Whatever season you decide on, you will be guaranteed a warm, mild climate with temperatures between 17 to 26 degrees. One would think that the busiest season for tourism would late spring to early fall, but Christmas is actually one of the hottest and most lively times on these paradisiac islands. With visitors from the colder countries and very much into the Christmas spirit, Madeira dresses its port streets with the best lighting decorations and the most colourful fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
The City of Funchal is chock full of history and architecture as you visit churches going back to the 17th century as is the Church of Colégio São João Evangelist or the cathedral.
One of the most impressive buildings is called Paços do Concelho ( 18th c. ) with black volcanic stone counteracting with the white front facing and doorways. There are museums dedicated to religious art, the Museum of Natural History housed in the Palace of São Pedro where you can get a closer look at the marine life of these islands and a museum which holds many pieces left behind by all the different cultures that frequented the islands like Chinese porcelain and figures carved from the ivory tusks from the captured whales. Around this museum there are also interesting pieces of art accompanied by the aroma of fresh orquids.
But man does not live on beauty alone and therefore must feed its physical spirit too. Tunafish and codfish are main dishes done in so many different ways: baked, fried, stewed with home-grown green beans and potatoes. Tropical fruits are abundant such as maracuyas, mangos and bananas to mention a few. And of course, the famous Madeira wine. And in order to sleep well, there are luxurious hotels or simple rural homes on the hillsides so that everyone can feel as though they are at home, amongst a paradise of lush green vegetation in the City of Funchal on Madeira, Portugal.