FUNCHAL TRAVEL GUIDE
Madeira, PortugalIf you are looking for a holiday hotel or apartment in Funchal, the following information may help by giving you an overview on the resort.
Funchal means “fennel” and the city’s name is said to derive from the abundance of fennel plants that Zarco [the island’s discoverer] found growing here when he arrived in 1420. Zarco chose this spot to found the future capital because of its sheltered natural harbour, which today is filled with every type of vessel, from container ships to luxurious cruise liners.
Funchal is now a bustline city of 100,000 people and visitors from mainland Portugal frequently refer to Funchal as “little Lisbon” because of its elegant architecture, fashionable shops and lively cafes.
City streets twist and turn up and down the steep hillside that rises from the harbour. Only in the city centre are the streets level, and here the main avenues and squares are elegantly paved with black and white stone forming mosaic-work patterns based on heraldic flowers or arabesques.
Flowing trees provide shade from the sun while the heady scent of jasmine hides the presence of one of funchal’s many hidden patios and courtyard gardens.
High above the harbour, on the cliff tops west of the city, is the Hotel Zone where most visitors to Madeira stay. The area is almost a self-contained town, with its tourist shops and supermarkets, its cinemas and restaurants.
The city is divided into three sectors by its rivers:
In the eastern sector of the city is the Zona Velha - Old Town - with its many restaurants. The central sector contained a jumble of embroidery factories, crumbling town houses and shops selling pungent salt cod and dried herbs. Most of Funchal’s cultural sights are packed in the maze of streets in the westernmost third of the city - focused around two of Madeira’s oldest building, the Sé and the Alfângega Velha [Old Customs House], now the Madeiran parliament building.
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Disclaimer:
By its very nature much of the information in our destination guides is subject to change at short notice and travellers are urged to verify information on which they are relying with the relevant authorities. Corona Holidays [UK] Limited cannot accept any responsibility for any loss or inconvenience to any person as a result of information contained above.
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