person, so we agreed in advance that I would arrive in early May. Actually, Joao proposed this date that I should come for 3rd of May to see the flower festival. And of course I didn’t want to miss it.
Lunch
Central Grill : Churrascaria – Restaurante
Not far from there was the Central Grill: Churrascaria – Restaurante, so we decided to try it. At first glance it looked more expensive, dishes around 15, 16 EUR but we didn´t want to try the beef steak anyway but then I came across a chicken espetada and I decided to try it. They were grilled parts of chicken and I have to say that again a big portion and it was really delicious, very tender, not dry and there was a nice taste of grilled meat. This was just for 8.5 EUR + 3 EUR French fries. My husband took a beef cubes with a sauce, also a huge portion and also delicious and the price was only 9 euros with a side dish. I can really recommend this restaurant, the food was really great.
Central Grill : Churrascaria – Restaurante – https://goo.gl/maps/Z4oj4cnKzTNirD8F6
Espetada do frango (Chicken espetada) – 8 EUR (+ 3 EUR French sides)
Picado do Lombo (Beef cubes with sauce) – 9 EUR (including side dish)
Then we went to my favorite frutaría for the last maracuja.
Then we went on our last trip by car. The first stop was the view of Funchal
Ponta do Garajau
The first stop was in Ponta do Garajau – Cristo Rei, a statue of Christ with a beautiful view of the coast.
We also made a stop in the village of Camacha.
Then I wanted to make a stop in Portela as there is a beautiful view of the Eagle Rock but there was a terrible fog, so this time we really did not enjoy the view of the Eagle Rock.
Airport viewpoint
Then we decided to go to the airport and watt landing planes. We looked at a couple of landing and taking off planes and then returned to Funchal.
Fruit
I have 2 favourite fruit shops where you can find the fruit for good prices:
Funchal center – Frutaria do Anadia – it is just below the mall Anadia (I do not have an exact link, here is Anadia, just go down a bit towards the sea – https://mapy.cz/s/hujebehaga ), street Rua de Visconde Anadia – now a week ago they had banana maracuja for 4.95 EUR).
Sao Martinho (Nazaré) – shop Horta Madeira – Frutaria, street Rua da Bolivia (Funchal, district Sao Martinho – Nazaré) https://mapy.cz/s/jofoluluzu, now in February a week ago they had a maracuja for 6.5 EUR / kg (in summer one year and a half ago for 8 EUR)
Now in February there was a much better choice of fruit than when we were in Madeira in June – we bought 3 types of maracuja, nesperas (loquat), tamarillo and suriname cherry (pitanga).
Definitely do not buy any fruit at Mercado dos lavradores, it is really overpriced (maracuja eg 20-25 EUR kg – which is the official price, but I have information from some people that the seller wanted 60 EUR for 3 maracuja… Incredible…)
Frutaría do Anadía is located just a few steps from Mercado dos lavradores, so here just enjoy watching and tasting the fruit but go to Frutaría do Anadía to buy the fruit to have much more fruit for a much lower price.
Restaurants
I have been to Madeira for the second time now and I have to say that the restaurants in Madeira have a very good standard, I have not yet encountered a restaurant where I would not like it and I must say that I am quite picky and fussy. Even the service is excellent, they take care about guests, they are quite fast, they ask if everything is OK and if we want something else, etc.
The portions are huge in Madeira.
For the starter we used to have bolo do caco, delicious local bread with herb butter and garlic.
Even the prices are good in Madeira, the meal in restaurant often up to 10 EUR / person. Even fish like espada or tuna steak are usually for 8-10 EUR.
There are also self-service restaurants in Madeira where the food is sold by weight, so food is really cheap. In Funchal there is a self-service restaurant in the Pingo Doce supermarket (in the center and in Sao Martinho in the Forum Madeira).
Here you will find a list of restaurants where we were eating this time and what meal we had. To have an idea about the prices, you will find information how much we paid for each meal.
Funchal – Sao Martinho
Entre amigos
Our favorite restaurant in Sao Martinho where we were several times.
We used to have bolo do caco with herbal butter or pulled chicken.
This restaurant has a beautiful view of the entire Funchal.
Restaurace Entre Amigos – https://goo.gl/maps/AU5SMPzPMDUFtL4g7
Espada – 8,5 EUR,
Beef strips – 8 EUR,
Pulled chicken with almonds – 7,5 EUR
French fries – 2,5 EUR,
Bolo do caco – 1,5 EUR
Central Grill : Churrascaria – Restaurante
I tried Espetada do frango (chicken espetada) – grilled parts of chicken and I have to say that again a big portion and it was really delicious, tender, not dry and there was a nice taste of grilled meat. This was just for 8.5 EUR + 3 EUR French fries. My husband had Picado in Lombo (beef cubes with sauce), also a huge portion and also delicious and the price was just 9 EUR with side dish. I can definitely recommend this restaurant, the food was really great.
