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Granada

 Friday 6th-Tuesday 10th March 2026. Friday was a very early start,  alarm set for 03.30 for an 06.30 flight to Malaga and then a 90 minute coach ride to Granada. We didn't realise the coach station was located 5km from the city centre (poor research) but soon decided to hop on a local bus that dropped us right outside our hotel! Palacio Gran Via was a bank in a former life and has retained many of its original features and is now a luxury hotel. We even had hand decorated cookies with our initials on! The roof terrace has a fantastic view of the Alhambra Palace and a great place for our first beer and the Hamaam and Turkish Bath and relaxation pool was very relaxing. Dinner was in a Tapas Bar very close by so not far to walk, full of locals enjoying a Friday night.  Saturday  The highlight of Granada is the Moorish City of Alhambra, set on a hilltop location overlooking the City itself. There are many well preserved examples of palaces, fortresses, defensive walls a...
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Madeira 2025 - Day 8

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 Day 8 Monday  We stayed very local to the hotel this morning as we only had a couple of hours before checkout. We found a cache that was just a few meters behind our hotel and and then went for a short stroll to the Jardim do Quinta Magnolia,  a delightful park that just happened to be hosting the Funchal Women's Open Tennis tournament which is a feeder series to the professional tour. I have to say they were very good and I wasn't expecting to watch tennis today. From our balcony we looked over a tiny church but it has taken until our last day to find the narrow cobbled street that led to the Chapel Penna de Franca. And so our week in Madeira is coming to an end.  Great Island, warm weather and a good hotel.  Perfect. 
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Madeira 2025 - Day 7

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 Day 7 Sunday A day in Funchal today and just the one cruise ship in town! We walked along the promenade where there were many locals warming up for the Funchal City orienteering race, they seemed to be taking it very seriously.  Headed into the Old Town to the Forteleza fe Sao Tiago founded in 1582 to protect the city from pirates. The locals used the seafront here to sunbathe and swim in the sea, we opted to have a beer instead.   We made our way back to the hotel for a picnic lunch on the balcony before watching the Brazilian Grand Prix.
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Madeira 2025 - Day 6

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 Day 6 Saturday  Our last day with a hire car so we headed out to the North East area of Sao Jeorge to walk the Levada Do Rei (The King's Levada). The walk is 12km of mostly flat terrain alongside the Levada.  There had been overnight rain so the paths were muddy, thank goodness we had our walking shoes! As with other levada walks there are huge shear drops with the only protection a couple of wire cables in the most severe places. I still marvel how they were ever built and at what human cost!. The area is designated a UNESCO biosphere because of the native flora and fauna and it is certainly beautiful.  A rainforest environment with ferns, mosses, lichens dripping in the mist. Us too and we walked "behind" a waterfall!  In some places it was similar to the narrow canal channel up to Llangollen and at the end of the trail the River Bonita fed the levada just like the river Dee. A super walk today. 
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Madeira 2025 - Day 5

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Day 5  Wow this week is going so quickly! Another beautiful warm sunny day.  We visited the East of the island today for a walk called the Verado Do Larano (which is like a levada walk without the levada) a path 350m above sea level cut into the mountain affording stunning views of the Atlantic coastline and towards the Sao Laurenco peninsular that we visited on our first trip to Madeira. This was an 8 mile out and back trip to a view point Boca Do Risco. The landscape and the geology is amazing.  The trees and the mountain itself provided shade from the hot sun. A short drive down to the coast to Porto Da Cruz for an ice cream before heading back to Funchal for a Crafty Friday on the balcony. 
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Madeira 2025 - Day 4

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 Day 4 A beautiful sunny day and we visited Fanal Forest in the North West of the island.  The area is at an altitude of 1200 m and is often shrouded in fog so the ancient trees are dripping in moss and sprout lush green ferns but we were lucky with wall to wall sun. The trails were also similar to the UK springy lush grass and even some cows grazing,  reducing the risk of vegetation taking over. The views over the North coast are stupendous, there is even the remnants of a goods hoist that used to plunge 1000m down to a settlement in the valley.  That made a good perch for our lunch stop. Today's trip also afforded a circular road trip of the western side of the island. 
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Madeira 2025 - Day 3

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We have arranged a hire car for 4 days so this morning Colin took a Bolt to the pick up garage. Great weather today and we headed out to the Curral Das Freis (the Valley of the Nuns). The Nuns settled here in 1600s after being persecuted and evicted from Funchal. It is high in the mountains and until the 1980's the only way in was by foot or by donkey,  a 2500m tunnel through the mountain now provides vehicular access.  To reach our next destination we had to take a tortuous mountain road which is only open in daylight hours and there is good visibility. There was an excellent viewpoint above the village we had just visited and towards Pico do Aerio, the geology is amazing.  We finished our trip with a visit to Ribeira Frio.  We had done a levada walk from here on our first trip to Madeira but today we took a different route on PR 11 to another stunning viewpoint Balcoes. A 40 minute drive back to Funchal,  a drink by the pool before an excellent dinner in local...
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