Central Grill : Churrascaria – Restaurante – https://goo.gl/maps/Z4oj4cnKzTNirD8F6
Espetada do frango (Chicken espetada) – 8 EUR (+ 3 EUR French fries)
Picado do Lombo (Beef cubes with sauce) – 9 EUR (including side dish)
Tourigalo – Take away
In Sao Martinho we tried Tourigalo restaurant, it is a take away restaurant, and the food was sold by weight, similar as in self-service Pingo doce restaurant. The food was sealed in a bowl and could be taken away. The choice was decent, several kinds of meats and side dishes. I chose a decent portion of beef cubes with sauce and 4 chicken drumsticks with sauce. The portion was big so we were not even able to eat 2 drumsticks. And for such a portion I paid only 7.88 EUR (for 2 adults and a child). And they did not weigh the sauce together with the meat, they took the meat, weighed it, and then added the sauce. The food was very good.
Tourigalo – Take away – https://goo.gl/maps/iaJcPS4GD7szV2TPA
Pingo doce – Sabores ao kg
Once we went to the Forum Madeira for dinner at the Pingo doce supermarket. There is a self-service restaurant called Sabores ao kg. Food is very cheap there – 8.99 EUR / kg. Of course in a classic restaurant it is better but I like it here, there is a decent choice of meat (always chicken, fish, pork) and several side dishes and salads.
Pingo doce – Sabores ao kg – self-service restaurant – https://mapy.cz/s/pamefuledo
Papa Manuel
Once we went for dinner to Papa Manuel restaurant close to our accommodation. We had some pizza (8 EUR) and Prego normal (bolo do caco with a slice of beef). Before the meal they brought a little bowl with green olives and tremoco (lupin beans – a kind of legume, something like beans in brine, I like it very much.)
Papa Manuel – https://goo.gl/maps/aaUhbkJEmJo4mWZb6
Pizza – 8 EUR
Prego normal – 4,2 EUR
Cantinho dos amigos – centrum Funchalu
In the center of Funhal we went twice to Cantinho dos amigos restaurant. My son and I had tuna steak with onions (11 EUR with side dish), my husband had a beef steak (Bife com molho Madeira – 12 EUR with side dish) for the second time porc with Dijon mustard (Filete de porco com molho Dijon – 10,5 EUR). And of course bolo do caco. And we always had our favorite apple and maracuja Brisa to drink.
Tuna steak with onion – 11 EUR including side dish
Bife com molho Madeira – 12 EUR including side dish
Porc with Dijon mustard (Filete de porco com molho Dijon) – 10,5 EUR including side dish
Espada com banana – 8 EUR including side dish
Cantinho dos amigos – https://goo.gl/maps/koL1dr766p8Ws5Mg6
Ponta do Pargo
Restaurante o Farol
In Ponta do Pargo we went for lunch to the restaurant Restaurante do Farol. It was slightly more expensive than the others we tried but still affordable. I had a tuna steak and my husband a pork chop. Again huge portions, my husband had even 2 huge slices of pork. It was really great.
Restaurante o Farol – https://goo.gl/maps/cigaib6MnLLJ337Q8
Costeleta do porco – 12 EUR including side dish
Tuna steak – 15 EUR including side dish
If you like Madeira, you can read another article when we were travelling by bus – https://lenkacestounecestou.cz/madeira-06-2018/
Costs
Do not be scared, the price is so high because of the direct flight; Holiday in Madeira can be much cheaper without direct flight, for the first vacation we paid in total about 615 EUR/person (16 000 CZK / person) for 13 days
In total for 2 adults and 7 year old child – 2140 EUR ( 55 650 CZK) (713 EUR/person, 18 550 CZK/osoba)
Flight tickets (direct flight Vienna – Funchal) – 369 EUR/person (9600 CZK/person)
Night in airport in Vienna (NH Vienna Airport Conference Center) – 41 EUR/person (1045 CZK)
Blue Sea Apartment (accomodation in Funchal) – 280 EUR for 2 adults and 7 year old child (7140 CZK)
Regiojet from Brno to Vienna – 15 EUR/person (390 CZK/person, 1170 CZK for 3 persons)
Regiojet from Vienna to Brno – 390 CZK/ person (1170 CZK for 3 persons)
Car rental – 108 EUR
Petrol – approx. 45 EUR
Restaurants – 234 EUR
Food – 99 EUR
Buses Funchal – 52,25 EUR
Finance office (arranging NIF) – 20 EUR
Links
Transport from Brno to Vienna
Regiojet – https://www.regiojet.cz
Gepard Express – https://www.gepardexpress.com/brno-wien-airport
Flight ticket finder – Skyscanner – https://www.skyscanner.cz
Application Vienna Airport https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=at.viennaairport.mobile&hl=cs
Real estate servers and real estate agencies
Idealista – www.idealista.pt
Era – https://www.era.pt
Prediguía – http://prediguia.pt/
Pink real estate – https://www.pinkrealestate.pt/
Accomodation
Vienna – NH Vienna Airport Conference Center
Funchal – Blue sea apartment
Transport Madeira
Aerobus
https://www.sam.pt/informacoes-aerobus.html
Horarios Funchal.
http://www.horariosdofunchal.pt/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
http://www.horariosdofunchal.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=247
Moovit
Web – https://moovitapp.com
Mobile app – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tranzmate&hl=en
Rome2rio
Web – https://www.rome2rio.com
Mobile app – https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rome2rio.www.rome2rio&hl=en
Car rental Funchal Easy – https://www.funchaleasy.com/index.php/en/
Mercado dos Lavradores – http://www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb/explore/detalhe/mercado-dos-lavradores-(farmers%e2%80%99-market)
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colin
thank you for sharing your journey
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